A Guardian film writer reflects on 1983's teen romance Valley Girl, explaining why it remains their most-watched feelgood film. Written as part of a series on comfort movies, the piece traces the writer's teenage fascination with 1980s pop culture and teen films, and why this particular title, a new wave twist on Romeo and Juliet, stood out among genre classics such as Sixteen Candles and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

The film follows Julie (Deborah Foreman), daughter of laid-back hippie parents, as she falls for punk outsider Randy, played by Nicolas Cage in one of his earliest roles, despite pressure from friends to reconcile with her boorish ex-boyfriend Tommy. The writer credits director Martha Coolidge's documentary background for grounding the story in authentic 1980s Los Angeles detail rather than caricature, and notes the film arrived shortly after Frank Zappa's satirical 1982 song of the same name, which Zappa unsuccessfully tried to distance from the movie via lawsuit.