Best Of
40 Best Comedy Movies That Are Actually Funny
The funniest movies ever made, ranked by how hard they actually make you laugh. From dry wit to slapstick chaos, these comedies deliver.
40 FILMS·April 2026·By MoviesPack
Section 1
The Problem With Comedy Lists
Every "best comedy" list includes the same safe picks — Some Like It Hot, Annie Hall, The Apartment. Great films. Important films. But are they *funny* in 2026? Are you actually laughing, or are you appreciating them? This list prioritizes one thing: **does it make you laugh?** Not "is it well-crafted." Not "is it historically significant." Does it land?
Section 2
Top 10: Guaranteed Laughs
01
Superbad
2007
★7.6IMDb
Two socially awkward best friends about to go their separate ways for college have one last mission: get enough alcohol for a party so the girls they like will sleep with them. Things go immediately, catastrophically wrong. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are perfect as the pair, but McLovin — a gangly teenager with one of the worst fake IDs in history — ends up on the film's best subplot with two useless cops. It's crude, sincere, and gets funnier every rewatch because you keep catching throwaway lines you missed before.
Why it matters
Other comedies have great scenes. Superbad doesn't have a single dead minute. It's 113 minutes of pure comedy momentum.
02
Airplane!
1980
★7.7IMDb
A traumatized ex-pilot boards a transcontinental flight to win back his flight attendant ex-girlfriend. When food poisoning takes out the entire crew, he's the only one who can land the plane. That plot is almost irrelevant — it's just a scaffolding for the most relentless barrage of jokes ever put in a film. The joke-per-minute ratio is inhuman: visual gags, wordplay, deadpan absurdism, background jokes, foreground jokes running simultaneously. The movie is over 40 years old and still funnier than 99% of modern comedies.
03
The Big Lebowski
1998
★8.1IMDb
A cheerfully unemployed Los Angeles bowler called The Dude gets mistaken for a millionaire with the same name, gets dragged into a kidnapping scheme involving the millionaire's wife, and mostly just wants his rug back. The Coen Brothers made a noir detective film where the detective is stoned, incompetent, and incurious, and the mystery barely matters because the characters around him are so perfectly weird. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi have chemistry that shouldn't work and absolutely does.
04
Bridesmaids
2011
★6.8IMDb
A woman whose life is falling apart — broke, directionless, dating someone terrible — is asked to be maid of honor for her best friend's wedding and immediately gets into a war with the wealthy, polished new best friend who's trying to take her place. Kristen Wiig and the ensemble cast proved that women-led comedy could be just as raunchy and hilarious as anything the Apatow boys were doing, and the food poisoning scene in the bridal shop is one of the hardest you'll laugh in a film.
05
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975
★8.2IMDb
King Arthur and his knights set out to find the Holy Grail and encounter increasingly deranged obstacles: a knight who keeps fighting after losing all his limbs, a French castle full of taunters, killer rabbits, and a bridge with trick questions. Made for practically nothing, it's been quoted relentlessly for half a century because the jokes are perfect and endlessly replayable — British absurdism operating at its absolute peak.
06
Step Brothers
2008
★6.9IMDb
Two unemployed, socially stunted men in their forties are forced to share a bedroom when their single parents get married. Both are furious. Then they accidentally become best friends. It's stupid — magnificently, gloriously, deliberately stupid — and Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play these man-children with such total commitment that it works completely. The Catalina Wine Mixer is the film's final act and it is a masterpiece of escalation.
07
Borat
2006
★7.4IMDb
A Kazakh journalist travels to the United States to document American culture and falls in love with Pamela Anderson, who he plans to make his wife. The joke is that Borat is a real character interacting with real, unaware Americans, and Sacha Baron Cohen committed to it to genuinely dangerous lengths. The reactions are real, the discomfort is real, and the naked hotel fight with his producer is cinema at its most unhinged.
08
The Hangover
2009
★7.7IMDb
Three friends wake up in a trashed Las Vegas hotel suite with no memory of the previous night, a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, and one of them missing a tooth. The groom they were celebrating is also missing, 24 hours before his wedding. The mystery structure — piecing together a blackout night through increasingly insane clues — is what makes it work, and the photo montage over the credits is the cherry on top.
09
Groundhog Day
1993
★8.0IMDb
A misanthropic TV weatherman is sent to cover the Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and gets stuck reliving February 2nd forever. At first he tries to exploit it. Then he tries to escape it. Eventually he tries to become a better person. Bill Murray's performance works at every stage of that arc, and the film is genuinely funny for its full runtime while also being, quietly, a film about how you become who you are.
10
In Bruges
2008
★7.9IMDb
Two hitmen are sent to hide out in Bruges, Belgium after a job goes wrong. One of them hates Bruges. The other one quite likes it. Meanwhile their boss, back in London, is deciding whether one of them needs to die for what happened. Martin McDonagh's dark comedy is endlessly quotable — Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson arguing about whether a medieval city is a shithole — but it's also funny, violent, and unexpectedly touching about guilt and consequences.
Section 3
11–25: Will Not Disappoint
11
Dumb and Dumber
1994
★7.3IMDb
A limo driver falls for a woman he drives to the airport, finds the briefcase she left behind, and drives from Providence to Aspen to return it — not knowing the briefcase is a ransom drop and he's now being followed by kidnappers. Jim Carrey at maximum physical and verbal chaos, and the "so you're telling me there's a chance" scene is the platonic ideal of comedy optimism.
12
Mean Girls
2004
★7.1IMDb
A girl raised abroad by her scientist parents starts at an American high school and gets recruited by the most popular clique as a social experiment — then gradually becomes exactly what she was supposed to be studying. Tina Fey's script is airtight and the social satire still lands two decades later. "On Wednesdays we wear pink" entered the cultural vocabulary permanently.
13
This Is Spinal Tap
1984
★7.6IMDb
A documentary crew follows a British heavy metal band on their disastrous American tour: venues shrink, the lead singer's girlfriend takes over management, the drummer spontaneously combusts, and nobody understands the album cover. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer improvised most of it, which makes every scene feel like it actually happened. Musicians don't find it funny because it's too real. "These go to eleven" is the perfect comedy line.
14
Shaun of the Dead
2004
★7.9IMDb
A directionless 29-year-old in North London has his life interrupted by a zombie apocalypse. His plan: pick up his ex-girlfriend, grab his mum, get to the pub, and wait for it all to blow over. Edgar Wright made something that works as both a perfect comedy and a perfect zombie movie, and the Queen soundtrack during the Winchester pub fight is one of cinema's great comic set pieces.
15
Tropic Thunder
2008
★7.1IMDb
A group of pampered movie stars making a Vietnam War film are dropped into actual jungle by a fed-up director and have to survive real danger while thinking it's still method acting. Robert Downey Jr. plays an Australian actor who underwent a surgical procedure to play a Black character and refuses to break character, ever. Tom Cruise as the screaming studio exec Les Grossman is the most unhinged cameo in movie history. It shouldn't work. It absolutely works.
16
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014
★8.1IMDb
A legendary hotel concierge and his lobby boy protégé become entangled in the theft of a priceless Renaissance painting, a murder investigation, and a war that's slowly consuming their fictional European country. Ralph Fiennes as Gustave H. is hilarious, elegant, and genuinely moving — a man who maintains meticulous standards because he knows the civilization they represent is already ending. Every frame is a postcard.
17
21 Jump Street
2012
★7.2IMDb
Two incompetent new cops — a dumb pretty-boy and a smart nerd — are sent undercover into a high school to bust a drug ring. Their cover identities get accidentally swapped, forcing the dumb pretty-boy to take AP chemistry and the nerd to navigate the popular crowd. A reboot nobody asked for that turned out to be one of the funniest films of the decade. Channing Tatum's comedic timing surprised everyone, including probably himself.
18
Anchorman
2004
★7.2IMDb
A self-important 1970s San Diego news anchor's comfortable all-male workplace is disrupted by a new female co-anchor who is better at the job than he is. Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy is one of cinema's great comedic creations — completely pompous, oddly sincere, and somehow lovable. The jazz flute scene, the news team brawl, and "I'm kind of a big deal" are peak mid-2000s comedy.
19
Coming to America
1988
★7.0IMDb
The crown prince of a fictional African kingdom arrives in Queens, New York, determined to find a wife who loves him for himself rather than his title — and gets a job at a fast food restaurant to stay incognito. Eddie Murphy at his most charming, playing multiple characters including a barber and a preacher, each funnier than the last.
20
Hot Fuzz
2007
★7.8IMDb
London's top police officer is transferred to a tiny, suspiciously perfect English village where nothing ever happens — and is driven slowly mad by the tranquility. Then people start dying in "accidents" and his obsessive detective instincts kick in. Edgar Wright's action comedy is tightly plotted, endlessly rewatchable, and packed with background gags and planted callbacks that only reveal themselves on repeat viewings.
21
Ghostbusters
1984
★7.8IMDb
Three disgraced university parapsychologists start a ghost removal business in New York City, and business is good — until the city's supernatural activity begins escalating toward something apocalyptic. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis have perfect chemistry, the comedy and the spectacle balance each other completely, and "He slimed me" is exactly the right reaction to being covered in ghost mucus.
22
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1986
★7.8IMDb
The most popular kid in his Chicago high school fakes sick, convinces his neurotic best friend to borrow his dad's Ferrari, springs his girlfriend from school, and spends the day in the city while the principal hunts him. Matthew Broderick breaks the fourth wall throughout, inviting you to enjoy the manipulation with him. The parade scene, Cameron's breakdown over the Ferrari, and the post-credits scene are all John Hughes at his most purely joyful.
23
The Nice Guys
2016
★7.3IMDb
A bumbling private detective and a hired enforcer reluctantly team up in 1970s Los Angeles to find a missing girl connected to the porn industry and a conspiracy reaching into the Department of Justice. Ryan Gosling does physical comedy at a level most actors don't attempt, and the bathroom stall scene is perfect. Shane Black's script treats the mystery seriously while letting the characters be gloriously incompetent.
24
What We Do in the Shadows
2014
★7.6IMDb
A documentary crew follows four vampire flatmates in Wellington, New Zealand as they navigate modern life: doing the dishes, going to nightclubs, dealing with their werewolf rivals, and explaining their nocturnal lifestyle to a newly turned flatmate who doesn't understand how any of it works. Taika Waititi commits to the mockumentary format completely and the jokes stack perfectly. "We're werewolves, not swearwolves" is a better line than it has any right to be.
25
Mrs. Doubtfire
1993
★7.1IMDb
A divorced father so desperate to see his children that he disguises himself as a Scottish nanny and gets hired by his ex-wife to look after them. Robin Williams in prosthetics and a fat suit shouldn't be this good, but his genuine feeling for the character — a man who loves his kids enough to become someone else entirely — makes the absurd premise land. The restaurant scene where he switches between his two identities at adjacent tables is physical comedy at its most precise.
Section 4
26–40: The Underrated Gems
26
The Death of Stalin
2017
★7.3IMDb
Stalin dies and his inner circle — a group of terrified, backstabbing cowards — immediately begin jockeying for power while pretending to mourn. Every decision is made by men who have spent years performing loyalty to a tyrant and have no idea how to lead without him. Armando Iannucci makes it funny in an "this actually happened to real people" way that makes you slightly uncomfortable for laughing. Jason Isaacs as Zhukov steals every scene he's in.
27
Game Night
2018
★6.9IMDb
A competitive couple's regular game night turns into what appears to be a kidnapping mystery game — except it's an actual kidnapping and they don't realize that for most of the film. An action comedy that's better than it has any right to be, and the tracking shot through the party tracking a game piece is genuinely impressive filmmaking for a crowd-pleaser.
28
Hera Pheri
2000
★8.2IMDb
Three completely broke men — a garage owner, his dim but lovable tenant, and a new arrival — accidentally receive a ransom call meant for someone else and decide to play along to get the money. Every scheme makes things worse. Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and Suniel Shetty have comedic chemistry that has never been replicated, and the dialogue has been quoted so relentlessly in South Asia that entire scenes are just cultural wallpaper at this point.
29
3 Idiots
2009
★8.4IMDb
Two former engineering students search for their missing best friend, a genius who challenged everything about how their college prepared them for life — told in flashback over three years of lectures, breakdowns, and the pressure of an education system that measures success in ranks, not understanding. Rajkumar Hirani makes it funny, emotional, and genuinely sharp about institutional failure. "All is well" became a mantra because the film earns it.
30
The Other Guys
2010
★6.7IMDb
Two desk-bound NYPD officers who've spent their careers in the shadow of the department's celebrity cops stumble into a massive financial fraud case. Will Ferrell is a forensic accountant who genuinely loves paperwork; Mark Wahlberg is his furious partner who wanted to be one of the cool cops. Their complete incompatibility is the engine of the film, and the "aim for the bushes" opening is comedy perfection.
31
Office Space
1999
★7.6IMDb
A software developer hypnotized into not caring about his job discovers it's the best thing that ever happened to him — suddenly he's promoted while his competent colleagues get laid off. Mike Judge's corporate satire is so accurate it functions as therapy for anyone who's survived a white-collar office. The printer destruction scene is a communal catharsis, and "I believe you have my stapler" is the gentlest statement of complete victimization in film history.
32
The Princess Bride
1987
★8.0IMDb
A grandfather reads his sick grandson a fairy tale about a farm boy trying to rescue his true love from a scheming prince, featuring a Spaniard who has spent 20 years searching for the six-fingered man who killed his father. Rob Reiner's adventure comedy is beloved across generations because it never condescends to its own material — the romance is real, the swashbuckling is real, the comedy is real, all at the same time. Inigo Montoya's revenge quest is both hilarious and genuinely satisfying.
33
Kung Fu Hustle
2004
★7.7IMDb
A hapless small-time crook tries to impress the Axe Gang by bullying residents of a run-down apartment complex, accidentally triggering a martial arts war between the gang and the complex's unlikely hidden masters. Stephen Chow made Looney Tunes real — physics-bending action, perfect comic timing, and the landlady who is somehow the most terrifying person in the film. The most purely joyful movie on this list.
34
Rushmore
1998
★7.6IMDb
A scholarship student at a prestigious prep school — overextended in every extracurricular, performing at the bottom of every class — falls for a first-grade teacher and discovers she's also being pursued by a middle-aged steel magnate. Max Fischer is delusional, determined, and oddly sympathetic. Wes Anderson's breakout is understated comedy that rewards attention, and Bill Murray's friendship with a 15-year-old over shared heartbreak is one of cinema's stranger dynamics.
35
Andaz Apna Apna
1994
★8.1IMDb
Two lazy, scheming men — each convinced he's smarter than everyone else — end up competing for the hand of the same heiress, with a bumbling villain and mistaken identities compounding the chaos at every turn. Aamir Khan and Salman Khan have loose, improvisational chemistry that no sequel or remake has captured. Flopped on release, became one of the most quoted Indian films ever. Teja Teja.
36
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
2010
★7.5IMDb
Two friendly hillbillies go to their vacation cabin in the woods, accidentally terrifying a group of college students who assume they're murderers because they've seen too many horror movies. Every "attack" is a misunderstanding, every "murder" is an accident, and the college kids keep dying in increasingly elaborate ways trying to defend themselves from nothing. The premise inverts every slasher trope and the results are genuinely hilarious.
37
The Intouchables
2011
★8.5IMDb
A wealthy French quadriplegic hires a young man from the projects as his live-in caretaker — not because he's qualified, but because he's the only candidate who treats him like a person rather than a condition. Driss's complete indifference to Philippe's wealth and disability, responding to both with the same cheerful irreverence, is where all the comedy lives. The paragliding scene earns its joy because the film spent 90 minutes showing what it costs Philippe to feel alive.
38
Napoleon Dynamite
2004
★6.9IMDb
An awkward, deadpan Idaho teenager lives with his grandmother, his internet-scamming uncle, and his even more socially hopeless friend Pedro, who decides to run for class president. Nothing much happens and almost every line is delivered with complete indifference. Either you get it or you don't, and there's no middle ground — the dance scene at the end is either the funniest thing in cinema or completely pointless. I'm in the first camp.
39
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
2016
★7.8IMDb
A troublemaking city kid is placed with a reluctant foster family in the New Zealand bush, starts to love it, and then ends up on the run through the wilderness with his gruff foster uncle after a misunderstanding turns them into the country's most wanted fugitives. Warm, weird, and hilarious — Taika Waititi and Sam Neill have exactly the right chemistry for two people who don't want to be together but are stuck being a unit. "Ricky Baker, you are a bad egg."
40
Palm Springs
2020
★7.4IMDb
A cynical wedding guest has been stuck reliving the same Palm Springs wedding day forever and has long since stopped caring. Then the bride's sister accidentally gets trapped in the loop with him, and she's not as willing to accept infinite stasis. Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti make Groundhog Day feel fresh by leaning into what it would actually feel like after the first thousand iterations — Milioti especially is a revelation.
Section 5
Want More?
- [Browse all comedies by rating](/best/comedy) — our complete ranked database - [Feel-good movies](/mood/feel-good) — when you need a pick-me-up - [Hidden gem comedies](/hidden-gems/comedy) — underrated funny movies - [What to watch tonight?](/discover) — get a random comedy recommendation
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