From Sixteen Candles to The Breakfast Club, the films of John Hughes are known for giving voice to the generation that came of age in the ’80s. They captured the social pressures and responsibilities that teens struggled against in high school, giving them permission to accept the messy reality of their lives and embrace the present. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which was released in theaters 40 years ago on June 11, 1986, was the epitome of all that. As Matthew Broderick memorably said in the title role: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
The movie follows Ferris Bueller, a kid who has his parents, and most everyone else, wrapped around his little finger. He has perfected the art of faking illness, and uses this scheme to skip school and enjoy one last day in Chicago with his girlfriend (Sloane, played by Mia Sara) and his best friend (the high-strung Cameron, played by Alan Ruck), before the guys graduate. Among their exploits, the trio go to a Cubs game, a fine dining restaurant, the Art Institute of Chicago and a downtown parade, where Ferris commandeers a float and lip syncs to “Danke Schoen” for the crowd.
And why not? When you’re about to leave for college and everything’s going to change, sometimes the best thing you can do is blow off school for a day to enjoy life — and make sure it doesn’t pass you by.
To celebrate the iconic teen movie’s 40th anniversary, THR checks in on the cast of the culture-defining hit — including Broderick, Ruck, Sara and Jennifer Grey — to see where life has taken them in the decades since its release.