70 Comedy Movies That Prove Laughter Really *Is* the Best Medicine
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Listen, when it comes down to it, not all comedy movies are created equal. There are absolute you-must-watch-immediately, laugh-out-loud comedies, and then are comedies that are marginally amusing at BEST. And you might not even agree with someone on which is which! The truth is that different people have different senses of humor, so the best comedy movies that you find yourself randomly quoting all the time might be the same ones that cause your best friend to roll their eyes and cringe. Luckily, the comedy genre is vast, and there's a little something for everyone — all you have to do is find it.
To that end, we've put together a definitive list of the 70 best comedy movies you can watch right now. If you’re scrolling endlessly through Netflix waiting for the ~algorithm~ to provide you with your next favorite flick, consider this your sign to cease and desist immediately. Not to brag, but we have everything you need, from classic movies (His Girl Friday, hello), to romantic comedies (Emma), to high school movies (Booksmart) and The Modern Comedy™—you know, the kind that takes all those classic tropes, mixes them up, and adds a dose of 21st century-relevancy to them.
Looking for a movie that'll make you laugh? Inspire a giggle fest, or, at the very least, some light chuckling? Go ahead and check out the below if you value taste at all.
1. Rush Hour
Is the 1998 comedy classic Rush Hour a bit…problematic to watch in 2023? Maybe, but there’s no denying the comedic chemistry between leads Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, who play an odd couple of agents — one from China (Chang) and one from LA (Tucker) — who must work together to recover the kidnapped daughter of a Chinese Consul. There’s a reason fans are still clamoring for more Rush Hour movies 20 years later: action comedies have truly never been so funny, and so full of heart-stopping action.
2. Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
After her husband, Southern Baptist Mega Church pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), is caught in a sex scandal, Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) finds herself in the unique position of desperately trying to reclaim her throne, while also trying to keep her husband on track. This mockumentary style dark comedy from writer-director Adamma Ebo is at times outrageous, at times heartbreaking, but it'll keep you laughing no matter what.
3. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
The Lonely Island trio — Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Andey Samberg — co-wrote this music mockumentary about Conner (Samberg), a Justin Timberlake/Justin Bieber type former boy bander whose successful solo career is hitting a rough patch. Schaffer and Taccone also co-star in the film as Conner’s former bandmates, along with Maya Rudolph, Tim Meadows, Chris Redd, and Sarah Silverman. Plus, the trio contributed a handful of original songs that are so catchy and cringey, they could seriously have been sung by Bieber himself.
4. Plan B
Plan B is a coming-of-age R-rated comedy about two best friends, Sunny (Kuhoo Verma) and Lupe (Victoria Moroles), who decide to throw a party, hoping to have a real high school experience before heading off to college. Their one drunken night leads Sunny to have sex for the first time, but when she worries the condom failed, what started as a carefree night of fun becomes an emergency road trip to the nearest Planned Parenthood. Mayhem, romance, and a very ill-advised drug deal follow.
5. Airplane!
If you’re a fan of the absurd, put Airplane on your Must Watch list. The 1980 film stars Robert Hayus, Julie Hagerty, and Leslie Nielsen, among others, as pilots, flight attendants, and passengers tackling food poisoning and mass chaos on one hilariously harrowing flight.
6. Game Night
A group of friends obsessed with game nights find themselves running for their lives after one of them is kidnapped by gun-wielding gangsters. But is it all just a game? Come for the absurd premise, stay for Jesse Plemons’ bone chilling performance and Rachel McAdams giving one of the great comedic line readings of our time.
7. Sorry to Bother You
Sorry to Bother You is a dark, outrageous satire of modern capitalism from writer-director Boots Riley that will definitely leave an impression. The film follows Cassius Green (LaKeith Stanfield), a telemarketer who becomes incredibly successful by using his “white voice” to make sales. But as he moves up in the ranks, his morals become compromised, and he soon finds himself in the middle of a war between the working class and the absurdly rich.
8. The Great Dictator
Charlie Chaplin took on Hitler in the 1940 release, The Great Dictator. Chaplin plays two roles in the film: Adenoid Hynkel, a dictator with a Hitler mustache, desperate for power, and a Jewish farmer trying to survive under Hynkel’s increasingly dangerous and hateful regime.
9. The Forty-Year-Old Version
Radha Blank writes, directs, and stars in The Forty-Year-Old Version, a dramedy about a struggling playwright who, despite early success, never really got her big break. Looking to prove herself, she decides to create a Hip Hop album about her life as a 40-something Black woman.
10. Some Like It Hot
Marilyn Monroe delivers an iconic performance in Some Like It Hot, a comedy from Billy Wilder starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as two musicians who go on the run after witnessing a mob hit. In their effort to stay alive, they disguise themselves as two women and join an all-female band on tour.
11. Fire Island
It's Jane Austen but remade for this century! It's a celebration of gay BFFs partying on Fire Island! It's got lots to say about gentrification, racism, and classism!! Oh, and it's f*cking hilarious (if you don't know Joel Kim Booster or Bowen Yang, you've got a treat in store for you). Plus, you can stream it on Hulu right this very second.
12. Office Space
Everyone knows how much office life can suck—especially if you got used to working from home and then had to give that up. This movie gets what you're going through, trust. Also, fun fact: If you like Barry, this is what actor Stephen Root used to be most known for (mutters: "I could set the building on fire.")
13. In Bruges
This crime thriller-dark comedy combo is not not dated (some of the jokes haven't aged...quite well), and it does get *dark*, but it's also got about a million funny lines. And it's peak funny dialogue from Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes—there's a line about Harry's kids that makes me guffaw every single time I watch it.
14. The Worst Person in the World
Julie (Renate Reinsve) isn't the worst person in the world, but she's relatably messy and rly not great at figuring out her life for a while. Romantic and life shenanigans ensue, and if you ever felt lost and messy at *any* point in your life, this'll make you cringe-laugh. It was nommed for the Palme D'Or, and a bunch of pubs called it the best movie of the year.
15. Knives Out
Yes, this is a whodunit, but Knives Out's primary goal is to put a whole bunch of famous people in the same movie and watch them be funny. From Daniel Craig's ridiculous Southern drawl to Ana de Armas' inability to lie without puking to Chris Evan's broke-with-expensive taste wardrobe, it's firing on all cylinders.
16. Another Round
What a concept: Four teachers decide to test the premise that when you're juuuuuust a little drunk, all the time, you're a more functional person. What happens is hilarious, tragic, and earth-shattering all at once—no spoilers, just go watch Mads Mikkelsen doing his best work. When (ugh) the American remake ultimately debuts, just go straight to the source material.
17. Yes, God, Yes
If you grew up religious and aren't so much anymore, holy sh*t will this movie make you laugh. Then cry. Then laugh again. It's the story of a young woman (Natalia Dyer) who has *normal sexual urges*. But because she's in a v v religious environment, she's made to feel embarrassed (and worse, slut-shamed). Right in the middle of this whole cringefest, there's a beautiful dialogue about learning to be okay with yourself and getting away from people who judge you.
18. Toy Story
You...absolutely know the premise of this movie. But this and all its sequels are the perfect mix of nostalgia for your childhood toys and a delightful reimagining of what they got up to after you left for school. Every line's an absolute gem, and you probably quote it on the regular without even knowing it. "This is a perfect time to panic!"
19. This Is Spinal Tap
This satire of the music industry follows a metal band trying to recapture some of their former glory. If you've ever wondered where the phrase "it goes to 11" comes from, look no further. Also be prepared to go down the Rob Reiner movie rabbit hole after you watch this.
20. Team America: World Police
Are the puppets terrifying? Kinda. Is this satire of James Bond (and superhero movies, and any film where an American has to go to a foreign country to save the day) absolutely on point? YOU BET. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is both the most anti- and pro-American film ever made. And very prescient—watch it and you'll see what I mean.
21. Thor: Ragnarok
Not all Marvel movies are funny, and TBH you can probably skip the first Thor movies and just read the Wikipedia synopses. But after you've watched Black Panther, make sure you dive into MCU canon with this. Chris Hemsworth's Thor is a joke machine alongside his adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston, also never funnier) and every single other character in this.
22. The Personal History of David Copperfield
This movie was delayed foreeeeever because of the pandemic, but it was worth. the. wait. Dev Patel (hot!) does the classic Dickens character justice, but stay for the supporting cast because they're the ones making you laugh every two minutes. If you stayed away because you had to read the book in HS and were bored—go and watch this movie ASAP. RN.
23. Emma.
Yup, another period piece (I mean, the period is literally in the title. Get it? Oh you do, cool). But this one is shexay—my major selling point when I tell friends to see this movie is that you get to see Johnny Flynn's butt. If that's not enough (it should be enough), this is another twist on a classic story that makes Anya Taylor-Joy, like, one of the funniest and least likable Jane Austen heroines ever.
24. Eighth Grade
Imagine scrolling through your most embarrassing middle school Facebook posts for 90 minutes. Thats basically how watching this feels, but in an enjoyable, funny way. Man, you're gonna wanna laugh, but also protect the movie’s eighth grade protagonist from all that's bad in the world.
25. Girls Trip
Sometimes there’s nothing better than watching a good group of friends go absolutely haywire. Not only did this movie introduce us to Tiffany Haddish, but it’ll inspire messy girl’s weekends for years to come. Also Paul Thomas Anderson recently called it one of his favorite movies of all time. Would you ever doubt PTA? Happy grapefruiting.
26. Riders of Justice
Don't skip this just bc it's a foreign film!! I'm whisper-screaming at you rn. I don't wanna spoil it too much, but a group of people are investigating a tragic train accident that prob wasn't an accident. If you think The Suicide Squad is a fun, ragtag group of misfits, this movie says "Hold my beer" and delivers on every single level. Mads Mikkelsen: Absolutely nailing it, again, on top of being a silver fox.
27. Banana Split
Two new BFFs share something in common, and it's that one of them used to date the other one's BF. Come for Dylan Sprouse with a truly terrible haircut (wig?), stay for Liana Liberato and Hannah Marks being the couple you're actually rooting for. Also if you've already watched this and want a similar vibe, check out Never Goin' Back. YW.
28. Booksmart
This is possibly Olivia Wilde’s greatest accomplishment since her stint on The O.C. Her directorial debut takes the standard "last day of high school" movie structure and makes it seem completely one-of-a-kind. The characters are so well written, and the soundtrack absolutely bangs.
29. Drop Dead Gorgeous
This severely underrated movie probably has the most interesting "Where are they now?" cast ever. The story follows a fake documentary film crew covering pageant girls that ruthlessly compete for a small town crown. It's just classic '90s fashion and antics, sooo who doesn’t love that? (Obv it is a...movie of its time, let's say, but time has proved this satire right about a lot of things.)
30. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
K, so, you either love or hate this movie. Here's what you need to enjoy it: Have you ever gone on a beach resort/cruise/all-inclusive vacay with your family and lived that truly awkward experience? This is that but funny. It's such a specific experience (IYKYK times a million), and then about 20 minutes in the movie just goes balls to the wall in the best way.
31. Meet The Parents
If you’re scared your in-laws don’t like you, this movie will assure you that it could always be worse. This list wouldn’t even be close to complete without this hilarious addition. Also, it has Robert De Niro’s most iconic performance. (Totally ignores Goodfellas, Taxi Driver and countless others.)
32. Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
Who doesn’t want everyone to be jealous of them at their high school reunion? Here we follow a pair of friends who are desperate to impress, even if that means stretching a fewwww truths. I mean, 1) Lisa Kudrow, 2) cute outfits, and 3) delusional best friends spiraling? Sign me up.
33. 21 Jump Street
High school drug stings have literally never been more endearing. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star as naive undercover cops and shocked 2012 audiences everywhere with their effortless on-screen chemistry. It's a guaranteed laugh, and probably the rare instance of a comedy where the sequel also holds up (the brilliantly titled 22 Jump Street.)
34. Waiting for Guffman
I introduce at least one person a year to this movie and they all offer to name their children—all of their children!—after me. It's a madcap take on the world of the thee-ater and every single cast member is perfectly suited to their role. Plus, it'll begin your obsession with human angel Parker Posey, and every single one of her movies is worth seeing.
35. Billy Madison
Before we were blessed with the glory that is Uncut Gems, some might’ve called this Adam Sandler's only great movie (don't come for me). Happy Gilmore is good, and The Wedding Singer is pretty charming, but this is just a straight-up comedic masterpiece.
36. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
A delightful romp starring two of the most watchable dudes in the game. Also, it's more progressive than you think! As writer Ashley Spurgeon once pointed out on Twitter, Harold & Kumar actually passes the Bechdel Test if you count the time the women play battle shits in the bathroom!
37. Spaceballs
You don't have to like the movie that Spaceballs parodies (Star Wars, ever heard of it??) to appreciate this hilarious take on a ragtag group of outer space weirdos. The entire movie is extremely quotable, so get ready to enter a very excellent club where you can talk about things like ludicrous speed and Pizza the Hutt.
38. Obvious Child
Your imaginary best friend, Jenny Slate, stars in this rom-com that travels into territory not normally associated with rom-coms. It pays off big-time and makes you wish there were more comedies about "taboo" topics—Jenny, are you on it?!
39. Elf
When Will Ferrell was cast as Buddy the Elf, an angel got its wings. It's the role he was meant to play, and it's just such a lovely, sweet, funny, hopeful movie about being yourself and believing in magic that it deserves its spot next to Die Hard as one of the best Christmas movies ever made.
40. Bridesmaids
The movie that introduced the once-in-a-lifetime talent of Melissa McCarthy to the world. Not only is it poop-your-wedding-gown funny (sorry; I don't even really like that scene but it is the scene everyone knows), it's also a heartwarming-yet-snarky ode to the power of female friendship. Oh, also, WILSON PHILLIPS is in it. 10/10.
41. Shaun of the Dead
The only movie about zombies worth watching. (Well, except for Zombieland. That is a good movie with a good cast! It's funny too! But not funny enough for this list!) Director Edgar Wright is both totally unhinged and completely in control of this wild ride, and it'll make you laugh a lot and also never want to visit the English countryside.
42. Hair Show
Mo'Nique and Gina Torres star in this underappreciated gem that goes out to anyone who's ever had a sister. Not only is it funny, but the clothes and hair are so 2004 that you feel like you've been put in a time machine and dumped in the mid-aughts. We are so old.
43. Clueless
As if I even needed to tell you this was gonna be on the list. Plus, Paul Rudd as Cher's stepbrother/boyfriend (?!) launched a million girls' obsessions with hot nerds.
44. Bottle Rocket
Ca-caw! This is Wes Anderson before Wes Anderson ruined Wes Anderson. Nah, he's still fine and great and everything, but Bottle Rocket is an unpolished, awkward masterpiece. It'll also make you want to call up your best friends and convince them to do something stupid with you. Don't! Instead watch Rushmore, Anderson's second-best movie that probably also deserves to be on this list.
45. Bringing Up Baby
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this charming screwball comedy that has more gags than Christian Grey's Red Room. And it's wonderful (why are pratfalls so funny??). I think, deep down, we just hate each other. Can a sociologist confirm that for me?
46. Coming to America
I am running out of ways to call these movies perfect, but you would be hard pressed to find a more perfect movie than Coming to America. It's so iconic that Beyoncé dressed up as a character from it for Halloween. Do I need to say more?
47. Wet Hot American Summer
I know that when I type LOL, most of the time, I'm just slightly smiling at my desk. When I say this movie is LOL, I mean you will be laughing until tears are running out of all your orifices. And if you actually went to summer camp as a kid, this will just ruin you. Ruin you!
48. Mean Girls
Get in, loser, we're going to see the best movie about being a teenage girl ever made. Tina Fey's 2005 take on the well-documented existence of queen bees speaks to the hearts and minds of any woman who has ever gone to high school. We laugh so we don't cry, and also because it's hilarious.
49. My Cousin Vinny
Marisa Tomei won an Oscar for her performance in this movie and let me tell you: They should've just shut down the Academy Awards afterwards because no performance will ever be as inspired as her take on Mona Lisa Vito, my queen. And her wardrobe! Every piece is iconic.
50. Hot Fuzz
The second Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg movie on here (watch Shaun of the Dead first, then this one) totally makes fun of an overenthusiastic cop stuck in a rural town in England. AND THEN. You're not expecting it to become an OTT, legitimately intense action movie and it totally does.
51. Step Brothers
Two comedic powerhouses, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, are perfectly matched in this tale of two old-ass weirdos who are forced to be roommates when their parents move in together. It includes one of the truly great chase scenes of this century—and I'm including all the Fast and Furious movies, so you know it's serious!!! (It's hard to choose Will Ferrell movies, too; Blades of Glory almost made the list and should be watched early and often.)
52. School of Rock
Writer Mike White bottled the essence of comedian Jack Black's soul and turned it into the sweetest, funniest, most good-hearted comedy of the past bazillion years. Plus, the songs are catchy AF.
53. Zoolander
It's so dumb and great, and I love it so much. Stupid movies are the best movies and this is the crème de la crème of idiocy. It doesn't hurt that the top-notch cast is all working at 11; I mean they are just throwing themselves into this garbage with all they've got. It's a wonder. (Also, sorta unrelated, but The Ladies Man is another super-dumb and super-great movie.)
54. Jumpin' Jack Flash
This movie has it all! There's action, there's mystery, there's some of the best physical comedy you'll ever see! I enjoy double featuring this with Sister Act for what I like to call "An Afternoon of Whoopi." I live in excitement/fear for the day Hollywood remakes this film with Kevin Hart as the lead. YOU KNOW IT'S COMING.
55. Paddington
Yes, fine, this is technically an animated film, but don't automatically assume that "oh, it's for babies." Get to the end of the movie and tell me you didn't laugh your ass off and maybe cry a little bit (and, tbh, if you don't find Paddington funny, you might not like rainbows or puppies either). The only movie that could possibly top it? Paddington 2.
56. Bend It Like Beckham
Parminder Nagra's comedic timing is next-level and makes this coming-of-age tale better than, like, 99 percent of other coming-of-age tales.
57. Freeway
It's hard to choose which Reese Witherspoon comedic vehicle to feature here, but her take on Vanessa, a troubled teen trying to make her way to grandma's house, is just...it's wild. This movie also reinvents the wheel on swearing—so many swears used in such a brilliant variety of ways, it's f*cking mind-blowing.
58. His Girl Friday
This mile-a-minute wackadoo comedy features more one-liners than an evening at an improv show—a good improv show! Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell are perfectly matched, and their chemistry damn near lights the house on fire.
59. Friday
If you smoke weed, you have to see this movie. If you don't smoke weed—and it's legal where you are and you want to do it!—then you should smoke some weed and watch this wonderful movie. Bonus points: This is where "Bye, Felicia" comes from, and if you didn't already know that, isn't it about damn time you did?
60. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
If I could marry one movie, it would be this one. Steve Martin and Michael Caine as two low-down dirty rotten scoundrels being bad boys on the French Riviera. Please excuse me, I have to go watch it for the millionth time rn.
61. The Big Sick
If you don't love Kumail Nanjiani (buff or not buff!), what are you even doing with your life. Semi-based on the real life story (!!!) of his relationship with wife, writer/producer Emily V. Gordon, "Emily" and "Kumail" fall in love, struggle with cultural differences—and then she falls into a coma. It's way funnier than it sounds, trust.
62. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
There's something so sweet about watching a young English girl crush on the hot guy from her prep school...until you realize how many jokes there are in this movie that you totally didn't get when you were young but will find hilarious now. (This also falls into the "so bad it's good" category, which is an absolutely worthy category.)
63. Palm Springs
It's like an updated version of Groundhog Day. Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti star as two strangers who find themselves meeting at a wedding in Palm Springs. It looks like things are going well for both of them...until they get stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again. Clearly people found this movie funny, as it received two Golden Globe noms. And food for thought: What doesn't Samberg do that isn't hilarious?
64. The Princess Diaries
Oh, the movie which made us all fall in love with Anne Hathaway. While she and Julie Andrews certainly hold center stage throughout the movie, we're here to give mad props to Sandra Oh, because her sarcastic turn as Vice Principal Gupta is enough to keep you in constant stitches. You're welcome. (Also! The sequel stars a young hot Chris Pine!)
65. 10 Things I Hate About You
There's just something about this film that's magical. Is it the never-ending sex jokes (including a rather NSFW drawing on someone's face?), or is it the truly heart-breaking poem at the end of the movie? TBD! But it's, like, the movie if you grew up in the '90s-'00s.
66. Easy A
This early Emma Stone movie basically creates the perfect fake family (who doesn't want Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as their parents? Who??) but also has a lot to say about shaming other people's sex lives—it's inspired by The Scarlet Letter, after all. TBH, though, the best part of the movie is my forever crush, Amanda Bynes.
67. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Of all the Judd Apatow movies, this is prob the sweetest. Steve Carell is, yes, the titular virgin who feels like he's destined to never have sex. Enter in his clueless raunchy friends and a gorge age-appropriate lady (Katherine Keener), and the quest to get it on has never been funnier.
68. Neighbors
Seth Rogan truly meets his comedic match in Rose Byrne: The two are new parents at war with a neighboring fraternity (Zac Efron has never been funnier, I will die on this hill). But if you've ever felt like you just can't handle, like, life in general—much less parenthood—you will enjoy these two "adults" trying to figure everything out.
69. What We Do in the Shadows
It's kinda like a reality show, with vampires. Which, fine, but in the hands of Taika Waititi it's so deeply awkward and funny—if you've ever had terrible roommates, you will feel so seen. Yes, the TV show is rlly rlly funny (and you should watch it afterwards), but this is where it all started.
70. Sister Act
This movie is, IMO, one of the best movies to come out of the 1990s. With Whoopi Goldberg starring as a lounge singer turned nun (thanks to being placed in the Witness Protection Program), and Maggie Smith (you know... Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films?) playing the Reverend Mother, it's comedic gold. Also, watch the sequel.
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