This Breakfast Club Theory Suggests The Entire Movie Was A Daydream - But Whose?

Many of the most seminal and iconic films of the 1980s came from the mind of John Hughes. The writer behind "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Some Kinda Wonderful" and the director of "Sixteen Candles" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," one of the filmmaker's most beloved films remains "The Breakfast Club."

The timeless story of five kids who society has placed into a box based on their most notable characteristics, "The Breakfast Club," follows an eventful day of conversation in Saturday detention between a group of teenage outcasts. However, some fans of the film think that the revelations of the day and how much it changes their lives are almost too perfect.

Over on the r/theories subreddit, u/andrew_pez suggests that the story is actually happening in John Bender's (Judd Nelson) imagination. "The scene where Mr. Vernon is sentencing John to more detentions is also interesting," the user wrote. "John can't escape that room. He feels he can't escape that part of his life; as if it were something eternal."

Though the post is a long read, this point makes a particular kind of sense for this character in "The Breakfast Club." After all, John is a disaffected youth who spends endless hours in a room, often by himself, and does not seem like the type who would even think of doing something constructive like schoolwork.

Still, other fans of "The Breakfast Club" suggest that maybe the story is really happening in another character's mind. In a TikTok post from @confusedbreakfast, the hosts of the podcast of the same name discuss a theory that the entire movie takes place in Allison's (Ally Sheedy) head.

They suggest that because Allison has no friends, she has invented these cliched friends for herself, as well as their many misadventures, while confined to their high school on that eventful Saturday in "The Breakfast Club." The hosts go on to suggest that this is why, despite all of the wacky hijinks that the group gets up to that day, there are basically no consequences.

Though, for most fans, the classic story of five very different students finding their common ground is great on its own, these takes on "The Breakfast Club" do offer an interesting reinterpretation for viewers to reconsider when they go back and rewatch the timeless classic from John Hughes.