Wild Child is one of the definitive cult teen classics of the 2000s. As a teenager, my friends and I never had a sleepover without this go-to DVD making an appearance. Fifteen years later, Wild Child remains one of the films that left an indelible mark on my teens.

The coming-of-age comedy sees spoilt Malibu girl Poppy Moore (Emma Roberts) shipped off to a strict English boarding school for girls by her dad (Aidan Quinn), as he attempts to suppress her rebellious behaviour by helping her to reconnect with her late mother. Poppy appears unconvinced: “What, you think just because mom went to boarding school in England, it’s going to magically straighten me out?”

Her glamorous LA lifestyle is swapped out for crème eggs, a poor phone signal and a 12th century manor house, as Poppy adjusts to life in rainy, rural England. Poppy’s goal is simple: get kicked out as fast as possible and return to her lavish party-girl existence. She enlists the help of her new friends – Kiki, Kate, Drippy and Josie – to get in the headmistress’ bad books by dating her devilishly handsome son, Freddie (Alex Pettyfer).

But the longer Poppy spends in the alternate English reality, the less she wants to leave. “Isn’t it ironic how my ticket out of here just might be the reason I want to stay?”

At the time, the biggest draw for the movie was its cast. Nickelodeon favourite Roberts had starred in teen flicks including Aquamarine and Nancy Drew after her success on Unfabulous. Meanwhile, Pettyfer was fresh on the scene after his 2006 feature debut in Anthony Horowitz’s adaptation of Stormbreaker.

British comic stars including Nick Frost, Jason Watkins and Shirley Henderson also made appearances, while Natasha Richardson is effortlessly mesmerising in one of her final roles as the kind, forgiving headteacher.

With a humble budget of $20 million (£15.7m) and minimal box office impact, it still left a lasting memory in our teen hearts. Wild Child had the benefit of being released in the golden era of teen films. In the summer of 2008 alone, we were also gifted with Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging and Freaky Friday.

Like many movies of this genre, the girls ask the fundamental question all teens can relate to, as they cry, “Who are we?” Our personality is moulded by external influences at this age – what we watch, the friends we have and the media we consume. It informs our perception of who we should or could be and our innate desire to fit in (and be liked) means it’s hard not to go along with the crowd… at least to begin with.

Adolescence is a period of trial and error, as Wild Child so beautifully captures. Poppy arrives with bleach blonde hair, dolled up to the max, adorning six-inch heels and designer threads. Underneath it all, she feels lonely, disconnected and is grieving the absence of her mum during these pivotal years of change. 

Through the support of her true friends, Poppy feels comfortable dropping the façade, dyeing her hair back to its natural shade and opening up. By shedding her materialistic image (and literally being stripped back to basics in the matron-run facility), Poppy begins to reconnect with her identity. She swaps out her superficial LA friendships – the ones she used to elevate her social status – for authentic, non-judgmental ones with people who accept and love the real her. 

A major element of that camaraderie is built through sport too, as Poppy takes a handle on the dire lacrosse team to spite her archnemesis, Harriet (Georgia King). British women’s sport was relatively small in comparison to the success it is today, and it was refreshing to see the competitive, ruthless spirit that comes out in school sports. 

As teen movies go, this one has everything. It’s stuffed with iconic one-liners, including: “I didn’t start it, it wasn’t my fault and if this was America I would sue.” There’s a classic dress-up-makeover-montage in a charity shop before a school dance, which many of us replicated. “Hot to trot? Check.”

It also captures the messy embarrassment of our teen lives, all witnessed – to some extent – by our teachers. “Actually, it was Kate’s vomit, Mrs Kingsley; I was just lying in it.”

Boarding school is depicted as one long sleepover: there’s non-stop time with your friends to pull pranks, flirt with the one boy in the area, dress up and have midnight snacks. It’s every teen’s dream for life to be an endless sleepover. 

In a truly iconic moment, the girls even have baths next to each other, so they can plan out their killer school dance outfits while soaking in bubbles and stylish hats. Tell me why this still doesn’t exist. 

All the action culminates in a Legally Blonde-style school court trial, where Harriet accidentally outs herself in a tantrum as the person who restarted the fire with Poppy’s ‘I heart LA’ lighter.

It’s a satisfying end to see the American teen triumph over her antagonist before she naturally leads her lacrosse team to win the championships. This is a movie, of course, so everything works out in the end.

Poppy is ultimately saved by her friends’ belief in her (that she wouldn’t be capable of hurting them or starting a fire), when she’s lost all faith in herself. It’s a nostalgic and heart-warming reminder of the pivotal role teenage friendships have in shaping our adult identity. 

Image: Getty