The best comedy movies of 2024

This year was been full of comedy, and some of the best movies of 2024 have also been some of the funniest. And there’s a wide variety of subgenres to pick from: musical reboots, raunchy pregnancy movies, campy horror flicks, and even a DC parody. So behold: the best comedy movies of 2024, sorted in reverse chronological order. A Real Pain [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/MCDREPA_H4033.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Theaters Wonderful, sad, sweet, and funny, A Real Pain is just about the ideal version of a dramedy. The film follows two very different Jewish American cousins, played by Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, who go on a trip to Poland to honor their late grandmother. The pair deal with their own conflicting personalities, and the different paths their lives have taken, all amid the backdrop of an emotional Holocaust tour through the country. All this may sound pretty heavy, and on occasion it can be, but by and large, the script, written by Eisenberg (who also directed the movie), manages to find truth, honesty, and a perfect lightness guided by the fact that whatever these two’s conflicts are, they clearly do still love each other deeply. Though it may not be the funniest movie on this list, A Real Pain is likely the most touching and emotionally resonant comedy of the year. —Austen Goslin Anora [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/MCDANOR_EC029.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Available for digital purchase on Amazon Anora is many things: a tragic story about a romance gone wrong, a beautiful story about a new romance sprouting from the strangest possible circumstances, a story about how the children of Russian oligarchs spend their early 20s, and one of the best movies of the year. But absolutely none of those things can or should distract from the fact that it’s also one of the funniest movies of the year. While the movie’s comedy is laced throughout, particularly from Mikey Madison’s frequently withering line delivery, the clear standout is the 30 or so minutes of slapstick absurdity that come during Anora’s initial “capture.” The scene of Igor (Yura Borisov) and Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) chasing Anora through Vanya’s house while Toros (Karren Karagulian) shouts his confusion over the phone is absolutely hilarious, maybe one of the great comedy scenes of the last few years, and easily cements the movie’s place on this list. —AG Saturday Night [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/img1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon and YouTube It’s perfectly reasonable to feel dubious about Jason Reitman’s extremely loose approach to Saturday Night Live history in his film Saturday Night. He and co-writer Gil Kenan lionize SNL producer Lorne Michaels as a starry-eyed idealist who just wants to give New York City’s most iconoclastic comedians a home. They condense pretty much everything that happened in a year of production into a single antic 90-minute period. There’s some hilariously broad, obvious symbolism at work in the piece, particularly with the single harried worker trying to lay the set’s brick flooring — with real New York bricks, we’re told, you know, for authenticity — literally minutes before showtime, with no one helping him, until suddenly everyone decides to pitch in and get it done. It’s corny, even pandering. And yet. The performances, as a group of actors try to recreate young Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, and so on are surprisingly spot on, and where their interactions aren’t believable as history, they still pop as entertainment. Playing the first airing of Saturday Night Live half as a Robert Altman scene movie and half as exaggerated mythmaking is a smart idea that allows the movie to ride on sharp banter, sharp editing, and curiosity about what it might have actually been like behind the scenes with this many highly idiosyncratic, difficult people all vying for the spotlight. Saturday Night isn’t meant to be an educational or true-to-life movie: It’s practically a fantasy movie, just populated with famous faces. If you can ride the wave without expecting a historical biopic, it’s an absolute blast. —Tasha Robinson Space Cadet [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25517159/MCDSPCA_ZU008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Prime Video Space Cadet stars Emma Roberts as Rex, a Florida party girl who once had big dreams to see the stars. Thanks to a few real life complications, she’s had to put her dreams aside — till she gets the chance to attend NASA’s astronaut training program. The only problem? Her best friend may have embellished her resume just a liiiiittle bit more than she should’ve. Seeing Rex juxtaposed with her more traditional, buttoned-up classmates is a fun time, harkening back to Legally Blonde and similar comedies. But it’s also super heartwarming to see her moxie and heart rewarded, as she approaches the challenges of astronaut training with a glittery spark in her eye. —Petrana Radulovic Kinds of Kindness [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/MCDKIOF_H4041.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Hulu All comedy is subjective, but thinking a Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, Poor Things) movie is hilarious certainly denotes you as a certain type of person. Fortunately, I am that person, and Kinds of Kindness worked particularly well for me. The movie tells three loosely connected short stories that all star the same actors and are all extremely weird — which means that it’s Yorgos doing what he does best. There are scenes of bizarre cannibalism, dogs driving cars, and Jesse Plemons being awkward, which are, in my book, some of the funniest things you can show on screen. That being said, if you haven’t been on board for any of Lanthimos’ movies so far, this one is definitely not the one to convince you that he’s a comedy genius. Instead, Kinds of Kindness is more for the true sickos who have been on his wavelength from the beginning. —AG Babes [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25445361/MCDBABE_EC194__4_.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Hulu Director Pamela Adlon (Better Things) gets nitty and gritty about the epic highs and lows of pregnancy in Babes, but the best part is the central relationship between two best friends. Eden (Ilana Glazer), a single yoga teacher, and Dawn (Michelle Buteau), a married dentist with two kids, have been besties for decades — and even though their life priorities are a bit different now, they make time for each other. Eden finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand, and decides to go through with having the baby. It’s a new stage of their relationship, especially as Dawn struggles with balancing her job, her family, and her friendship with Eden, all while Eden embarks on this scary journey of single motherhood. It’s wickedly funny, but also says a lot about the strain adulthood puts on friendships. —PR The Fall Guy [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/thefallguy.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Peacock The Fall Guy is the kind of movie that it feels like we used to get two or three of every year: two fantastic stars (Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt) with great chemistry pairing up for a hilarious rom-com. Unfortunately, we don’t get them too often anymore, which makes The Fall Guy feel like a pretty special treat. The movie’s tale of a stuntman who gets mixed up in a murder plot in order to save the movie of the first-time director he’s had a longtime crush on is Hollywood gold, and both actors prove particularly game for both the movie’s goofy jokes and ridiculous stunts. Of course, the reason it’s here is because it’s funny, and no scene reflects that fact better than when Blunt’s director character has Gosling’s stuntman get set on fire over and over again as he hilariously tries to explain why he stopped returning her phone calls after their last fling. It’s a great scene, and excellent proof that the world needs more action rom-coms like this in it. —AG Hit Man [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25480424/Hit_Man_7.JPG?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Netflix Richard Linklater’s romantic crime comedy is exactly the kind of quirky, high-concept film you’d expect from the director of Dazed and Confused and Boyhood. Based on a true story, Hit Man stars Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a mild-mannered philosophy professor who moonlights as an undercover police contractor who impersonates hitmen for hire. When Gary’s work introduces him to Madison (Adria Arjona), an unhappily married woman who attempts to have her husband murdered, he inadvertently falls head over heels for her. After her husband later turns up dead, however, Gary has to get to the bottom of whether or not Madison was behind it — without blowing his cover. Linklater’s film is like a quirkier take on Double Indemnity, with a third-act twist that brings out the best of Powell and Arjona’s delightful on-screen chemistry. —Toussaint Egan The People’s Joker [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25367643/Joker_on_the_Stairs__Vera_Drew_.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Mubi, or for digital rental or purchase on Apple Director-star Vera Drew initially planned The People’s Joker as a found footage movie, pulling together clips from Joker’s past, present, and future to create a new Jokerfied experience. While the found footage element didn’t happen, the end result (after a brief delay over rights issues) is a breath of fresh, satirical air in our IP-saturated landscape, part of a new wave of trans-authored cinema that is shaking up what mainstream audiences can experience in trans film. The People’s Joker cleverly uses the DC canon as grounding for the setting, an avenue to explore gender expression, and for comedy, subverting expectations of these well-known characters. But my favorite part of the movie is how Vera utilizes many different styles of animation from many different creators to create a mixed media effect. It’s unlike anything else you’ll see this year. —Pete Volk Wicked Little Letters [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25445607/10.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Netflix, or for digital rental/purchase on Amazon, Apple TV The true story of the Littlehampton poison pen letter scandal of 1923 is a fairly depressing one, another in a long line of reminders that justice systems depend on people’s judgment, and people are notoriously prone to prejudice, stereotypes, and other forms of confirmation bias that get in the way of the truth. But Thea Sharrock’s lively (and heavily fictionalized) British comedy about the scandal addresses those points with a light perspective that offers a little uplift and a lot of good humor. International treasure Olivia Colman (The Favourite) stars as Edith Swan, a pious working-class spinster who starts getting obscene anonymous letters; Jessie Buckley is her neighbor, Rose Gooding, a foul-mouthed libertine accused of writing them, in an era where calling someone a “foxy ass whore” in print was enough to warrant a prison sentence at hard labor. The absolute shock and disbelief Edith and Rose’s entire community feels over seeing words like “asshole” in print is part of the humor here, but a lot more of it comes from Jonny Sweet’s bouncy, winking script, which keeps the action zippy and highlights the ironies of an entire community full of hypocrites delighting in their self-righteous offense at the letters. (Any metaphor for today’s online communications is strictly intended.) Colman and Buckley’s performances add a terrific edge to it all, but this is an ensemble piece at heart, and Anjana Vasan as a lady detective trying to wade through institutional sexism rounds out the cast for a lively, sparky story that isn’t particularly believable as history, but sure lands well as funny, engaging metaphor. —TR Drive-Away Dolls [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25174225/4206_D011_00017_RC.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Prime Video, or for digital rental/purchase on Amazon/Apple TV Don’t get fooled by only seeing one Coen name in the credits; Drive-Away Dolls (or its original title, which still appears in the credits: Drive-Away Dykes) has the same hilarious crime-caper spirit that marks all of the Coen brothers’ best early works. The ’90s-set movie follows two lesbian friends (Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan) on an East Coast road trip with two clueless gangsters hot on their trail. Equal parts excellent friends-on-the-road movie and crime comedy, Drive-Away Dolls is an early contender for the most fun movie of 2024, and one that will likely be hard to beat. —Austen Goslin Lisa Frankenstein [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25174216/4208_D001_00030_R.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Prime Video, or for digital rental/purchase on Amazon/Apple TV Sometimes, you just want to see Kathryn Newton wear increasingly elaborate ’80s goth outfits as she and an undead Victorian musician go around killing people who’ve wronged her. Lisa Frankenstein is a loving homage-slash-parody of old schlocky horror comedies, and even though some of the connective tissue is missing from scene to scene, it’s a shockingly good time. —PR Hundreds of Beavers [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25386688/Screenshot_2024_04_01_115625.png?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Prime Video, Fandor, free with ads on Tubi and Pluto TV, free with a library card on Hoopla, or digital rental/purchase on Amazon and Apple TV “What if Looney Tunes, but for adults, and filtered through video games and silent slapstick comedy?” That’s the genius combination that makes Hundreds of Beavers one of the most special movies of the year, a pure expression of cinematic comedy that will have you laughing in stitches. The low-budget indie follows Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Twes), a trapper trying to survive in the harsh winter of the Great Lakes region. He’s surrounded by hundreds of beavers (which are presented as people in mascot beaver costumes) who view him as a threat, and he must solve a series of problems and puzzles to survive and thrive in the harsh environment. Ludicrously silly and packed to the brim with jaw-dropping gags and special effects on its limited budget, Hundreds of Beavers is the funniest movie I’ve seen in years. It’s the perfect antidote for what has ailed mainstream American comedy for years, by actually bringing back jokes instead of just the tone of comedy. I cannot recommend it highly enough. —PV Mean Girls [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25217800/MGM_JW_0306_00924R2_C.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Paramount Plus Fans of the Broadway musical Mean Girls, based on the 2004 movie Mean Girls, have understandably bridled against some of the changes in this screen adaptation, from the many songs cut from the Broadway version to the casting of protagonist Cady Heron. But while it’s an imperfect translation of the stage experience, it still stands on its own as a lively, creatively staged movie that puts plenty of verve into its catchy, inviting musical numbers. The performances aren’t out to replace the 2004 version of the movie: They’re new interpretations, delivered with big musical energy. This is a tremendously fun movie, designed to send people home singing. —TR Self Reliance [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25222376/sr_0772_3k.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] Where to watch: Hulu Jake Johnson’s directorial debut follows a man who’s so at sea after a breakup that he agrees to star in an underground reality competition where he tries to survive for a month with assassins trying to kill him. But Self Reliance isn’t the kind of manic thriller that premise suggests; Johnson told Polygon it’s much more of a mashup of two of his favorite movies: Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket and the Adrian Lyne thriller Jacob’s Ladder. That’s an odd combination of improbably dissimilar projects, but they coalesce into an offbeat indie comedy about human connection, and the mortifying ordeal of trying to be known by people who aren’t all that interested in the knowing. Produced by The Lonely Island and featuring Andy Samberg playing himself in a pretty hilarious cameo, Self Reliance has some of the same dry humor and secret sentiment as the group’s movie Palm Springs, but with even smaller stakes and even less predictable storytelling. It’s goofy stuff, but it’s an enjoyably light story that’s designed to keep the audience guessing. And it’s just about impossible to watch without wondering: Would I do any better under these circumstances? —TR