Is this the Teen Spirit with Elle Fanning singing pop songs?

No. That's the 2018 PG-13 indie drama about a teenager entering an international singing competition. This 2011 Teen Spirit is a made-for-TV comedy from the old ABC Family channel about a popular girl's ghost playing fairy godmother before prom.

Why does Common Sense Media have this at age 14 when it's on Disney+?

Because it originally aired on ABC Family (now Freeform) for a teen audience rather than Disney Channel's younger crowd. There's nothing genuinely shocking in it, just typical high school party references, teen romance, and mean-girl insults that skew closer to 11–14 than single-digit ages.

Is the electrocution death scene scary for younger kids?

Not at all. It's staged like a cartoon gag to kick off the ghost premise within the first few minutes, with zero gore or heavy grief afterward.

What should we watch instead if my kid wants a good high school comedy?

If they want the classic makeover/popularity satire done ten times better, put on Clueless or the original 2004 Mean Girls. If they want a Disney-era body-swap or supernatural comedy with actual charm, the 2003 Lindsay Lohan Freaky Friday holds up way better than this.

Teen Spirit – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Teen Spirit

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2011

52%

WISE Score

5.4

IMDb

A popular girl gets fatally electrocuted at prom and has to turn the school outcast into Prom Queen to get into heaven.

5.4/10

41%

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Teen Spirit

movie

PG-13, 2011

52%

WISE Score

5.4

IMDb

A popular girl gets fatally electrocuted at prom and has to turn the school outcast into Prom Queen to get into heaven.

5.4

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5.4/10

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Screenwise Verdict

Not to be confused with the 2018 Elle Fanning singing drama of the same name, this 2011 Teen Spirit is an old ABC Family original movie currently sitting in the Disney+ catalog. The premise is pure early-2010s basic cable: mean girl Amber gets electrocuted, dies, and is told she can only get into heaven if she goes back as a ghost to help the school's least popular girl win Prom Queen.

It is harmless, aggressively mediocre fluff. Because it was made for network cable, the edges are sanded down—the death is played as a cartoon gag, and the teen drama stays well within typical PG/TV-PG territory. The real penalty here is quality. Unless your kid is on a specific kick for cheesy makeover movies and mid-tier 2010s teen nostalgia, there are dozens of sharper, funnier high school comedies to put on first.

Age Fit

Fine for tweens and young teens (11–15) looking for a harmless, cheesy high school comedy on Disney+, though anyone over 16 without heavy early-2010s nostalgia will find it painfully corny.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

The core plot is a standard redemption arc where a dead mean girl has to learn empathy by helping an outcast win Prom Queen. It spends the first act wallowing in typical TV-movie high school cruelty and superficiality before landing on the expected 'be nice to people' message.

Imaginative

It mashes up Mean Girls, She's All That, and a classic guardian-angel trope with the budget and creative ambition of a 2011 basic-cable filler movie.

Safe

Made for ABC Family (now Freeform) and currently streaming on Disney+. The opening premise involves the protagonist getting electrocuted to death, but it's played as broad, camp comedy rather than horror. Expect standard teen-movie mean-girl bullying, mild language, and light romantic/party tropes.

Enriching

There is a basic takeaway about looking past popularity contests and being a decent friend, though the movie still treats a makeover and winning a popularity crown as the primary vehicle for self-worth.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Low-stakes camp for tweens and teens who enjoy cheesy 2010s TV movies and high school makeover tropes.
Clear redemption arc that eventually pushes back against the protagonist's initial cruelty and status obsession.
Tame cable footprint because it was built for ABC Family/Freeform, keeping the teen drama free of the heavier content found in modern prestige teen shows.

⚠

What to Watch For

Mixed messages on popularity since the movie critiques superficial high school cliques while still using a standard makeover and Prom Queen campaign to solve the outcast's problems.
Peak 2011 TV-movie energy that feels cheap and dated; a 5.4 on IMDb and 41% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes are generous for how disposable the script is.

Conversation Starters

"Does helping someone only so you can get a reward count as doing a good deed?"
"Why do teen movies always act like taking off someone's glasses or changing their clothes fixes their whole social life?"
"At what point did Amber start caring about Lisa for real instead of just treating her like a project?"

What Parents Ask

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