It’s been a bit of a quiet time of year for comedy movies, but 2024 has more than enough laugh-out-loud gems to round out a list. And there’s a wide variety of subgenres to choose from: musical reboots, existential animated films for kids, campy horror flicks, and even a DC parody.
So behold: the best comedy movies of 2024 so far. This list is updated throughout the year and sorted in reverse chronological order, so the newest films always appear first. Our latest update added Space Cadet.
Where to watch: Prime video
Space Cadet stars Emma Roberts as Rex, a Florida party girl who once had big dreams of seeing the stars. Thanks to some real-life complications, she’s had to put her dreams on hold—until she gets the chance to enroll in NASA’s astronaut training program. The only problem? Her best friend may have embellished her resume a little more than she should have.
It’s nice to see Rex next to her more traditional, neat classmates, it’s reminiscent of Legally Blonde and similar comedies. But it’s also super heartwarming to see her courage and heart pay off, as she takes on the challenges of astronaut training with a twinkle in her eye. —Petrana Radulovic
Where to watch: In cinemas from May 17
Director Pamela Adlon (Better things) details the epic highs and lows of pregnancy in SweetiesBut 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 best friends for decades — and even though their life priorities are a little different now, they make time for each other.
Eden gets pregnant after a one-night stand and decides to have the baby. It’s a new phase in their relationship, especially as Dawn struggles to balance her job, her family, and her friendship with Eden, all while Eden begins this terrifying journey of single motherhood. It’s hilarious, but it also speaks volumes about the strains that adulthood puts on friendships. — PR
Where to watch: Limited number of theaters
Director-star Vera Drew had initially planned The People’s Joker like a found footage moviewhere snippets of Joker’s past, present, and future were stitched together to create a new Jokerfied experience. While the found footage element didn’t happen, the end result (after a brief delay due to rights issues) is a fresh, satirical breath of air in our IP-saturated landscape, part of a new wave of trans-authored cinema that’s shaking up what mainstream audiences can experience in trans film.
The People’s Joker cleverly uses the DC canon as a basis for its setting, a way to explore gender expression, and for comedy, subverting the expectations of these familiar characters. But my favorite part of the film is how Vera uses many different animation styles from many different creators to create a mixed media effect. It’s unlike anything you’ll see this year. —Pete Volk
The true story of the Littlehampton poison pen letter scandal of 1923 is a pretty depressing one, another in a long line of reminders that legal systems depend on people’s judgment, and people are notoriously susceptible 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 tackles those points with a light perspective that offers a little cheer and a lot of good humor. International treasure Olivia Colman (The favorite) plays Edith Swan, a pious working-class spinster who begins receiving obscene anonymous letters; Jessie Buckley plays her neighbor, Rose Gooding, a foul-mouthed debauchery accused of writing the letters, in an era when calling someone an “ugly whore” in print was enough to earn a prison sentence or hard labor.
The sheer shock and disbelief that Edith and Rose’s entire community feels when they see words like “asshole” in print is part of the humor here, but much more of it comes from Jonny Sweet’s gleefully tongue-in-cheek script, which keeps the action moving and underscores the irony of an entire community of hypocrites reveling in their self-righteous insult to the letters. (Any metaphor for today’s online communication is strictly intended.) Colman and Buckley’s performances add a terrific edge, but this is an ensemble piece at its core, and Anjana Vasan, as a female detective trying to wade through institutional sexism, rounds out the cast for a lively, sparkling story that isn’t exactly believable as history but certainly works well as a funny, engaging metaphor. —Tasha Robinson
Don’t be fooled by just one Coen name in the credits; Drive-Away Dolls (or the original title, which is still in the credits: Drive-away dikes) has the same hilarious crime-ridden spirit that characterizes the Coen brothers’ best early works.
Set in the 1990s, the film follows two lesbian friends (Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan) on an East Coast road trip with two unsuspecting 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 title of best movie of 2024, and one that will likely be tough to beat. —Austen Goslin
Sometimes you just want to watch Kathryn Newton, dressed in increasingly elaborate ’80s gothic outfits, teaming up with an undead Victorian musician to murder those who’ve wronged her.
Lisa Frankenstein is a loving homage/parody of old, cheap horror comedies, and even though every scene lacks some connective tissue, it’s a shockingly good film. —PR
On the surface, Orion and the Darkness seems like a standard children’s fairy tale about a scared boy who meets the personification of Darkness, who helps him overcome his fears. But things take a turn when it turns out that this story is being told by an adult version of the boy to his daughter.
Not only is it a fun setting, but it’s also a way to twist the story and make it a lot weirder than it starts (in a good way). —PR
Where to watch: Fandor, free with a library card at Hoopla, or digital rental/purchase at Amazon And Apple TV
“What if Looney Tunes was for adults, filtered through video games and silent slapstick comedy?” That’s the genius combination that Hundreds of beavers one of the most extraordinary films of the year, a pure expression of cinematic comedy that will make you laugh. The low-budget indie follows Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Twes), a trapper trying to survive the harsh winters of the Great Lakes region. Surrounded by hundreds of beavers (represented as humans in beaver mascot costumes) who see him as a threat, he must solve a series of problems and puzzles to survive and thrive in the harsh environment.
Ridiculously silly and packed to the brim with mind-blowing gags and special effects on a budget, Hundreds of beavers is the funniest movie I’ve seen in years. It’s the perfect antidote to what’s been plaguing mainstream American comedy for years, by actually bringing back jokes instead of just the tone of comedy. I can’t recommend it enough. —PV
Where to watch: Paramount Plus
Fans of the Broadway musical Mean girlsbased on the 2004 film Mean girlshave understandably resisted some of the changes in this film adaptation, from the many songs cut from the Broadway version to the casting of lead character Cady Heron. But while it’s an imperfect translation of the stage experience, it still stands alone as a lively, creatively staged film that puts a lot of verve into its catchy, inviting musical numbers.
The performances are not meant to replace the 2004 version of the film: they are new interpretations, delivered with great musical energy. This is a tremendously fun film, designed to send people home singing. —TER
Jake Johnson’s directorial debut follows a man so adrift after a breakup that he agrees to enter an underground reality competition where he spends a month surviving hitmen trying to kill him. But Self-reliance isn’t the kind of manic thriller its premise suggests; Johnson told Polygon it’s much more of a mashup of two of his favorite films: Wes Anderson’s Bottle rocket and the Adrian Lyne thriller Jacob’s ladderIt’s an odd combination of improbably disparate projects, but they coalesce into an unconventional indie comedy about human connection and the humbling ordeal of trying to be known by people who aren’t all that interested.
Produced by The Lonely Island and starring Andy Samberg playing himself in a hilarious cameo, Self-reliance has some of the same dry humor and secret sentiments as the group’s film Palm Springsbut with even smaller stakes and even less predictable storylines. It’s silly stuff, but it’s a pleasantly light tale designed to keep the audience guessing. And it’s nearly impossible to watch without wondering: Would I do better under these circumstances? —TER