View this post on Instagram
This Spring will be 20 years since one of the best chick flicks, 13 Going On 30 first graced our screens.
With its unique way of telling us to be careful what you wish for, they don’t make teenage films quite like this anymore!
To celebrate 20 years of 13 going on 30, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite moments from the iconic rom-com starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo.
Let’s take a look!
When Jenna stuffed her bra for her 13th birthday party
View this post on Instagram
Jenna is desperate to be part of the popular girls group. On the day of her 13th birthday party, Jenna stuffs her bra with tissues only to have to take them out when the mean girls ‘The 6 Chicks’ tell her that her long-term crush Chris will be joining her in the closet to play 7 seconds in heaven and he likes to go to second base.
To Jenna’s disappointment, it’s not Chris Grandy who enters the closet, but her best friend Matty.
When being “Thirty, Flirty and Thriving” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
View this post on Instagram
Like any 13-year-old, all Jenna wants to be is grown up. When her wish to be “Thirty, flirty and thriving” comes true, Jenna is shocked to see a naked man in her shower. She tells her best friend Lucy that she even saw his “thingy.”
If there’s one thing this film is good at portraying, it’s the dialogue of a 13-year-old!
Jenna saves the Poise Magazine party with the thriller dance and her iconic dress
View this post on Instagram
Arguably the most memorable moment from the 2004 film is when Jenna saves the dying Poise party with the Michael Jackson Thriller dance.
The dress in this scene has been a popular costume since the film first came out. And we must admit – it is iconic.
When Jenna has a slumber party with her 13-year-old neighbours
View this post on Instagram
What do a 13-year-old and a 30-year-old have in common? Not a lot. But a 13-year-old trapped in a 30-year old’s body? Well, that changes things. Jenna befriends her 13-year-old neighbour who introduces Jenna to her friends and has a sleepover party with them, giving them the inside scoop on adulthood and her love life.
If there’s one thing we miss about being 13, it’s sleepovers with your best friends.
When adulthood gets too much for Jenna and she returns to her parents[‘ house
View this post on Instagram
When Jenna’s mistakes catch up on her she returns home to her parents’ house. Jenna’s mam gives her some advice and she later climbs into bed between her parents. Jenna reflects on the choices she has made that have led her to this moment.
There is so much comfort in this scene and it reminds us that there is still a 13-year-old girl in all of us.
Jenna’s reunited with her old crush, Chris Grandy and he’s her taxi driver
Is there anything funnier than thinking back to the crushes you had in your early teens? When Jenna realises she loves Matty and hails a cab to go and tell him before he marries someone else, she is surprised to see a familiar face.
This scene shows just how much changes from your teen years and that Chris Grandy – like many of our teenage crushes – probably wasn’t ‘the one’.
When Matty reveals he kept the doll house he made Jenna for her 13th birthday
View this post on Instagram
When Jenna confesses her love for Matty, unfortunately, it isn’t enough for Matty to call off his wedding with his fiancé. When watching this for the first time at 13 you may have been wondering why can’t he just leave his fiancé and be with Jenna? But as we get older, we realise that sometimes the past cannot be undone.
Matty reveals to Jenna that he kept the doll house that he made her all those years ago for her 13th birthday and the magic of this doll house is what brings Jenna back to 1984 and gives her a second chance to be with Matty.
13 Going on 30 has some of the best life lessons, funny moments, and fashion of any noughties film.
It resonated with an audience of all ages back in 2004 and still 20 years later, in 2024.
Time for a rewatch, ladies!
Words by Abby Sammon