Netflix Is Removing 90s Cult Classic Jawbreaker This Month — Giving Fans One Last Chance to Stream the Dark Teen Comedy

Netflix subscribers have only a limited amount of time left to revisit one of the most distinctive teen comedies of the late 1990s.

Jawbreaker, the 1999 crime comedy written and directed by Darren Stein, is leaving the platform at the end of September.

Although the film struggled at the box office when it was first released, it went on to become a cult favorite thanks to its dark sense of humor, heightened high-school satire and instantly recognizable fashion.

At the center of the story is a seemingly harmless birthday prank that goes catastrophically wrong — and a group of popular girls willing to do almost anything to protect themselves afterward.

A birthday prank turns deadly

The film follows Courtney, Julie and Marcie, three members of Reagan High School’s powerful popular clique known as the “Flawless Four.”

Their fourth member is Liz, one of the most admired girls in school.

On the morning of Liz’s 17th birthday, Courtney, Julie and Marcie decide to stage a fake kidnapping as part of a surprise celebration.

They gag Liz with a jawbreaker, put her inside the boot of a car and plan to take her to breakfast.

The prank quickly becomes something far darker.

When the girls open the boot, they discover that Liz has choked to death on the candy.

What was supposed to be a birthday joke suddenly leaves the trio facing the consequences of an accidental death.

Fern Mayo discovers what happened

Their situation becomes even more dangerous when Fern Mayo, an unpopular student at school, discovers what the girls are trying to hide.

Rather than risk Fern exposing them, Courtney and the others make her an extraordinary offer.

They promise her the social status she has never had in exchange for her silence.

Fern undergoes a dramatic transformation and is reinvented as “Vylette,” taking the place in the clique that once belonged to Liz.

For a while, it appears the plan might work.

But the deeper Fern becomes involved in the group, the more complicated the cover-up becomes.

Meanwhile, Detective Vera Cruz begins investigating Liz’s death, creating a growing threat to the girls’ secret.

The film became a cult favorite after disappointing at the box office

Jawbreaker did not become an immediate commercial success.

Its reputation grew later, as audiences embraced its combination of black comedy, teen drama and exaggerated social satire.

The film takes familiar high-school stereotypes and pushes them into deliberately outrageous territory.

Popularity, appearance and social status become weapons, while the movie’s candy-colored visual style creates a striking contrast with its darker storyline.

Its fashion has also become one of the most memorable elements of the film, with bright colors, bold outfits and deliberately exaggerated looks helping define its identity.

That distinctive style has helped Jawbreaker maintain a loyal following decades after its original release.

Rose McGowan leads the cast

Rose McGowan stars as Courtney Alice Shayne, the dominant and calculating leader of the group.

Rebecca Gayheart plays Julie Freeman, while Julie Benz appears as Marcie Fox.

Judy Greer takes on the role of Fern Mayo, whose transformation into Vylette becomes one of the central parts of the story.

Charlotte Ayanna plays Liz Purr, whose death sets the entire plot in motion.

Pam Grier also appears as Detective Vera Cruz, the investigator trying to uncover what really happened.

Together, the cast helped turn the film’s exaggerated characters into some of the most recognizable figures in 90s teen cinema.

Courtney remains one of the film’s most memorable characters

Much of the movie’s tension comes from Courtney’s determination to stay in control.

Rather than allowing the accidental death to destroy the group, she immediately begins trying to manipulate the situation.

Her willingness to protect her reputation at almost any cost drives much of the story forward.

Julie, meanwhile, becomes increasingly uncomfortable with what the group is doing, creating growing tension between the girls.

Fern’s transformation also changes the balance of power.

What initially appears to be a simple deal for her silence develops into something far more unpredictable as her new identity begins to take over.

A darker alternative to traditional teen movies

Part of Jawbreaker’s lasting appeal comes from how sharply it differs from many other high-school movies of its era.

Instead of presenting teenage popularity as something glamorous, the film turns it into something grotesque and dangerous.

The social hierarchy of Reagan High becomes almost theatrical.

Appearances matter more than truth, reputation becomes more valuable than friendship and the characters repeatedly make increasingly desperate choices to protect their positions.

The result is a film that plays like both a teen comedy and a twisted crime story.

Its exaggerated tone allows it to satirize the obsession with popularity while still delivering the kind of dramatic confrontations expected from a high-school movie.

Its influence has lasted far beyond 1999

Over the years, Jawbreaker has continued to find new audiences.

Its visual style, performances and dark humor have helped it earn the kind of following that often eluded it during its initial theatrical run.

The film is now frequently remembered alongside other sharply stylized teen movies that challenged the conventions of the genre.

Its combination of murder, makeover culture and high-school politics gave it an identity that remains difficult to mistake for anything else.

For longtime fans, that makes its departure from Netflix particularly notable.

Netflix viewers have until September 30

Subscribers still have time to watch the film before it disappears from the platform.

The final day to stream Jawbreaker on Netflix is September 30.

That leaves audiences only a few weeks to revisit Courtney, Julie, Marcie and Fern’s increasingly chaotic attempt to survive the aftermath of one terrible birthday prank.

More than 25 years after its release, Jawbreaker remains an unusual mix of satire, crime and teen comedy — and one that ultimately found a much bigger audience after leaving theaters than it ever did during its original run.