The Best New Comedies of 2020 Will Get You Through the Rest of This Year
Watching serious dramas? In this economy? We do not have energy to spare for that! We need light and laughable movies to provide us with some relief from reality. Thankfully, enough comedies have come out in 2020 to keep us going and get us through the rest of it. Here are the best of the best so far, from romantic comedies you can stream on yet another night in to scary-funny fantasies you may or may not have weird dreams about.
The High Note
Anyone who’s ever been an assistant with a dream will relate to this one. Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson star in the dramedy that revolves around the Los Angeles music scene. Tracee plays a superstar singer with a big ego, and Dakota plays her assistant who wants to become a music producer. Ultimately, they can both help each other get what they want.
Banana Split
Can you imagine becoming best friends with your ex’s new girlfriend? I can’t, but that’s exactly what happens in this comedy. It technically made its worldwide premiere at the L.A. Film Festival in 2018. This year, it was released on Netflix so that we can all sit back and watch the madness. Oh, and in case you need another reason to watch, Dylan Sprouse is in it.
Uncorked
OK, there’s a bit of a serious component to this comedy, but it’s still a fairly lighthearted topic (you know, all things considered). It’s about a man whose father wants him to take over the family’s restaurant one day, but his dream is to become a master sommelier. He has to figure out how to decide between the two.
The King of Staten Island
If Pete Davidson is in it, you know it’s going to be hilarious. In this semi-autobiographical movie, he plays a 24-year-old who still lives with his mom in Staten Island. He dreams of becoming a tattoo artist, but hangs out with his friends and smokes weed most days.
I Used to Go Here
Releasing a novel should have been a major moment for this writer in her mid-30s. But sales are underperforming. Her book tour was canceled. And to top it off? Her fiancée left her. While her friends are all getting married and having babies, she’s invited back to her college to do a book reading... where she ends up becoming part of a college friend group.
Love Wedding Repeat
What’s so intriguing about this comedy–apart from how it stars Sam Claflin and Olivia Munn–is that it centers on how one small moment can change the way our lives play out. It does so as Jack (Claflin) tries to keep his sister’s wedding day intact while dealing with: a bitter ex-girlfriend, wild uninvited guest, misplaced sleep sedative, and the girl he’s always wanted to be with.
The Witches
Based on Ronald Dahl’s 1983 book “The Witches,” this scary-funny fantasy follows a boy and his grandmother who try to stop a coven of witches from turning the children of Britain into mice. It stars Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and more. While slightly terrifying, the quirkiness and incredible costumes make up for it.
Release date: October 22, 2020
Palm Springs
It’s a romantic comedy from The Lonely Island starring Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg. It’s also somehow a fresh take on the Groundhog Day time-loop situation—just when you thought that idea was totally played out.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Four words: “Play ‘Jaja Ding Dong’!” Rachel McAdams is flipping hilarious in this movie, but don’t let anybody get away with telling you this is her comedic breakout. That’s their own fault for not respecting Mean Girls.
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Not only is this Charles Dickens adaptation from the creator of Veep and therefore destined to be devastatingly funny, but wow-ee, can Dev Patel wear a cravat.
Like a Boss
Two friends, played by already proven funny ladies Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish, set out to start a beauty company together. Shenanigans ensue when their rich benefactor, played by Salma Hayek, starts to take advantage of them. They fight back, naturally.
The Gentlemen
Please, do yourself a favor and look at what Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant, and Jeremy Strong from Succession are wearing in this Guy Ritchie crime comedy. You’ll be obsessed. The film is about an American marijuana mogul living in London, played by Matthew McConaughey, who starts a chaotic chain reaction when other criminals learn he wants out.
Birds of Prey
Okay, I know this is a superhero movie and has a lot of violence and action and characters with weirdly alliterative names like Cassandra Cain, but it’s also funny? If Harley Quinn is out to prove she’s a better joker than her ex-boyfriend The Joker, then I’m all for it. Margot Robbie has already killed it in comedies like I, Tonya and The Wolf of Wall Street, so you know she can hold her own.
Emma.
The classic novel that inspired Clueless gets a hilarious makeover in this new adaptation that stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Nighy, and Johnny Flynn. Emma is one of Jane Austen’s only heroines who doesn’t need to marry rich (lucky her) and disastrously attempts to find love for herself and her friends while ignoring what (and who) is right in front of her.
The Lovebirds
A post shared by Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) on Mar 10, 2019 at 4:44pm PDT
Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani play a couple that gets drawn into whodunnit territory in this “murder mystery rom-com” directed by Michael Showalter, who is responsible for cult classics like Wet Hot American Summer and They Came Together and also directed The Big Sick.
Irresistible
Who doesn’t love Steve Carell? In his latest appearance, he plays the Democratic National Committee’s top strategist who works to convince a former marine to run for mayor. However, the Republican National Committee sends him a witty (and hot) nemesis, which shakes everything up.
Free Guy
In Ryan Reynolds’ latest action comedy, he plays an NPC (non-playable character) in a video game who gains self-awareness and decides to save the world when things in the game start going wrong. Jodie Comer from Killing Eve plays one of the game’s programmers, who is shy IRL and becomes the bad*ss Molotov Girl in the game. Joe Keery, aka Steve from Stranger Things, is another programmer, and hilarious filmmaker Taika Waititi plays their boss.
Release date: December 11, 2020
Coming 2 America
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Coming 2 America will serve as a sequel to the the 1988 film Coming to America. With Craig Brewer as director and Eddie Murphy playing Prince Akeem yet again, we’re in for a TREAT.
Release date: December 18, 2020
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Everyone’s obsession with Keanu Reeves in 2019 will be rewarded in 2020 with a new Bill and Ted movie. When they get an ominous message from the future, the two friends will save the world yet again and stave off their respective middle-age crises in the process.
Happiest Season
Happiest #Pride from #HappiestSeason. 🏳️🌈 In theaters this Thanksgiving. Photo by: Lacey Terrell
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In this highly anticipated film, a woman plans to propose to her girlfriend at a holiday party–except there’s one roadblock. She’s not out to her conservative parents yet. Starring Kristen Stewart and Daniel Levy, this film seems like exactly what we didn’t know we needed.
Release date: November 25, 2020
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