If you’ve squeezed all the laughs out of your favorite comedies, there’s hope: Netflix has a vast selection of classics and contemporary hits, including a handful of originals. Check out 10 of the funniest movies currently streaming on the service.
1. Zombieland (2009)
Woody Harrelson leads an eclectic cast (Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin) who stick together in the wake of a zombie apocalypse that spares no one—not even Bill Murray. The actor plays himself in a meta cameo that could have gone to Sylvester Stallone, Mark Hamill, or Kevin Bacon.
2. The Nice Guys (2016)
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling make an unlikely buddy pairing in this comedy written and directed by Shane Black. In 1970s Los Angeles, the two detectives bumble through a seedy underworld to find a missing girl. Black originally wrote it as a television pilot before deciding it worked better as a feature film.
3. Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Ali Wong was already an accomplished stand-up, but this romantic comedy cemented her irresistible charms as she plays a celebrity chef reconnecting as an adult with her childhood crush (played by Randall Park). The Asian-led cast and crew give the film a wonderfully unique perspective, even as those details underscore the universality of its ultimate truths. Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves plays himself as a love interest for Wong’s character: He agreed to the role because he’s a fan of Wong’s stand-up.
4. Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Eddie Murphy returned to form with this funny and moving biopic of Rudy Ray Moore, a struggling stand-up comic in the 1970s who finds his big break as Dolemite, a butt-kicking alter ego that became the subject of Moore’s low-budget film debut. Murphy met Moore several times before Moore’s passing. Murphy once said that Moore wanted to go on a comedy tour with him.
5. The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
The ever-reliable Paul Rudd stars in this amiable indie film about a writer who takes on a side hustle as a caregiver for a teen (Craig Roberts) with muscular dystrophy. Naturally, lessons are learned, but it’s also a prime example of the affability that’s made Rudd one of the more pleasant screen actors of the past two decades. The film is based on author Jonathan Evison’s 2012 book The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.
6. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
En route to turning Thor into the comedic lunkhead he was always meant to be in Ragnarok, writer-director Taika Waititi crafted this sweetly irreverent story about a Tupac-obsessed orphan (Julian Dennison) who teams up with his reluctant foster father (Sam Neill) to evade the cops after an overzealous child welfare worker (Rachel House) decides he is in imminent danger. Waititi’s idiosyncratic humor and irresistible sentimentality are both vividly on display in this affecting, woefully under-appreciated comedy that’s based on the 2005 book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump.
7. Easy A (2010)
Emma Stone is a high school student who uses a salacious rumor to her own benefit. Though not a literal adaptation, many viewers consider it a modern retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
8. The Cable Guy (1996)
Jim Carrey swerved fans of his physical comedy with this funny—but dark—tale of a cable installation technician who becomes obsessed with a customer (Matthew Broderick). A stunt double was used for a scene in which Carrey gets too overzealous on the basketball court and shatters the backboard. But the glass broke toward the actors, not away from them as planned; the stunt coordinator was subsequently fired.
9. Groundhog Day (1993)
Bill Murray is a disenfranchised broadcaster who finds himself re-living the same day over and over. Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton were originally considered for the part before Murray accepted. (If you’re re-watching, you can try to spot a young Michael Shannon: He’s in a party scene as newlywed Fred.)
10. The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
The minds behind 2019’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse have another winningly irreverent animated film on tap. The slightly dysfunctional Mitchell family has to contend with technology gone awry—but to save the human race, they’ll have to interrupt their vacation. The movie was such a critical hit that Netflix decided to offer it as a limited theatrical release six months after it began streaming.
A version of this story ran in 2020; it has been updated for 2023.
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as The 10 Best Comedies to Stream on Netflix Right Now.
