Looking for a chuckle? Kids will laugh at anything, but a good adult-friendly comedy can be harder to come by. From laugh-out-loud misadventures to inky black humor, here are the best grown-up comedies to stream right now.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Alice E. Bier Zandén, Christopher Laesso, Emilie Kroyer Koppel, Jacob Ulrik Lohmann, Jakob Højlev Jørgensen, Lone Rødbroe, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Paul Hüttel, Sara-Marie Maltha, Sidse Babett Knudsen
Director: Bille August
With the current deluge of biopics streaming, it’s easy to overlook Clark, Netflix’s fictionalized take on Clark Olofssonm, from whom the term “Stockholm Syndrome” was coined. Bill Skarsgård, Hollywood’s favorite onscreen creep, returns to his native Sweden and plays the titular criminal with such feverish passion that it’s impossible to take your eyes off the screen.
The delirious editing (bordering on excess or camp, depending on your taste) also makes it quite the standout among all the sober real-life adaptations. Clark will surely be hit-or-miss for most people, but its riskiness alone is enough reason to watch.
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Actor: Adam Lundgren, Bill Skarsgård, Hanna Björn, Isabelle Grill, Malin Levanon, Sandra Ilar, Sofie Hoflack, Vilhelm Blomgren
It's ironic that Pete Davidson is the least interesting part of Bupkis, an autobiographical series about the ins and outs of Davidson's life. The half-hour comedy takes on the same raunchy, stoner, and self-deprecating humor Davidson is known for, so if you've seen some of his stand-up specials, SNL segments, and the film The King of Staten Island (a much better outing, in this writer's opinion), you'll know what to expect in Bupkis: a lot of Davidson revisiting his childhood trauma and poking fun at himself for being the internet's reluctant star.
That's all fine and funny enough, but what really makes Bupkis much better than your standard sitcom is the people around Davidson. If you can appreciate anything about Davidson, it's his appreciation for the people most others would usually forget after fame. Hometown locals, childhood friends, extended families—they're all here and they all shine much brighter than the series' star. Brilliantly, Joe Pesci plays Davidson's grandfather, Edie Falco his mother, and Bobby Cannavale his uncle. They're fully fleshed and superbly acted, bringing much-needed tenderness and humbleness to the picture. It's a pleasant surprise to see them in a series that is teetering on the verge of self-indulgence. So with Bupkis, you can come out of curiosity, but you will stay for the supporting characters, who truly live up to their role and hold this show up with mighty skill.
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Edie Falco, Joe Pesci, Pete Davidson
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Andrea Anders, Jorge Garcia, Maxim Swinton, Omar J. Dorsey, Sebastian Maniscalco, Vanessa Ferlito
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Andréa Ferréol, Brian Deacon, David Attenborough, Eric Deacon, Frances Barber, Geoffrey Palmer, Guusje van Tilborgh, Jim Davidson, Joss Ackland, Ken Campbell, Wolf Kahler
Director: Peter Greenaway
Summary: it’s a really unusual movie, especially for a star like Robin Williams. It’s almost an indie film actually. Robin Williams plays Lance Clayton, the father of a typical rude teenage boy Kyle Clayton (Daryl Sabara) wherein Sabara’s character meets an unusual demise, and out of embarrassment of the situation the father ghost-writes a suicide note from his son. This white lie leads to another and another and so on until his lies spread further than anticipated. The movie definitely earns points for making the film that was set out to be made. They wanted to make a dark comedy and a dark comedy was what they made. It’s even uncomfortable to watch at times. Between Lance’s love life and Kyle’s non-existent one there’s enough awkwardness that you feel like you can’t wait to get to the next scene just so this one can be over. All in all the actors did a truly fantastic job. Each character seemed well developed by the individual actor to the point where every gesture, line delivery, and awkward silence seemed too natural and organic. Additionally, the writing was exceptional for this movie, as no dialogue was ever wasted. Each and every little detail in each and every shot of each and every scene was very carefully designed to continually push the aesthetics, this film is a big success.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Alexie Gilmore, Bobcat Goldthwait, Bruce Hornsby, Cheri Minns, Daryl Sabara, Ellie Jameson, Ellyn Jameson, Evan Martin, Geoff Pierson, Henry Simmons, Jermaine Williams, Jill Talley, Krist Novoselic, Lorraine Nicholson, Mitzi McCall, Morgan Murphy, Naomi Glick, Rebecca Erwin Spencer, Robin Williams, Toby Huss, Tom Kenny
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait
Bree (Felicity Huffman) is an uptight transwoman who gets a phone call from her long lost son who is in trouble. She does not tell him she is his father but bails him out of jail and they end up on a long road trip to LA. Bree's high strung conservative personality intersecting with a wild young man and people they meet along the way leads to some comical situations. Felicity Huffman's performance is excellent. It is enjoyable to watch the characters develop over the film.
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Actor: Amy Povich, Andrea James, Bianca Leigh, Burt Young, Calpernia Addams, Carrie Preston, Craig Bockhorn, Danny Burstein, Elizabeth Peña, Elizabeth Peña, Felicity Huffman, Fionnula Flanagan, Forrie J. Smith, Graham Greene, Grant Monohon, Jim Frangione, Jon Budinoff, Kevin Zegers, Maurice Orozco, Paul Borghese, Raynor Scheine, Richard Poe, Stella Maeve, Steve Hurwitz, Teala Dunn, Venida Evans
Director: Duncan Tucker
The Sessions is drama about Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes), a quadriplegic who is forced to live in an iron lung due to complications from childhood Polio. A poet by trade, Mark longs to experience the touch of a woman, and despite his condition, to ultimately lose his virginity at the age of 38. After consultation with his parish priest (William H. Macy), Mark begins to see a professional sex surrogate (Helen Hunt), who slowly opens his mind and his body to the pleasures of sexuality. A very frank depiction of sex and sensuality, The Sessions is unflinching yet utterly tender storytelling. Hawkes and Hunt are both wonderfully real and honest in their performances. It’s the type of film that will surprise you by the ending at how much it has moved you.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Adam Arkin, Annika Marks, B.J. Clinkscales, Blake Lindsley, Daniel Quinn, Helen Hunt, J. Teddy Garces, James Martinez, Jarrod Bailey, Jennifer Kumiyama, John Hawkes, Jonathan Hanrahan, Ming Lo, Moon Bloodgood, RayVeness, Rhea Perlman, Robin Weigert, Rusty Schwimmer, Tobias Forrest, W. Earl Brown, William H. Macy, Мун Бладгуд
Director: Ben Lewin
Not enough movies tell the stories of the down-on-luck, kind of uncool wolf-pack that still goes out into town with their wallets on chains hanging from their pockets and try their luck with the ladies. Mike, heart-broken actor-comedian pines over his ex long after she's been gone, while his guys - Trent, Rob and Sue - try to help him get back in the game in a series of nights club-hopping and wingman-ing. You find yourself empathizing with Mike almost immediately if you've ever had a broken heart and root for him throughout his highs and fairly embarrassing lows. Sprinkled with clever references and subtle, refreshing humor, Mike's journey to find closure is more than likely to warm your heart.
As a bonus, the flawed yet endearing gang of twenty-something struggling actors will take you to that charming 90's nightlife in Los Angeles (with music to die for, by the way) and remind you that boys will be boys and that they're just doing their best helping each other and themselves to keep it together with lots of "You're so money, and you don't even know it!".
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ahmed Ahmed, Alex Désert, Alex Désert, Bernard Serrano, Blake Lindsley, Brooke Langton, Curtis Lindersmith, Deena Martin, Heather Graham, Jan Dykstra, Jessica Buchman, Joan Favreau, Jon Favreau, Katherine Kendall, Kevin James Kelly, Maddie Corman, Martina Migenes, Molly Stern, Pamela Shaw, Patrick Van Horn, Rio Hackford, Ron Livingston, Samantha Lemole, Stephanie Ittleson, Stephen Gaghan, Vernon Vaughn, Vince Vaughn
Director: Doug Liman
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Actor: Adrian Martinez, Anil Bajaj, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Bess Rous, Betsy Borrego, Brandon Scott Jones, Brian Egland, Camille Chen, Caroline Williams, Chloe Adona, Christopher Matthew Cook, Christopher Winchester, Dave Davis, Derek Russo, Gabriel 'G-Rod' Rodriguez, James Moses Black, Jenna Kanell, John Cihangir, Joshua Mikel, Keith Brooks, Krystal Tomlin, Lacey Dover, Lena Clark, Lucy Faust, Marcus Lewis |, Marvin Ross, Mike Harkins, Miles Doleac, Nicholas Hoult, Nick Drago, Nicolas Cage, Oren Michaeli, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Sarah Durn, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Stephen Louis Grush, Susan McPhail, T.C. Matherne, William Ragsdale
Director: Chris McKay
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Actor: Augustus Prew, Brock O'Hurn, Damon Wayans Jr., Dan Cordle, Ego Nwodim, George J. Vezina, Gina Jun, Gina Rodriguez, Jerry Kernion, Joel Courtney, Kais Boukthir, Liza Koshy, Marin Hinkle, Sarah Dacey Charles, Tom Ellis, Veraalba Santa
Director: Trish Sie
Fans of Dan Harmon, the brain behind beloved shows like Community and Rick and Morty, will notice his signature touch in Krapopolis. The jokes are thought-provoking, the characters are lovably flawed, and most importantly, the premise is bonkers—but if you’re used to Harmon’s world, perhaps not bonkers enough. Maybe this is because of its 20-minute runtime, but Krapopolis feels more restrained than Harmon’s usual work, which revels in the bizarre. It also moves too fast to be appreciated, so you’ll need to spend more time and episodes with the characters to fully appreciate them. But if you’re coming into Krapopolis with no knowledge of Harmon’s previous work, then the show can actually be as fun and lighthearted as any good raunchy adult cartoon.
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Actor: Duncan Trussell, Hannah Waddingham, Matt Berry, Pam Murphy, Richard Ayoade
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Crime
Actor: Alan Tudyk, Erinn Hayes, Jon Hamm, Kevin Michael Richardson, Rachel Dratch
Genre: Action, Comedy
Actor: Benny Lai Keung-Kuen, Billy Ching Sau-Yat, Brigitte Lin, Carina Lau, Chan Tat-Kwong, Jacky Cheung, Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau, Joey Wang, Joey Wong, Johnny Cheung Wa, Kenny Bee, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk, Pau Hei-Ching, Sze-Ma Wah-Lung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Veronica Yip, Veronica Yip Yuk-Hing
Director: Jeff Lau Chun-Wai, Jeffrey Lau
Straight to the point and without any overly elaborate set-ups or personal anecdotes, Shane Gillis' Beautiful Dogs is a sort of back-to-basics approach to stand-up comedy that proves surprisingly effective. Over the course of about 50 minutes, Gillis' jokes move smoothly and freely—loose in structure but still clearly centering around very American notions of authority and masculinity (revolving around the military and U.S. history), which the comedian is quick to poke holes in. Gillis' humor is definitely of the lowbrow variety though, and while this in itself isn't a bad thing, a number of his jokes begin to repeat their point to no additional effect, usually relying on low-hanging fruit. Gillis skirts and occasionally dips into offensive territory, which he fully acknowledges. And while some of the stuff in this special is a little tasteless, at least Gillis is sheepishly honest about it.
Genre: Comedy, Documentary
Actor: Shane Gillis
Director: John McKeever, McKeever