20 films plots that would be quickly resolved by modern tech

Paper calendars were the norm when Sixteen Candles dropped in 1984, but they weren’t always looked at or remembered, for that matter. This is why Samantha’s family forgot her birthday. Had they had a family Google calendar set, they would have gotten a notification, and then Samantha’s teen angst couldn’t have grown, and the rest of the movie would’ve had to pivot.

The phone lines were down, but a cellphone would have allowed Kevin to call his parents or for his mom to notice that his phone was still at home via a phone tracking app.

Chris would never have had to leave her babysitting duties if Brenda could have just gotten an Uber.

Cinderella’s evil stepmother might have been a little easier on her if she had been able to hire a housekeeper through an app like Thumbtack. 

High school reunions haven’t become obsolete, but it is getting harder and harder to convince people to spend the cash on them since Facebook keeps people up to date on their former classmates for free.

In today’s world, Charlie would have had to have an app to enter some code to win, and that family could not afford a phone if they could barely scrape together food.

In a world where the youth thrive off of dancing on the likes of TikTok, it’d be impossible to ban an app that thrives off dance.

Ring cameras and the like would have caught Scott Calvin causing someone’s death off his roof, which would have gotten the authorities involved immediately.

In a world where reality television is one of the most watched and beloved, The Truman Show would likely be just another in an endless sea, getting outshined by a Housewife or Kardashian.

The second their mother tried to call them via Zoom and saw no babysitter and that the house was running wild, she would’ve been on a plane back.

The beauty of Rebel Without a Cause is the connection the three teens have over their varied woes with life. Today, teens find that same level of connection — only it’s online. So, all of the characters' in-person interactions would be obsolete.

In the modern world, Taxi Driver is Stuber, and maybe 15 people saw Stuber. So, yeah, the plot and movie would be ruined.

There are a few ways Pretty Woman fails to be Pretty Woman with tech. Edward would’ve just used a rideshare, so he would not have stumbled upon Vivian. He could have used an app to meet a woman, but anyone who’s dated online knows that perfect matches aren’t that magical. Lastly, her big shopping spree would’ve been done online, and there is no “big mistake, huge” without being in person.

Even with the authority figure out of the room, a group of teens would not engage if they had their phones.

Clark Griswold could have spent more time with his family than on the lights had he had Taskrabbit.

Jasmine would have done a quick social media deep dive and found out that Aladdin was lying.

Thomas J would have just ordered Vada another mood ring off Etsy and called it a day.

The whole boombox scene kind of loses its charm when replaced by a phone or iPod.

The narrator would have heard about Better Help or some other form of therapy on a podcast and realized their issues before things got out of hand.

If Zoom had been around, Callahan Auto would not have had to send anyone for those business meetings, so the entire road trip of the movie would be dead and gone.