If you’re a die-hard fan of hairstyling and would love to see all the actions on screen, check out our list of the best hair movies!
You’ll get to see the various hairstyles ranging from long, beautiful hair to bob cuts. There are also movies about the various hair cultures and legendary hairstylists who revolutionized the hair care industry.
Enjoy!
Reviews of 12 Best Hair Movies
1. Hairspray (1988, 2007)
Set in Baltimore in the 1960s, Hairspray is a musical romantic comedy based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name.
Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) is a 16-year-old plump student who is a fan of the teen dance TV show – The Corny Collins Show. She dreams of one day dancing on the show.
When auditions are held, Tracy seizes the opportunity and gets selected as her moves get the attention of Corny. Later on, she quickly becomes a popular dancer but soon meets with new dilemmas – an envious dance queen, and a tradition of racial discrimination.
Movie Info
Award Info
Award | Status |
MTV Movie Award | Won |
Hollywood Film Festival & Hollywood Awards | Won |
Critics’ Choice Awards | Won |
Teens Choice Awards | Won |
People’s Choice Awards | Won |
65th Golden Globe Awards | Nominated |
Grammy Award | Nominated |
2. Steel Magnolias (1989)
Steel Magnolias is an American comedy-drama film that is an adaptation of Robert Harling’s play of the same name. The movie is about a group of women, their friendship, and how their lives unfold in a small town.
Annelle (Daryl Hannah) – a shy beauty school graduate, moves to Louisiana where Truvy (Dolly Parton) hires her to work at her home beauty salon.
Around the same time, M’ Lynn (Sally Field) prepares for her daughter – Shelby (Julia Roberts) who is diabetic, to get married. They – along with Clairee (Olympia Dukakis), the former mayor’s widow, arrive at the Truvy’s to get their hair done and meet Annelle.
As time passes, the women encounter numerous life events – including ups and downs, and become closer in the process.
Movie Info
3. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Edward Scissorhands is a fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton.
Johnny Depp plays Edward – an artificial humanoid created by a madman scientist (Vincent Price). Unfortunate for Edward, the scientist dies before finishing assembling him and therefore leaving Edward with a rather rugged appearance and scissor blades for hands.
His life takes an unexpected turn as a kind saleswoman named Peg discovers him in the abandoned castle and takes him home. There Edward makes friends with the locals and also falls in love with her daughter, Kim.
Despite his artistic talents and kindness, Edward struggles with life in the neighborhood.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 45 minutes |
Genre | Fantasy, Comedy, Drama, Romance |
Director | Tim Burton |
Studio | 20th Century Fox |
Award Info
Award | Status |
Academy Award for Best Makeup – Stan Winston | Nominated |
BAFTA Award for Best Production Design | Won |
British Academy Film Awards | Nominated |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy – Johnny Depp | Nominated |
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation | Won |
4. The Big Tease (1999)
The Big Tease is a comedy film starring Craig Ferguson and directed by Kevin Allen.
Crawford (Craig Ferguson) is a hairdresser of Scottish descent who – while being filmed as part of a BBC documentary, is invited to attend the World Hairdresser International Federation annual contest held in Los Angeles.
We follow as he tries to ease his way into the contest and delivers one of the finest hair creations of his career.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 26 minutes |
Genre | Comedy |
Director | Kevin Allen |
Studio | Warner Bros. |
5. Blow Dry (2001)
Blow Dry is a British comedy film directed by Paddy Breathnach about a small English town where the British Hairdressing Championship takes place.
Shelley (Natasha Richardson) operates a hairdressing shop with her partner Sandra in Keighley. As Shelley’s health has been deteriorating secondary to cancer, she wants to attend the hairdressing championship one last time. She asks her ex-husband, son, and Sandra to form a team and compete.
Little does she know the many predicaments that ensue.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 31 minutes |
Genre | Comedy |
Director | Paddy Breathnach |
Studio | IMF |
6. Barbershop (2002)
Barbershop is a comedy drama directed by Tim Story based on a story by Mark Brown. The film is about the social life of the members of a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. It is the first of the Barbershop series.
Calvin (Ice Cube) who inherits a barbershop from his father struggles to get the business going. He then decides to sell the shop to a local, only to realize that he made a mistake as the barbershop means many things – a community, a forum, a place to foster friendship, and so much more.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 42 minutes |
Genre | Comedy |
Director | Tim Story |
Studio | State Street Pictures |
7. Beauty Shop (2005)
Beauty Shop is a comedy film directed by Bille Woodruff, loosely based on the Barbershop film franchise.
Gina (Queen Latifah) is a hairstylist who moves to Atlanta with her daughter so that she could attend the local music school. Gina wants to make a name for herself and decides to set up her own salon.
Her previous boss – Jorge, is upset that some of his employees and clients start coming to Gina’s salon instead of his and attempting different plots to revert that.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 45 minutes |
Genre | Comedy |
Director | Bille Woodruff |
Studio | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
8. Sweeney Todd (2007)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a musical slasher film based on a Tony award-winning musical of the same name. Directed by Tim Burton, the film is about an English barber, Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) – who commits serial murders with his razor. His accomplice is a landlady named Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter).
Set in the year 1831, Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is a barber in London, living with his wife Lucy and daughter Johanna. Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) happens to fancy Lucy and decides to falsely convict Ben and exiles him to Australia.
Returning to London 15 years later and now more or less a mad-man, Ben changes his name to Sweeney Todd and vows revenge. While shaving his customers, Todd slits their throats and shuttles their bodies to the basement to Mrs. Lovett – where she could use the ingredients for her meat pies.
The film received much praise for its outstanding cast, musical, costume, set design, and for its faithfulness to the 1979 musical. It was nominated for and won several awards.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 57 minutes |
Genre | Crime, Mystery and Thriller, Musical, Drama |
Director | Tim Burton |
Starring | Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall |
Studio | Zanuck Company |
Award Info
Award | Status |
Academy Awards for Best Performance by an Actor, Costume Design | Nominated |
Academy Award for Best Art Direction | Won |
British Academy Film Awards for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hair | Nominated |
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture | Won |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor | Won |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress | Nominated |
Golden Globe Award for Best Director | Nominated |
9. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (2008)
This is an American action black comedy film with Dennis Dugan as the director and Adam Sandler as the main actor. It is the fourth film that features the collaboration between the two.
The plot revolves around Zohan Dvir (Adam Sandler) – an Israeli counter-terrorist commando who decides to quit what’s he’s doing by faking his own death and starts a new life as a hairstylist in New York.
Zohan’s scissor skills and sexiness earn him much popularity with the women of Manhattan. Things seem to be going well for him until members of the enemy forces spot him on the streets and decide to track him down.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 53 minutes |
Genre | Comedy |
Director | Dennis Dugan |
Starring | Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui |
Studio | Columbia Pictures |
10. Good Hair (2009)
Good Hair is a documentary film directed by Jeff Stilson and starring comedian Chris Rock. The documentary focuses on the complicated relationship between African American women and their hair.
Rock was inspired to make the movie after his 3-year-old daughter asked as to why she didn’t have good hair. Most African Americans have kinky and curly hair that is difficult to style. He then decided to delve into the black hair industry and encourage people to talk about the importance of hair in black culture.
In the film, Rock visits beauty salons, barbershops, hairstyling conventions, scientific laboratories that produce hair straightening substances, and interviews celebrities such as Ice-T and Raven Symone.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 53 minutes |
Genre | Comedy |
Director | Dennis Dugan |
Starring | Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui |
Studio | Columbia Pictures |
Award Info
Award | Status |
Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival | Won |
Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America | Nominated |
11. Vidal Sassoon: The Movie 2010
Vidal Sassoon: The Movie chronicles the life of Vidal Sassoon – a legendary hairstylist who revolutionized the women’s hair care and fashion industry in the UK and around the world. He was most famous for the ‘five-point cut’ and his expertise in quick and easy-to-maintain haircuts that free women from tedious long hours spent at the salon.
Sassoon had a rather difficult upbringing – he was abandoned by his father and placed in an orphanage because his mother could not afford to raise him on her own. She taught him his first hairdressing lessons.
From his first salon shop on Bond Street, he then went on to become one of Britain’s cultural icons having invented and popularized many hairstyles.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 30 minutes |
Genre | Documentary |
Director | Craig Teper |
Starring | Elgin Charles, Irina Khokhlova, Kai-Li Ma, Mary Quant, Ronnie Sassoon |
Studio | Vidal Sassoon: The Movie |
12. Mansome (2012)
Mansome is a documentary film directed by Morgan Spurlock and starring Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Ben Silverman. It is considered one of the best hair movies.
The documentary follows 3 men with very different opinions on facial hair and men’s grooming: Jack Passion, Ricky Manchanda, and Shawn Daivari.
Jack is considered America’s greatest beardsman and won first place at the German Beard and Moustache Championship. He believes that a man’s natural state is to be bearded.
On the contrary, Ricky is a fashion buyer and believes in proper grooming and being clean-shaven. He also does routine skincare.
Last but not least is Shawn Daivari – a professional wrestler who adheres to extreme grooming requirements demanded by his profession.
Movie Info
Duration | 1 hour 24 minutes |
Genre | Documentary |
Director | Morgan Spurlock |
Studio | MPI Home Video |
FAQs – Hair Movies
This movie is not a remake. Although it is similar to the other 2 versions, it has several elements of plot and character unique to each version.
Yes, except for two of the Dynamites.
The idea for the movie is actually inspired by Tim Burton’s own childhood. As a kid, he was not able to communicate well with those around him and usually expressed his feelings in drawing. The American writer Caroline Thompson then worked the story into a screenplay.
Ms. Mooney is a rival pie maker. She uses ‘pussycats and toast’ to make her pies.
Summing Up the Best Hair Movies
That is all for our 12 best hair movies in 2020. So far you’ve had a look through the various films that feature hairstyling, hair products, and even the hairstylists themselves. Some of the movies also incorporate meaningful social themes such as the relationship between African American women and their hair.
We hope you’ve found what you’ve been looking for and have a great time watching these movies with your loved ones!
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