The 14 best comedies on Netflix right now

Director: Richard Linklaer

Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio

Glen Powell’s nice-guy charisma has uplifted several standard-issue romcoms, but who knew he was funny funny? In this deceptively dark Richard Linklater romp, Powell plays a socially awkward college professor who discovers a unique talent for portraying hitmen for undercover police operations. The plot revolves around his affair with a woman (Arjona) looking to bump off her abusive husband, but the best bits involve Powell busting perps under various guises, from Russian assassin to redneck gun-nut. 

Director Kitao Sakurai

Cast Eric André, Tiffany Haddish, Lil Rel Howery

On paper, Bad Trip sounds a lot like a tired mix of Borat and Bad Grandpa, featuring a lovesick Eric André on a road trip interacting with real people via elaborate pranks involving crashed cars, projectile vomit and plenty of nudity. What a surprise, then, when the film reveals itself not as a ‘gotcha’ flick seeking to show the dark underbelly of the American south, but rather one in which its marks prove to be kind, helpful and empathetic. The movie is uneven, but when the laughs hit, they hit hard, all while positioning Bad Trip as an unexpected feel-good comedy classic.

Director: Paul Feig

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy

Coming along at the height of Apatow Mania, Bridesmaids proved it was possible to make a bromantic comedy without the bros and have it succeed with both critics and audiences. Wiig is great as Annie, a thirtysomething baker in the midst of a personal crisis whose life only gets more vexing when she’s asked to serve as the maid of honour at her best friend’s wedding. In terms of heartfelt vulgarity, it’s every bit the equal of fellow Apatow productions like Knocked Up or The 40-Year-Old Virgin – but it’s proven to have greater staying power than almost any of them.   

Director: Greg Mottola

Cast: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Superbad is often credited with reviving the teen sex comedy, but it’s a long way from Porky’s. Sure, it’s plenty raunchy, and its plot – two awkward high school seniors (Michael Cera and Jonah Hill) make a last-ditch effort to ensure they don’t graduate as virgins – shares DNA with countless other horny, problematic films from previous decades. But Superbad is sweeter, smarter and more authentic-feeling than the vast majority of them, owing to the chemistry between its leads and the fact that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg started writing the script back when they actually were awkwardly hormonal teenagers themselves.

Director: Martin Brest

Cast: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto

One of the great action-comedies of the ’80s, Martin Brest’s follow-up to the also-classic Beverly Hills Cop stars the then-unlikely comic pairing of Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin as a bounty hunter and a bail-jumper who form a bond – ahem – over mutual assailants. It’s a standard odd-couple setup, elevated by A-list performances, a thoughtful script and some bang-up setpieces. The always-great Dennis Farina is the foul-mouthed cherry on the cake as mobster Jimmy Serrano. 

Directors: Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube

If there was a rubric for quantifying just how much a movie exceeds expectations, this reboot of the ’80s teen cop show that brought Johnny Depp to the world would finish near the top of the scale. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are police officers forced to go undercover in their old high school… and that’s where similarities to the series effectively end. The humour is mostly of the gleefully juvenile sex-and-drugs variety, but Hill and Tatum are genuinely hilarious as they reckon with their past selves and try, unsuccessfully, to blend in with the youths.

A zombie apocalypse makes for strange bedfellows. Woody Harrelson is a redneck survivalist seemingly living his best life among the undead. Jesse Eisenberg is a neurotic college student also well-versed in navigating the dystopian landscape. Their odd-couple chemistry powers this energetically zany zomcom, which also gets a boost from Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin as con-artist sisters. And if you’ve made it this far without having the epic mid-movie cameo spoiled, put on horse blinders and stream the damn thing already.

Director: Craig Brewer

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Keegan Mike Epps

Eddie Murphy fulfils his destiny to don the shimmering hat of Blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore in Craig Brewer’s dense, often hilarious biopic that chronicles the rise of the legendary kung-fu star, low-budget auteur and bonafide ladies’ man. Seemingly taking Moore’s signature Disco Godfather plea to ‘put your weight on it‘ fully to heart, Murphy delivers one of his most nuanced performances in the title role. Brewer smartly surrounds the comedy god with capable supporting players (Wesely Snipes damn near steals the thing) while developing a rich period tapestry that fully immerses viewers into the seedier side of ‘70s entertainment, crafting a film of a piece with Boogie Nights.

Director: Radha Blank

Cast: Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Imani Lewis

If you took 8 Mile and made it about a middle-aged female playwright trying to muscle in on the rap game, it might look a little like this Sundance award winner. It’s a pitch-perfect intro to Radha Blank, writer-actor-star of an autobiographical comedy-drama that tackles creative compromise, the Black experience, hip hop and theatre culture and a fair few big laughs in its exploration of New York’s not-that-rich and not-quite-famous. TLDR? She’s great.

Director: Ally Pankiw

Cast: Rachel Sennott, Olga Petsa, Jason Jones

Rising star Rachel Sennott continues her ascent in this indie dramedy about a trauma-stricken comedian searching for the missing teen she used to babysit. It deals in some dark stuff, including sexual assault, but the cast manages to wring uncomfortable laughs from much of it. Sennott is great, even if the jumbled timeline dampens the film’s emotional impact. Shout out to Caleb Hearon as her understanding but increasingly put-upon roommate, too.

Director: Larry Charles

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten, Clifford Bañagale

Somewhat forgotten between the cultural flashpoints of the two Borat movies, Sacha Baron Cohen’s other prankumentary aimed at putting American bigotry on blast isn’t nearly as revealing in that regard, but in terms of sheer button pushing, it might be even more audacious. Under the guise of gay Austrian TV host Brüno Gehard, Cohen places himself in situations where it’s truly a wonder how he escaped in one piece – particularly the scene in which an MMA fight breaks down into a homoerotic sex show in front of an increasingly enraged crowd.

Director: David Dobkin

Cast: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens

Eurovision gave viewers exactly what they needed in the middle of the pandemic: A shot of Will Ferrell silliness surrounded by a surprisingly earnest entry into Europe’s extremely befuddling (for Americans, at least) pop-culture Olympics. What could have been another eye-rolling exercise in questionable European accents instead unfurled as a legitimately touching underdog saga masquerading as another comedy in the Talladega Nights mold, and while it’s a bit uneven, it’s impossible not to get pulled into the siren song of ‘Jaja Ding-Dong.’ 

Director: Amy Poehler

Cast: Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey

Hey, if Adam Sandler can make movies purely as an excuse to go on vacation with his buddies, why can’t Amy Poehler? A group of friends, each grappling with middle age in some fashion, head off to Napa for a birthday weekend, and, well, that’s pretty much it for plot. But with a cast that includes the names above, plus Paula Pell, Maya Rudolph and Ana Gasteyer, what else do you need? Granted, it should probably be a little funnier than it is given the personnel, but it’s still an easy, breezy watch – especially with a glass of supermarket muscadet in hand.

Director: Kyle Newacheck

Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Luke Evans

A bit silly but still entertaining, this Netflix production was one of the first semi-successful attempts at comedy releases by the streaming giant. Adam Sandler is a New York police officer who takes his wife Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) on a European vacation that turns out to be anything but relaxing.