There are plenty of great dark comedies which don’t get the love they deserve, but fans of the genre should definitely give them a watch. Dark comedy movies can be quite polarizing, since they deal with subjects that some people aren’t prepared to laugh at, like death, violence and prejudice.
For those who do appreciate dark comedy, it can often be hard to find the hidden gems that the genre has to offer. Comedy is so subjective that a hilarious movie can be buried under a pile of bad reviews, only for it to find its audience later and emerge as a cult classic.
Danny DeVito is most famous as an actor, but he’s also directed a few underrated movies, with a focus on dark comedy.Death to Smoochyis one of his funniest. As usual, DeVito also gives himself a role in the movie, and he joins a brilliant ensemble cast featuring Ed Norton, Catherine Keener and Jon Stewart.
Death to Smoochyis one of DeVito’s funniest movies.
Although it isn’t as popular as many otherRobin Williams movies,Death to Smoochystill offers a lot to love. Williams plays a disgraced children’s TV host who fixates his rage on his replacement when he is fired for corruption. He gives a characteristically expressive, bombastic performance which juxtaposes nicely with Norton’s more reserved character.
World’s Greatest Dadnever got a wide theatrical release, so it has always remained a hidden gem. Robin Williams plays a struggling writer with a strained relationship with his only son. Not many movies would make jokes about a child dying, but the whole story revolves around this plot point.
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Williams brings some of his dramatic heft toWorld’s Greatest Dad,but not so much that it jars with the irreverent tone of the comedy.World’s Greatest Dadmanages to get away with its deliberately bad taste because what it says about society’s response to death is disturbingly true.
Sexy Beastisn’t always described as a comedy, which underlines just how deadpan and naturalistic its sense of humor is. Indeed, there’s nothing about the story that’s inherently funny, as a violent criminal tries to drag one of his associates out of retirement for a big jewel heist. The comedy mostly comes from Ben Kingsley’s performance.
Kingsley delivers an eye-catching performance as one of thefunniest comedy movie villainsof all. Don Logan is a vile brute, but his short stature and bottomless reservoirs of rage make him hilarious. Kingsley’s manic energy works well opposite Ray Winstone’s calm, unflinching presence.
The directing duo known as the Daniels gained plenty of attention forEverything Everywhere All At Once,but the Oscar-winner isn’t their only bizarre treat.Swiss Army Manis just as original and creative, but it has a much bleaker tone. Daniel Radcliffe stars as a dead body, and Paul Dano plays the man lost in the wilderness who forms an unlikely bond with him.
Swiss Army Manis never easy to predict, and this is exactly how it gets so many laughs. It’s also a masterpiece of gross-out humor at times, and it pushes the boundaries of acceptable dark comedy to breaking point.There’s nothing quite likeSwiss Army Man,even in the realm of dark comedy.
Bullets Over Broadwayis a hilarious comedy about the nature of art.John Cusack delivers one of his funniest performances as a struggling playwright who manages to get his Broadway show financed when he agrees to cast a dangerous gangster’s girlfriend in the lead role. From this starting point,Bullets Over Broadwayevolves into a wry deconstruction of the entertainment industry.
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Bullets Over Broadwaydraws some scathing parallels between the entertainment industry and the business of organized crime. It’s also a disarming comedy about how artists present themselves to the world, and how society places a certain value on art due to the identity of the artist. It’s surprising, sarcastic, and punctuated by moments of startling violence.
Anthology movies are usually a mixed bag, especially comedy anthologies, butWild Talesconsists of far more hits than misses. The six stories of misbehavior and comedic rage all revolve around the theme of revenge. The title teases a glimpse at people resorting to animalistic violence, but Damián Szifron reminds his audience that revenge is a uniquely human trait.
The stories inWild Talesall start off in familiar settings - two airline passengers realize they have something in common, a man’s car is towed, a woman recognizes a man from her past - but they evolve in unpredictable and hilarious ways. While each segment ends with a grim punchline,there are also elements of horror mixed into Szifron’s bag of delights.
Although he’s most famous for big-budget movies likeDeadpoolandFree Guy,there are a lot ofRyan Reynolds movieswhich fly under the radar.The Voicesmakes perfect use of Reynolds' odd charms. A less charismatic actor might struggle in a comedy about a factory worker whose pet cat tells him to start killing people.
The Voicesis as dark as dark comedies come. It takes a wonderfully distasteful premise and pushes it to even stranger places. Reynolds' performance is key to extracting the humor from a movie that can often veer into pure horror and some truly disturbing territory.
It’s rare to see acomedy movie about a historical erathat dedicates such time and care to authenticity, butBlacKkKlansmanis based on an unbelievable true story, so it’s fully warranted. Spike Lee’s throwback comedy tells the story of Ron Stallworth, a Black detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of a colleague.
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While most comedy movies end with a brief moment of sincerity, there are also those that keep the audience laughing until the very end.
John David Washington and Adam Driver make a hilarious buddy-cop duoinBlacKkKlansman,and their scenes together have the same infectious energy of a heist movie, as the two detectives plot their elaborate scheme. Spike Lee is one of very few filmmakers who could make such a riotous comedy about America’s most notorious hate group, but he ends the movie with a reminder of the real-life context and the serious weight of the matter.
Happinessis a peculiar film, and one which invites its audience to mull over its characters and strange stories long after the credits roll. It’s bleakly hilarious, butTodd Solondz also displays a lot of empathy for his emotionally stunted characters, so that they become relatable and deeply human. This is important for the moments that turn unremittingly dark, without a ray of humor.
Happinesstells a few loosely connected stories, each of them about deeply damaged people, both yearning for connection and despising the people around them. It’s easy to get the impression that these characters are merely a random handful of people from Solondz’s strange world, and that there are countless more specimens waiting to be discovered.
Richard Ayoade’s second feature-length film was also his second book adaptation.The Doubleis based on a novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It’s not one of the author’s most popular classics, but Ayoade brings it to life with a grim color palette, an oppressive dystopian atmosphere and a hearty helping of dark comedy.
Richard Ayoade’s second feature-length film was also his second book adaptation.
Jesse Eisenberg plays two characters inThe Double:a milquetoast office drone and the self-assured doppelgänger who tries to usurp his life.Dual roles in moviesoften explore the different sides of the human psyche, andEisenberg is hilarious as both id and egoin this strange metaphysical struggle.
