Fast food has been around for a loooooong time. And in that span of time, it has firmly earned its place in popular culture. Who could deny the cultural impact of chains like McDonald’s or White Castle, right?
Lots of filmmakers turn to these fast food joints or fast food in general, to tell a compelling story. It goes to prove that fast food isn’t just something we eat; it also encourages us to get creative!
Whether it’s set in a greasy kitchen or it’s about life behind the grill or even the history behind certain franchises, these are the top 15 movies featuring fast food. We dare you to try and not get hungry while watching these movies.
15. Good Burger (1997) – Good Burger (Fictional)
Back in the 90s, Nickelodeon had a live action variety show called ‘All That’ which is basically ‘Saturday Night Live’ but for children. And from this variety show, they had a sketch that eventually got a movie adaptation called Good Burger. This movie is about a high school student, Dexter Reed, who has to take a summer job at Good Burger to pay for damages he did when he crashed his mother’s car. This cult classic didn’t just give us one iconic fictional burger joint, it gave us two! Watching the duo of Dexter and Ed as they try to put Good Burger on top of Mondo Burger is the stuff of 90s comedy legend. If you’re looking for a good time in a movie, look no further than Good Burger and its recently released sequel, Good Burger 2.
14. Super Size Me (2004) – McDonald’s
This is a movie that doesn’t exactly celebrate fast food. In fact, it does the opposite. This documentary follows indie filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, as he tries to discover the effect of eating only McDonald’s food for a period of 30 days. As we all know, fast food isn’t exactly healthy and as much as we enjoy it, we must remember to keep things in moderation. Super Size Me shows us the danger of indulging too much in these greasy treats. It’s a great movie that reminds us to always watch what we eat and make sure to keep ourselves healthy.
13. Fast Food (1989) – Pop’s Burger Station (Fictional)
This movie is kind of an underrated gem. Not a lot of people know this low budget comedy despite featuring Jim Varney, one of the biggest comedians at the time, in a main role. As the title implies, Fast Food is about a man who wants to turn his garage into a burger joint and make more money so he doesn’t have to sell it to a fast food businessman. When their competition proves to be a little strong, they come up with a secret sauce that literally drives people insane. It’s a fun low budget movie that really shows what you can do with fast food as the central point of your story.
12. Slice (2018) – Perfect Pizza Base (Fictional)
Even esteemed distribution companies like A24 know how much fast food can be a fun plot point in movies when they released this horror comedy back in 2018. Slice is about a small town called Kingfisher where several pizza delivery men working for Perfect Pizza Base get murdered by unknown killers. This has everything you want in a horror comedy about fast food. It has witches, ghosts, werewolves, knife wielding murders, and most importantly, it has pizza. If that’s not enough to get you interested, this movie also features the acting debut of rapper, Chance Bennet who you may know more as Chance the Rapper.
11. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004) – The Krusty Krab (Fictional)
Everyone’s favorite fry cook goes on an animated adventure in his 2004 film debut. When we think about Spongebob, the first thing we’ll probably associate with him is his passion for burgers called Krabby Patties. In this movie, he embarks on a quest to save the Krusty Krab so that they could open a 2nd branch. He even drives the Patty Wagon, a burger shaped vehicle that runs on a fuel injected french fryer with dual overhead grease traps.
10. Fast Food Nation (2006) – Mickey’s Burgers (Fictional)
While movies like Super Size Me shows us the dangers of fast food through a realistic lens, there are some movies that tell the same story but just a little more comical. Fast Food Nation is a black comedy shot as a fictional documentary that tells the story about what exactly goes into your favorite fast food meals behind closed doors. It features a fictional fast food chain called Mickey’s Burgers and its most popular meal, the Big One. The great thing about this movie is that it doesn’t preach to viewers that fast food is bad (I mean we all know that too much of it is), instead, it just shows us how fast food really is and leaves us to decide what to do about it. It’s a great movie for sure but not as good as the other movies we have up ahead.
9. Compliance (2012) – Chick-wich (Fictional)
If you thought that Super Size Me can be a disturbing look at fast food, this movie focuses more on the disturbing aspects of human nature; specifically the regular people who work jobs in fast food. Loosely based on a real life incident that took place in 2004, this movie is about a police officer who calls up a fast food chain and asks them to do increasingly unlawful things in the name of the law. I don’t want to spoil this movie any further but it does get pretty intense.
8. Waiting…(2005) – Shenanigan’s (Fictional)
Before Ryan Reynolds was the Hollywood mega star he is today, he had his humble beginnings starring in independent comedy films. One of those films is called ‘Waiting…’ and it’s a slacker film about the employees at a fast food chain called Shenaningan’s. It’s a pretty funny movie about what goes on in the lives of people who work in service at fast food companies. If you enjoyed classic 2000s comedies like Superbad and American Pie, this movie will be right up your alley.
7. Coming to America (1988) – McDowell’s (Fictional)
Eddie Murphy was at the height of his stardom when he wrote and starred in this classic 80s movie, Coming to America. It’s about a wealthy African prince who travels to the United States in order to look for the love of his life. During his time in America, he got himself an entry level job at a McDonald’s knock off called McDowell’s. As you could probably tell, this fish out of water comedy shows us how much we take employees at a fast food chain for granted. It’s a feel good comedy that helps us appreciate the little things in life a little more.
6. Tampopo (1985) – Tampopo (Fictional)
We’ve all heard about Spaghetti Westerns but have you heard of Ramen Westerns? Released in 1985, Tampopo is a movie that’s so wildly original that you can’t exactly pinpoint what it’s about. All you need to know is that this movie is universally loved and each of its intersecting stories involve ramen one way or another. And before you go and question us, we checked that ramen is indeed considered fast food in Japan. If you want a story about how fast food can bring people together and how it plays a huge part in our lives, do yourself a favor and watch this movie.
5. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle – White Castle
White Castle is credited as being the first ever fast food chain in America. With that kind of background, it’s no surprise that they chose White Castle to kick off the successful comedy franchise of Harold & Kumar. In this movie, Kal Penn and John Cho star as the title characters in this road comedy as they try their best to overcome hurdles just so they can have White Castle’s signature sliders. If you’ve ever tried their sliders, you’ll understand why they’ll go through all that just to have them. It’s a great comedy movie with tons of pop culture references and gags guaranteed to crack you up.
4. Chef (2014) – El Jefe (Fictional)
You may know Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan from the MCU. But did you know that he also had a successful career behind the camera as a director? Not only did he kick off the MCU when he directed the first Iron Man movie, he also helmed one of the best movies ever dedicated to food. In 2014, he made this intimate comedy/drama about a celebrity chef who decided to open a food truck with the help of his young son. In a case of art imitating life, Favreau created this movie when he felt burnt out after directing blockbusters. Needless to say, it was a success and we all got treated to a movie that teaches us how fast food can bring us together.
3. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) – All-American Burger (Fictional)
This 80s classic shows us a time when it was more common for kids in high school to take up part time jobs in fast food restaurants. The way they portray this was so culturally and historically accurate that the United States National Film Registry decided to preserve this film for future generations. Fast Times at Ridgemont High is about the coming of age of a group of sophomores who work entry level jobs to make ends meet. It’s not only one of the greatest 80s movies of all time, it’s also the debut film of some of the greatest actors we’ve ever seen like Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage.
2. Clerks 2 (2004) – Mooby’s (Fictional)
Kevin Smith came out with the sequel to his 1994 classic slacker comedy about a day in the life of working in a convenience store with Clerks 2 in 2004. The movie picks up 10 years after the original and features everyone’s favorite clerks, Dante Hicks and Randall Graves. This time, they’re working in a fast food chain called Mooby’s where most of the movie will take place. It’s a great sequel that retains the charm of the original and made the switch from black and white to fully colored. It’s a movie that best describes what goes on in the day to day of fast food employees but with some twists here and there.
1. The Founder (2016) – McDonald’s
There should be no debate that the greatest movie featuring fast food is about how the greatest fast food chain of all time came to be. The Founder was an instant classic and even generated a ton of Oscar buzz when it was first released. This movie is a biopic about Ray Kroc, and how he had to get his hands dirty to turn McDonald’s into the fast food giant we know today. It’s an interesting look at the business side of the industry and how aggressive everything is despite fast food’s cheerful appearance. This is the greatest movie about fast food and is something that everyone should see.