---
title: "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"
year: 1986
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/ferris-buellers-day-off"
fi1m_id: "ferris-buellers-day-off"
imdb_id: "tt0091042"
tmdb_id: 9377
wikidata_id: "Q498906"
fi1m_score: 81
critics_score: 63
critics_reviews: 11
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:36.919515+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Directed by John Hughes · 1h 43m · MPA PG-13 · Comedy

## Identity

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/ferris-buellers-day-off
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** ferris-buellers-day-off
- **IMDb ID:** tt0091042
- **TMDB ID:** 9377
- **Wikidata ID:** Q498906
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9377, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q498906

**Fi1m score: 81** · Critics 63 from 11 reviews

*In a sentence:* Ferris Bueller skips school with the confidence of a boy expecting a thank-you letter

> John Hughes’s school-skipping comedy is funny and generous, though its hero can be hard to take. Matthew Broderick supplies the charm; Alan Ruck gives the day out a reason to matter.

## Synopsis

Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) decides to skip school and spend the day in Chicago. His friends Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) and Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) join him, with a baseball game among the alternatives to lessons. Principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) has rather less enthusiasm for Ferris’s freedom. As Ferris persuades other people to go along with his plans, the outing also becomes a chance to help his best friend find some self-respect. John Hughes writes and directs this comedy about a teenager determined to enjoy a day on his own terms.

## Review

*Ferris Bueller’s Day Off* is a funny, warm school comedy with one persistent nuisance: its hero expects the world to agree with him. John Hughes gives him a day in Chicago and enough charm to persuade us to come along. We recommend the trip, with reservations about the boy organising it. The film enjoys his ingenuity, but it also finds something worth caring about in the friend who cannot share his confidence. That friendship keeps the truancy from becoming merely a demonstration of how clever Ferris is.

Matthew Broderick makes Ferris’s self-satisfaction bearable by keeping the performance light. He lets us see the pleasure of a successful manipulation without labouring to make each one seem a feat of genius. His ease matters: Ferris would be intolerable if the actor seemed as impressed with him as Hughes sometimes does. Instead, Broderick leaves enough room for us to notice the absurdity of a teenager treating his own leisure as everyone’s most pressing concern.

Alan Ruck supplies the necessary resistance as Cameron Frye. We felt unexpectedly protective of Cameron, because Ruck makes being swept along by Ferris look exhausting. The day out means more when one of the friends has trouble enjoying it, and Ruck gives that trouble enough weight to survive the jokes. Hughes’s belief that friendship might help a teenager find some self-respect is touching. Ferris’s manner of helping is open to question, which gives their scenes a useful discomfort.

Tak Fujimoto’s cinematography makes Chicago look inviting enough to explain the truancy without another sales pitch from Ferris. The city is a substantial part of the film’s appeal, particularly when the art-museum sequence lets looking take precedence over getting away with something. John W. Corso’s production design gives the suburban comfort a similar importance. Ferris’s surroundings help explain why he expects so little resistance from life, though Hughes is not especially interested in what that freedom might cost anyone outside this fortunate circle.

Paul Hirsch’s editing keeps the outing brisk without making every stop feel like another gag to be ticked off. The quieter passages matter because constant cleverness would soon become tiresome, even with Broderick delivering it. Ira Newborn’s music helps the jokes along, though the pop songs make the stronger impression. This is an uncomplicated use of music, but it suits a film whose immediate ambition is to make a day away from school look worth the bother.

The writing is less generous to Mia Sara’s Sloane Peterson, who has too little to do beside the two boys. Sara is appealing company, but Hughes does not give her an equally interesting reason to be there. Jeffrey Jones fares better as principal Ed Rooney, bringing comic force to the authority Ferris treats as an inconvenience. The broader school material is uneven, though, and Hughes sometimes seems to think that putting an adult in Ferris’s way is enough to make that adult ridiculous.

A teenage comedy is allowed to take the teenager’s side. Our reservation is that Hughes makes Ferris so secure in his own cleverness that a little uncertainty would have improved both the character and the comedy. Cameron supplies enough of it to keep the film from wearing out its welcome. Choose it for an evening when escape sounds attractive, and do not expect much sympathy for anyone taking the register.

*Fi1m score 81, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics like it, though not with much heat. Six of the eleven are positive, and the praise gathers around Matthew Broderick, whose breezy, likeable performance nearly every admirer treats as the reason the film works. Hughes gets credit for skewering the school authorities, for the Chicago locations, and for Cameron’s story, which the warmer reviews say gives the comedy more weight than its thin premise suggests.

The spread is wide. Three reviews are flatly negative, and their complaint is the same: Ferris himself. The Los Angeles Times finds him too smug and invincible, Time Out wishes someone had confronted him, and Slant reads the film as a celebration of upper-middle-class entitlement. Variety finds no plot at all. Even the sceptics enjoy Jeffrey Jones as the principal, and The AV Club, revisiting it, calls it engaging but unfunny comfort food. The objections come from 1986 and from later reappraisals alike, so this is not simply a film that has dated.

## Straight answers

**Is Ferris Bueller's Day Off worth watching?**

*Ferris Bueller's Day Off* is worth watching, and we scored it 81, a funny and warm school comedy whose main drawback is a hero who expects everyone to agree with him. Matthew Broderick keeps that self-satisfaction light enough to bear, and Alan Ruck's Cameron gives the day out something to care about. Choose it when escape sounds attractive.

**How long is Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and what is it rated?**

*Ferris Bueller's Day Off* runs 1h 43m and is rated PG-13 by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy film.

**Where can I watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off in the US?**

*Ferris Bueller's Day Off* is streaming on Apple TV, Paramount+, AMC+, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video and The Roku Channel in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and is it suitable for children?**

*Ferris Bueller's Day Off* is not violent or frightening; it is a comedy about a teenager skipping school, and the UK 15 certificate reflects language and adult humour rather than anything alarming. It suits teenagers well. Parents of younger children should note the certificate, though there is nothing in it we would call disturbing.

**How does Ferris Bueller's Day Off compare to Dazed and Confused?**

*Ferris Bueller's Day Off* is the brisker and more tightly built of the two, while [*Dazed and Confused*](https://film.one/film/dazed-and-confused) gives more room to the people outside the spotlight and notices the cruelty beneath its celebrations. Ferris is a one-boy show with a fine supporting turn; Linklater's film is an ensemble that occasionally wanders. Pick the former for jokes, the latter for company.

### Reviews we read (11)

- **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a free-spirited romp and summer sleeper hit that cleverly skewers high-school authority figures. Broderick's breezy, engaging performance is singled out as a highlight. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/ferris-buellers-day-thrs-1986-800350/)
- **The New York Times**, Nina Darnton (90/100, inferred): Ferris Bueller leads a charmed life and skillfully manipulates others to play hooky with inspired genius. John Hughes brings his finger on the pulse of teen-age America to this story of a popular senior's day off. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/11/movies/screen-a-youth-s-day-off.html)
- **Empire**, Adam Smith (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an irresistibly likeable and sunny comedy that celebrates youth in mid-80s America while having deeper roots than expected. Broderick's central performance is singled out as astonishing and essential to its charm. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ferris-bueller-day-review/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (70/100, inferred): A sweet, warm-hearted comedy about a teenager who skips school to help his best friend gain self-respect through a day in Chicago. The film is slight, whimsical and sweet, with its heart in the right place despite simplistic solutions. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ferris-buellers-day-off-1986)
- **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (C): The review finds the film has aged poorly into engaging but unfunny comfort food. It singles out the main trio's city adventure and Chicago locations for mild appeal while criticizing flat supporting material. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/ferris-buellers-day-off-1798201393)
- **Time Out**, SGo (50/100, inferred): The critic describes Ferris as a manipulative boy who gets whatever he wants while screwing others over and being praised for it. Hughes celebrates his ingenuity but ultimately underscores that people matter more than possessions, though the reviewer finds Ferris irritating enough to wish someone had confronted him. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ferris-buellers-day-off)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Patrick Goldstein (30/100, inferred): Hughes miscalculates by making the hero too smug and invincible, turning the film into a stale, sour-edged celebration of the New Conformist. The principal's comic performance is a highlight, but the Chicago travelogue feels dull and passionless. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-11-ca-10612-story.html)
- **Slant Magazine** (30/100, inferred): The critic views the film as a carefree but ultimately unchallenging celebration of upper-middle-class entitlement. The art-museum sequence is praised for its satirical precision amid the suburban satire. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/ferris-buellers-day-off/)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (**): John Hughes is on an off day with a thin premise and total absence of plot or involving situations. Broderick's likeability cannot compensate, though Jeffrey Jones delivers a delicious comic performance as the principal. [Read](https://variety.com/1985/film/reviews/ferris-bueller-s-day-off-1200426925/)
- **Paste**, Bonnie Stiernberg (90/100, inferred): The critic considers Ferris Bueller’s Day Off her all-time favorite film, a personal constant that feels inherited and culturally ubiquitous. She praises its adult take on Hughes’ teen films through its carpe diem message and how Cameron’s story elevates it from good to great. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/what-have-you-seen-today-revisiting-ferris-bueller)
- **Eye for Film**, Darren Amner (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's snappy dialogue, catchy pop tunes, and memorable set-pieces as a thought-provoking look at adolescence. They highlight the strong cast, particularly Matthew Broderick's charming performance and the effective direction and writing by John Hughes. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/ferris-buellers-day-off-film-review-by-darren-amner)

## Details

- **Director:** John Hughes
- **Director:** John Hughes
- **Writer:** John Hughes
- **Cinematography:** Tak Fujimoto
- **Editor:** Paul Hirsch
- **Music:** Ira Newborn
- **Production design:** John W. Corso
- **Costume design:** Marilyn Vance
- **Producer:** John Hughes, Tom Jacobson
- **Cast:** Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller; Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye; Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson; Jeffrey Jones as Ed Rooney; Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller; Cindy Pickett as Katie Bueller; Lyman Ward as Tom Bueller; Edie McClurg as Grace, School Secretary
- **Runtime:** 1h 43m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13
- **Release (the US):** 11 June 1986
- **Genres:** Comedy
- **Budget:** $6 million
- **Box office:** $70 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZDbKhkLxTs

## Where to watch in the US

- Apple TV: streaming, uhd
- Paramount+: streaming, hd
- AMC+: streaming
- Pluto TV: free
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Apple TV: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $4.99, hd
- Apple TV: rent $4.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-15.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HU, IE, IN, IT, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Dazed and Confused* (1993), Fi1m 86: Another school escape, with more room for the people outside the spotlight. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dazed-and-confused.md)
- *Good Morning* (1959): A gentler household rebellion, with children proving surprisingly difficult to negotiate with.
- *Gregory's Girl* (1981): For teenage confidence repeatedly undone by people with a better grasp of things.
- *We Are the Best!* (2013): Three girls make their own entertainment, with stubbornness where musical skill should be.
- *Sing Street* (2016): For teenagers using music to make their surroundings feel less permanent.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/ferris-buellers-day-off