About Time
The Babysitter
McG’s comedy slasher is tons of fun, a breezy way to spend a Saturday night in. Samara Weaving stars as the hotbabysitter who gets her overly-attractive friends together to sacrifice a guy after her young charge has gone to bed – but he sneaks out of his room and sees the whole thing. Mayhem ensues. The Babysitter has so many moments that stay with you long after the credits have rolled. “Why is he shirtless?” “That’s your first question?”. One of the best comedy movies on Netflix right now, for sure.
Can’t Hardly Wait
Hunt For the Wilderpeople
Taika Waititi’s absurd, touching Kiwi comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople follows a young orphaned wanna-be gangsta named Rickey, who’s adopted by a curmudgeonly farmer named Hec (Sam Neill, on form). Or rather, adopted by his wife, who sadly passes away shortly after bringing Ricky home and beginning to bond with him. A series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings lead to Ricky and Hec running from the cops/a series of locals who believe Hec to be a pervert. Waititi refines his directorial style here, and you don’t get Jojo Rabbit in 2019 without Hunt for the Wilderpeople in 2016. Find it and the other best comedy movies on this list on Netflix now!
Hail, Caesar!
The Coen Brothers dropped this little love letter to Hollywood’s Golden Age in 2016, and it’s a great comedy ready and waiting for you to consume on Netflix. It follows Josh Brolin as a fictional film studio’s “fixer” – based on a real-life studio fixer named Eddie Mannix.
The Eddie of Hail, Caesar! is a man questioning his role in life while also helping locate a kidnapped movie star (George Clooney), preserve the reputation of a pregnant starlet (Scarlett Johansson) and figure out what to do with a southern-fried country boy’s (Alden Ehrenreich) failing attempt to do an urbane comedy of errors for a fancy-pants director (Ralph Fiennes).
That’s while keeping the press (Tilda Swinton) off his back and securing ransom money without anyone figuring out how bad the situation really is. Phew. The Coens pull it all together with not only style and grace but passion and attention-to-detail. Would that it’wer so simple for all comedies to do the same.
Kung Fu Hustle
Stephen Chow’s near-perfect Kung fu comedy from 2004 delights every time. In 1940s Shanghai, a bumbling street urchin with dreams of joining the local ‘Axe Gang’ runs afoul of a local landlady as well as the very gang he wants to join. Chow, fresh off the success of Shaolin Soccer, created one of the most beloved Kung fu films of all time, crafting a surprising story of a man achieving his destiny. The movie’s so funny that you don’t even realize you’re watching one of the most original takes on ‘The One’ trope. Hands down, Kung Fu Hustle is one of the best comedy movies on Netflix right now.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Come on, it’s Monty Python! We’re lucky an all-time comedy great like this is so readily available on Netflix. There’s a decent selection of the British comedy troupe’s work on Netflix, including Monty Python’s Life of Brian – but Monty Python and the Holy Grail is widely considered the prize jewel in the Monty Python crown. Throw in some fun trivia like the fact that Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd helped with the movie’s budget, and fun performances from John Cleese, Eric Idle et al and you’ve got one of the best comedy movies of all time, not just on Netflix. ‘Tis but a scratch, indeed!
Superbad
“So are you guys on MySpace, or…?” Superbad defined comedy for a generation of teenagers and catapulted Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Emma Stone to stardom. Every nerdy young guy with glasses (this writer included) was saddled with the nickname McLovin for the next few years following Superbad‘s release, but y’know what? It was all worth it, because we got to enjoy this almost flawless movie about two guys just trying to provide booze for a party and maybe lose their virginity. Famously initially written by Seth Rogen and co-writer Evan Goldberg when they were just 13, Superbad‘s greatest achievement is the unapologetic bromance at its core, perfectly exemplified by their avatars, Hill and Cera. Boop!
The Death of Stalin
Armando Ianucci’s farce lampoons the Communist party and its inner circle of sycophants and psychopaths following the titular death of Stalin in 1953, and the comedy genre received one of its best entries of all time. It’s a massive shame, that more people don’t know about this movie’s genius and its absolutely stellar cast – including Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, Paddy Considine, Andrea Riseborough, Olga Kurylenko and Michael Palin. If you don’t laugh at the satire of these vain, power-hungry fools, you’ll cry at the idea of how scary it must’ve been to live under the dark reign of Stalin; a fact that Ianucci doesn’t let you soon forget. One of the best comedy movies on Netflix right now, hands down.
War on Everyone
John Michael McDonagh (The Guard) brought a darkly funny take on the ‘corrupt cop’ subgenre and turned it into one of the most under-appreciated movies of the last ten years. War on Everyone follows two best buds – and partners on the force – Terry (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bob (Michael Peña) who are perfectly content to rip a few bucks – and a few drugs – here and there to provide for themselves or in Bob’s case, his family. The plot matters less than the fun that the two leads are having, and McDonagh lets loose with some of his darkest – and most biting – wit yet. 100% one of the best comedy movies on Netflix right now, check it out!
This list will be updated next month when Netflix makes its scheduled changes, so be sure to check back again soon!