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Choosing the funniest movies to have ever graced a screen is a personal, subjective, and quite honestly arbitrary task, but it's also one we're gleefully taking on. Because at the end of the day, no matter one's preference in cinematic humor—be it slapstick, deadpan, raunch, pitch black, situational, satirical, the list goes on—a laugh is a laugh.
Here, we're offering a smorgasbord of comedic fare, ranging from those lowbrow cult classics everyone can quote to the more elevated riots whose wit, commentary, and wise cracks just get better with subsequent viewings. Hopefully, your favorites are represented, but if not, keep checking back, as we'll be sure to update our list as more originals become viewing essentials and viral newbies assume their rightful spots in forever fandom.
His Girl Friday (1940)
The banter, quips, and quick wits volleying back and forth between the leads in Howard Hawks's 1940 film no doubt set this classic atop the primo fast-talking, screwball comedies akin to the '30s and '40s. Starring Carey Grant and Rosalind Russell as Walter and Hildy, the story bounces around a Chicago newsroom with Walter persuading his ex-wife, Hildy, to scoop one last story with him before she gets remarried. Antics, action, and an affable romance story are in store.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
A toque raccoon. Butt plug warfare. Googly eyes galore. Michelle Yeoh is the ultimate ass-kicker, navigating infinite realities, family dysfunction, and financial turmoil with nary a hair out of place. A sublime indie action comedy from the directing pair known affectionately as The Daniels, EEAAO is silly chaos you want to get lost in. Rather than learning more here, just hit play and enjoy the ride.
Ghostbusters
Who you gonna call for a laugh? Pete, Ray, Egon, and Winston! Ivan Reitman’s 1984 classic never gets old and keeps getting funnier. The tale you know: Four parapsychologists come face to slimy face with Manhattan’s motley crew of spectral beings. But the legacy you may not: Not only is this near-perfect comedy a fun watch, but it also set a new standard for visual wizardry on the big screen.
House Party
It’s the movie that introduced a generation to sticky prophylactic syndrome (n., the unfortunate effect of never getting laid). Kid ‘n Play star in this raucous ’90s teen comedy with an incredibly apt title. Unaware of the wild night that awaits them, the two dodge parents, unleash freestyle beats, and score, or try to score, with the hottest girls in school at the mother of all house parties.
Polite Society
An instant classic, Nida Manzoor’s debut feature is a martial arts romp that belongs to Ria Khan and her mission to keep her sister from surrendering to marriage. Enlisting the help of her besties, she concocts the ultimate kicker: a wedding heist. Razor-sharp wit and the same joy on display in Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts result in a cinematic delight you’ll want to watch again and again.
Pride
The U.K.’s LGBTQ community and fed-up miners unite in this true-story gem from Matthew Warchus. A joy from start to finish, the LOL comedy chronicles the National Union of Mineworkers strike in the summer of 1984. But a boring history lesson this is not. Equipped with a toe-tapping soundtrack and humor as hilarious as it is heartwarming, Pride is a balm that stands tall in the pantheon of comedies.
Some Like It Hot
In 1959, Billy Wilder recruited Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe for a screwball riot that would become one of the best comedies of all time. Hiding out from the mob, the two men take cover in a traveling all-female jazz band called the Syncopators, donning wigs, stockings, lipstick, and all. Elevated with zippy dialogue, madcap adventure, and sexual tension, Some Like It Hot checks all the boxes.
Superbad
Welcome to the male brain, specifically the dominant hemisphere that controls the hormonal response. Writers Seth Rogen and Even Goldberg borrowed from their own high school experience to pen Superbad, an unfiltered, seminal bromance about two best friends (Jonah Hill, Michael Cera) who embark a nightlong odyssey involving cops, girls, and Goldslick. Unlike its title, it’s actually supergood.
The Banshees of Inisherin
The pinnacle of pitch-black comedies from writer/director Martin McDonagh, Banshees stars Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson as Pádraic and Colm, former best friends whose escalating grudge leads to amputations, dead animals, and even more extreme consequences. Dark, yes, but trust us, the tragic journey these two Irish lads are on is paved with comedic gold.
Triangle of Sadness
Swedish extraordinaire Ruben Östlund rarely misses. Force Majeure, The Square, Searching for Ingmar Bergman: all aces in the hole. His latest, a gonzo comedy that boards a luxury yacht before shipwrecking on an island, exposing the hypocrisies of the rich and beautiful, and leaving hierarchy dynamics to drown in the Mediterranean, is rich with deadpan, satire, and even slapstick.
White Men Can’t Jump
Need to brush up on your trash talk? The imaginative insults hurled in this 1992 classic starring acting pals Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson are almost as killer as their stellar pick-and-rolls. The two play Sidney and Billy, ballers who dunk on each other and then team up for a local tourney with a cash prize. Swishin’ and dishin’ from opening credits to close, this one’s a buddy comedy that still slams today.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Another stellar screwball comedy courtesy of Old Hollywood, It Happened One Night is also one of the genre's earliest road trip comedies. Riding shotgun with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, this Frank Capra classic cleaned up at the 1935 Oscars, winning the Big Five categories (the first film to do so). And it's easy to see why: Spoiled rich girl and cynical news chaser fall in love between pit stops from Florida to New York. It's simple yet elevated with buoyant dialogue and electric chemistry—a winning formula.
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
As its title implies, there is much ado about nothing in Kenneth Branagh's ode to Shakespeare, and yet the genius comedy of errors is everything. Equipped with an all-star cast, including Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, and Keanu Reeves, the story explores the ripple effects of one of life's inconvenient truths: rumors. And might we offer a shout-out to one of the Bard's silliest characters ever created: Dogberry, the bumbling "self-satisfied night constable" brilliantly embodied by Michael Keaton.
Airplane! (1980)
Filmmakers whose slapstick took flight with 1980's Airplane!, Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker (a.k.a. ZAZ) left their mark on the decades bookmarking the turn of the century. From Airplane!, a goofy good time at 30,000 feet starring Leslie Neilson, and the Naked Guns to BASEketball and the Scary Movies, the triumvirate manage to offend, impress, and soil britches all while becoming a national treasure recognized by Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Tim Burton's gateway horror classic about a recently deceased couple trying to scare away the eccentric family inhabiting their home is packed with laughs. And it keeps getting funnier every single time we see it. Not only do we have the perfectly pitched Catherine O'Hara leading dinner guests and possessed shrimp through a round of the Banana Boat song, but we have a brilliant Michael Keaton outdoing himself with every single scene-stealing appearance he makes as the titular bioexorcist.
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
In the '90s, the comedy genre saw a seismic shift in its side-splitting landscape with the emergence of a certain over-the-top, zany comic by the name of Jim Carrey. He had Ace Ventura, Fletcher Reede, the Cable Guy, but more beloved than all is Lloyd Christmas—for us, anyway. Paired with comedy Farrelly gold behind the camera and Jeff Daniels's equally dim-witted sidekick in front of it, Dumb and Dumber became the lowbrow comedy everyone from the playground to the country club was quoting.
Booksmart (2019)
Inspired by some of the best teen comedies of the '80s and '90s—those that helped shape a generation, like Say Anything and The Breakfast Club—Olivia Wilde also tapped into Training Day and The Big Lebowski for her directorial debut. That said, Booksmart is entirely its own female-dominated animal. Tweaked for modern audiences and injected with representation that doesn't feel forced, the buddy comedy stars Kaitlyn Devers and Beanie Feldstein as a pair of always-do-wells trying to ne'er-do-well the night before they graduate.
Girls Trip (2017)
Behold, the breakout role that put Tiffany Haddish on speed dial in Hollywood. Girls Trip, also starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, and Queen Latifah, launched the comedian's career, and after one screening of the boisterous comedy about a group of best friends who get wild at an annual festival in New Orleans, it's easy to see why. She's pee-your-pants hilarious. Of course, Haddish isn't the only draw. The script, direction, and production all worked in harmony to make Girls Trip the first Black-made movie to break $100 million at the box office.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Kevin Kwan's glitzy nuptials novel got the big-screen treatment in 2018, and, believe it or not, the Jon M. Chu–helmed film marked the very first time an all-Asian American cast headlined a mainstream Hollywood romantic comedy. Led by Henry Golding and Constance Wu, who play a couple heading to Singapore for a wedding, this crowd-pleaser is brimming with surprises befitting of the genre, as well as so many solid one-liners and endless displays of gorgeous designer lewks.
Obvious Child (2014)
Marcel the Shell's Jenny Slate steps behind the mic for a little stand-up as Donna, a 20-something self-deprecating comic who gets dumped by her boyfriend and then impregnated by a one-night stand, all in time for Valentine's Day. But unlike the unplanned-pregnancy comedies of the previous decade (see: Juno, Knocked Up, Saved!), this 2014 Sundance favorite from Gillian Robespierre offers an authentic, warm-hearted abortion story that finds the funny in life's curveballs.
DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.
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