Best Comedy Movies to Watch on Amazon Prime
Need a chuckle? We know comedy gold can be hard to come by, so we’ve scoured the depths of the streaming landscape to dig it out. From dark humor to laugh-out-loud misadventures, these are the best comedies to stream now.
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Coming of age films are a staple in cinema, but rare is a great depiction of growing up on the internet, chatting with friends, and learning about the world through just a small screen. Dìdi is one of those rare films that remembers that pivotal era, which is why it’s often likened to Bo Burnham’s […]
Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell got a lot of free reign with her debut, Promising Young Woman, which was a slightly modest ordeal even with a lead of Carrey Mulligan’s calibre. But now, with her sophomore film, she go to have some fun. Assembling a devout cast of particularly skilled actors—Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, and […]
What would you do when you win the lottery? Most people would travel, buy a home, spend it on all the things you love, and maybe invest it somewhere. In The Ballad of Wallis Island, Charles Heath does this and uses the remaining pot to bring together the separated folk duo he loves. It makes […]
The most surprising thing about Overcompensating is that, underneath the sexual romps and irreverent humor, there exists something sweet in the form of Benny and Carmen’s friendship. Yes, the show is largely about college and exploring the boundaries of freedom. It’s also about the different performances we put on in an awkward attempt to fit […]
A town with no crime is a dream everywhere. It means safety, security, and trust for the residents within, so surely anyone would like to preserve that. That’s the case for the fictional town of Dhadakpur, the setting of Dupahiya. As the robbery happens, it understandably causes chaos in the town, but as the Jha […]
What if the UK’s MI5 was run not by sleek secret agents, but rather, a bunch of second-rate, hand-me-down spies? Slow Horses gives us a taste of that as it centers on Slough House, a division of MI5 that serves as a detention center for their smart but hopelessly damaged goods. In this six-part miniseries, […]
As We See It centers on the perspectives of its three leads: Jack, Violet, and Harrison, twenty-something roommates who happen to be on the autism spectrum. Along with their caretaker Mandy and a small but loving group of friends and family, they embark on a journey of self-improvement that is sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, but always […]
The premise of The Bondsman is fun enough. In a small Southern town, Bacon plays a bad-ass bounty hunter who sends demons back to hell. And the episodes are easy to watch, too. Each runs for about 30 minutes, featuring a new monster for Bacon to slay. Inexplicably, the show is also, occasionally, a musical. […]
If you’re expecting the sleek, playful, and totally over-the-top spy shenanigans of 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, you’re not going to find it in this 2024 version, not that it’s a bad thing. In fact, this show stands on its own, reinventing the spy couple into a professional partnership rather than an immediate spark that […]
My Old Ass has a very simple premise, one it doesn’t even take the effort of explaining. For whatever reason, 18-year-old Elliot meets her 39-year-old self, and they talk at length about life. Naturally, older Elliot gives her younger self some advice to improve her life. But she also gives her a grave warning: under […]
Who would’ve thought a wordless, black-and-white, slapstick comedy would still be hugely entertaining in this day and age? Hundreds of Beavers is created in the same spirit as the Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton comedies of yore, but it’s a tribute that manages to feel fresh, exciting, and unpredictable. The premise is simple: a man […]
In Sweetpea, every element comes together to make an addictive watch. The premise is amusing on its own—a shy girl is pushed so far into the edge she sees murder as a viable option—but brought to life by stylish direction, witty lines, and an irresistibly endearing Ella Purnell, you get great TV. It’s not exactly […]
Snack Shack is the quintessential summer movie. It’s sun-soaked and full of mirth as it follows two rowdy boys fighting off bullies and scheming their way to profit, one ingenious scam at a time. But it’s also a tender coming-of-age film, one filled with realistic friendships and painfully awkward romantic encounters. In both instances, Snack […]
Some people can get totally desperate when it comes to their love life, but rarely does this desperation end up with summoning an ancient warrior princess spirit. My Undead Yokai Girlfriend plays on this desperation, hilariously juxtaposing modern day love troubles with an ancient demonic revenge plot, and the mix plays out in a fun […]
No one watches a romantic comedy expecting anything novel, although it’s nice to be surprised once in a while. In the past years, we’ve seen movies like Rye Lane and Palm Springs subvert expectations and give the genre a pleasant, refreshing twist. Upgraded isn’t like those movies. It’s pretty standard and formulaic, but I would […]
x1Ludwig is a classic whodunnit with an interesting twist—the detective solving murder mysteries isn’t a cool genius like Sherlock or a goofy alien like Doctor Who. Instead, he’s a regular middle-aged man who just happens to be really good at solving puzzles. This, in turn, makes him see patterns in murder cases that would otherwise […]
For a romantic comedy with a fairy tale premise (a star falls in love with a regular person, and a much older one at that), The Idea of You is surprisingly relevant. It interweaves its romance with discussions of ageism and sexism, making it more self-aware than other movies in the same genre. But with […]
My Lady Jane reimagines the titular nine-day queen, played by Bader, as a staunch feminist who has a lust for life and, well, men. She’s wise, vocal, and unapologetically sexual, and her demeanor is complemented by an irreverent script, modern pop songs, and fourth-wall-breaking meta-humor. In other words, it’s just like every other modern period […]
Created by Janine Nabers and Donald Glover (Atlanta), Swarm is a dark and bloody deep dive into fan culture. It follows Dre (Dominique Fishback), a young woman whose obsession with a Beyoncé stand-in takes a dark turn after the unexpected death of a loved one. Artful, daring, and legitimately scary, Swarm is one of the […]
Look, no one expects a series about sex-loving anthropomorphic food products who also happen to be great at puns to be that serious. The worst it can be is boring, and thankfully, Sausage Party: Foodtopia is anything but. Each scene is rammed with outrageously gross acts, so the shock factor never wanes, but beyond that, […]
The first My Spy film was a fun caper that let kids imagine what life could be like if they trained and fought alongside the country’s top agents. This second film, set in Italy and following a now-tween Sophie, tries to be more grown up than the last but instead falls flat in every aspect. […]
While it might not be the most inspired story featuring the titular caped crusader—nor is it a particularly Christmas-y tale—Merry Little Batman still stands out just for how bright and warm its versions of these characters are. In this Gotham, crime is literally pushed aside for once, and that odd sense of holiday isolation takes […]
Between HBO’s The Rehearsal and Peacock’s Paul T. Goldman, it would seem that genre-bending reality-based shows are having a moment. Among the more lighthearted and enjoyable ones out there is Jury Duty, which follows a trial involving improvisational actors, save for one: Ronald Gladden, a friendly everyman who has yet to realize that everything around […]
Imagine if Showtime’s survival epic Yellowjackets was a comedy, and being stranded with your high school friends resulted not only in ethical and moral dilemmas but a lot of witty banter and major bonding as well. Then you’d have something like Class of ‘07, an apocalyptic series with the irreverent humor of many millennial shows […]
Deadloch begins like any other self-serious police procedural. A body washes up on shore, sparking widespread fear and a twisty mystery that eventually and intriguingly reveals layers of itself. Local officer Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) takes to it like it’s the most important case in the world, and for some reason, everything we see onscreen […]
Genuinely exciting but with more than enough heart to keep its genre trappings from overwhelming the story, The Kidnapping Day wastes no time setting the stakes and its plot into motion. Several crimes occur seemingly at the same time, which not only keeps the show’s various mysteries equally interesting, but emphasizes how our protagonist (the […]
The humor, oh the humor! It’s a breath of fresh air to be laughing with a Woody Allen film and not at it. He is so good at capturing the cheekiness in meet-cutes, secrecies, and lies, all powdered with exaggerated Frenchness. Forgive my surprised tone, but Coup de Chance surpasses all expectations in the way […]
The less you try to think about the absurd fantasy premise of this satire on Brazilian telenovelas, the better. Based on the first three episodes watched for this review, Soap Opera (or Novela in Portuguese) doesn’t provide an airtight idea of how things work when screenwriter Isabel is sucked into a TV—meaning any sense of […]
Sometimes the ability to create good drama (and comedy!) just depends on one’s attentiveness to how the world works and how people would reasonably react to it. And this new Telugu-language series illustrates this perceptiveness and empathy to great effect. Kumari Srimathi tells a story free of unnecessary gimmicks and stylization, but still manages to […]
“There is no ethical consumption under capitalism,” a famous socialist belief goes, but like many activists, Jo is trying to curb that. She marries her two conflicting passions, coffee and the environment, by establishing a vegan cafe that only serves plant-based drinks. If a customer so much as mentions dairy, they’re humiliated before being kicked […]
Five Blind Dates is a squeaky clean, hopelessly boring film pretending to be a raunchy romcom. Despite Lia (Shuang Hu) going on five (or four, really) dates, she doesn’t find real chemistry with any one of them. There’s no heat, no passion, no inane fun to be had, or reckless experimentation. It’s clear that what […]
In TV and cinema, meeting your partner’s parents is a tried-and-tested formula that’s bound to generate relatable laughs. Meet the Parents, The Proposal, and Happiest Season are some modern classics that come to mind. Yet, French Girl fumbles this opportunity by peddling cliche after cliche with zero charm. Braff’s character is supposed to possess at […]
Misfortune (Mala fortuna) is a telenovela that doesn’t shy away from the genre’s goofy qualities. It’s predictable and a little bit ridiculous, but like most enjoyable soap operas, it knows how to draw you in and keep you invested in all the drama. Our protagonists are two peas in a pod: Julio and Victoria, ordinary […]
The selling point of the series Alphonse, apart from raunch and romance, is that it gets its talented lead Jean Dujardin to transform into a different character each time he meets with a different client. Sometimes, he’s a World War II soldier, other times, he’s part of the academic elite. Always, he’s the object of […]
A murder mystery with an absurdist comedic bent, Killer Coaster initially comes off as too much. It struggles to juggle different genres and poses many questions it doesn’t immediately answer. There are also too many elements—including warring families, star-crossed lovers, secret identities, and complicated pasts—that make the mystery of the Ghost Train Killer seem incidental, […]
There’s something genuine at the core of Jackpot that unfortunately gets lost in the movie’s violence, spectacle, and “humor,” which is that life has become so unlivable in America that resorting to a Purge-like scenario now seems more likely than receiving actual care and rights from the state. You can see it whenever Katie (Akwafina), […]
As the first original Filipino film on Prime Video, Ten Little Mistresses can often feel stuck as an entertaining pitch for a film rather than a fully fleshed out story. Like many mystery-comedies, this is a movie that relies on its star power and its big twists over any convincing narrative or thematic ideas. But […]
There is no shortage of TV shows that dive deep into the weird wired world of social media, but F#Ck1Ng Social Media deserves credit for doing it effortlessly. You can tell the writers have an intimate knowledge of internet fame by how it contrasts has-been influencer Amanda with rising content star Vicky (Azul Guaita). Amanda’s […]
The first thing we learn about Dolores Roach is that she is a person of sensation and scandal, a masseuse who, as the newspaper clippings reveal, turned out to be a murderous cannibal serving human flesh to unwitting customers at a local eatery, a la Sweeney Todd. But the series is less about the horrors […]
Proof that even the most tired tropes (which the holiday genre is arguably entirely made up of at this point) can still be warm and enjoyable with above-average craft and a fun cast, Candy Cane Lane avoids the monotony that tends to plague other Christmas movies. Which isn’t to say that the film is a […]
Sitting in Bars with Cake’s best qualities and roughest qualities stem from the fact that the story is apparently based on true events. Screenwriter Audrey Shulman (who based the script on her cookbook of the same title) clearly wants to honor the details of this very personal year in her life, but the effect is […]
This a small-town, true-crime thriller that has John Hamm (Mad Men) as the detective, Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso) as the trusty sidekick, and Tina Fey (30 Rock) as the love interest. They’re a charismatic cast helming a bizarro story whose real-life details are already teeming with juicy details, and yet, the resulting film, directed by […]
Heist movies and TV shows as of late have been trying to experiment with form more than substance. In the case of the Italian series Everybody Loves Diamonds, we’re shown the actual heist right from the beginning, as the show then moves back and forth through time to track the investigators right on the thieves’ […]
There are some things to like in this romantic comedy. It’s simple and cute, with Reilly delivering an endearing performance that recalls some of the genre’s best proponents (in many scenes, she seems like she could be the spiritual successor of Zooey Deschanel or Rachel Bloom, adorkable leading ladies with hidden depths). But too many […]
This is one of those reviews where it’s probably enough to say: watch the pilot. There is no better proof of how good Modern Love is than its first episode. The show is based on true stories that were shared in The New York Times column by the same name. That first episode is about […]
Ricky Stanicky has all the ingredients of a zany romp: an insane premise, a cast of well-oiled comedians, and most notably, a veteran of the game, Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary), at the helm of it all. And yet Ricky Stanicky falls unbelievably flat. For starters, there is zero chemistry between […]
The suggestion that life gets better if only you stand up for yourself is a helpful one. After all, self-confidence is something young kids could use a lot more of. But it’s also not true, and for Sid to instantly get his dream life once he starts applying himself just doesn’t ring true. Things unfold […]
Like posters and stills of Space Cadet suggest, the film is cute and, occasionally, fun. Emma Roberts is bubbly and funny enough to carry the feature-length movie on her back, and the visuals, which are shock of Lisa Frank glittery pink, elevate an otherwise bland landscape. But the film doesn’t reach far enough into the […]
Based on the 1992 classic of the same name, A League of Their Own tells the story of the Rockford Peaches—how the women’s baseball team came to be, who its eccentric members are, and what life was like in wartime America, especially for driven women with unconventional goals. More than a remake, 2022’s A League […]
At least you can’t accuse this holiday film of being generic. Combining the incredibly incompatible elements of drug busts and figure skating (and still failing to justify this crazy idea, though not for a lack of trying), Dealing with Christmas eventually begins to feel more like a series of comedy sketches making up the rules […]
Alongside its Thai counterpart, Comedy Island Thailand, this blend of game show, reality program, and fantasy series remains thoroughly unpredictable in terms of which parts of itself are partially scripted or not at all. It’s fun to watch these actors try to keep a straight face precisely because the show doesn’t take itself seriously at […]
Sprung follows a group of newly released convicts who return to a life of petty thievery after realizing they’re up against an emerging global pandemic. It’s an amusing snapshot of the ridiculous lengths we went through in the horror year that is 2020, but it’s also filled with the good old sentiment that grounds funny […]
It isn’t even just because it’s a sequel, but every bit of Your Christmas or Mine 2 seems like it was sourced from other films with more personality, resulting in a stew of holiday tropes driven entirely by contrivances and conflicts that should be more easily resolved. And yet there’s something that keeps the film […]
Kevin Can F*** Himself takes on big risks by going back and forth between genres, but the move pays off. The switch from multi-cam sitcom (complete with canned laughter and too-bright colors) to single-cam drama (necessarily gritty and low-lit) is more than just some gimmick, it’s a technical feat that doubles as a precise critique […]
You should know from the get-go that Cocoa is a wild farce that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither should you. The mafia, a wild scientist, and a giant clumsy dog somehow weave themselves into what initially seems to be just a story of two sisters selling pastries and bonding along the way. It […]
Brothers is simply a bad film. The jokes are mediocre and the plot is thin, if not invisible. The only thing it has going for it is the cast, who, individually are great but together, in this film, are unbelievably unfunny. Except perhaps for Glenn Close, who seems to be the only one capable enough […]
Something happens in Forever episode three that I can’t tell you about. If I did it, I would spoil the show up for you. I don’t want to do this. So I will try very hard to sell you on the first two episodes, just remember, the show gets very different afterward. Both in premise, […]
Director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt) reunites with Mads Mikkelsen to tell the story of four teachers going through a mid-life crisis. They’re not sad, exactly—they have homes and jobs and are good friends with each other—but they’re not happy either. Unlike the ebullient youth they teach, they seem to have lost their lust for life, […]
In Swan Song, acclaimed actor Udo Kier stars as the real-life Pat Pitsenbarger, a local queer legend in the small town of Sandusky. He used to live a private but joyful life, beautifying socialities by day and performing in drag at night. But now the aging icon is resigned to live out his days in […]
There is a clear and wide gap between what Maximum Truth wants to be and what it actually is. What it wants to be is a silly but smart sendup of right-wing activism and the rampant disinformation the movement propels. What it ends up being is an occasionally funny but mostly tiresome film that falls […]