20 best black comedies of all time

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you are tired of sugary melodramas, check out these pictures.

1. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Atomic Bomb

• USA, UK, 1964.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

By chance, the fate of humanity is in the hands of very strange people. American General Jack D. Ripper gives an insane order to launch a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the peace-loving US president is struggling to save the situation and contacts the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. He talks about a mysterious doomsday machine, capable of destroying the whole world in the event of a nuclear strike on the USSR.

Stanley Kubrick's satirical film can hardly be attributed to a specific genre. In the 60s, the atmosphere of general paranoia prompted the director to make a drama about nuclear war. As a basis, Kubrick took the book by Peter George "Red Alert". But while working on the script, it turned out that it was impossible not to laugh at the uncompromisingly serious tone of the novel. In the end, the director gave up and wrote a comedy-style script.

2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

• Great Britain, 1975.
• Adventure black comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The film plays with the famous legend about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in a humorous way and tells about the heroes' wanderings in search of the Holy Grail.

The first cinematic project of the renowned British comedian troupe Monty Python was Terry Gilliam's directorial debut. The film's humor can be described as absurd in the name of absurdity, but that's the beauty of it. For example, the Black Knight, even after losing his arms and legs, refuses to admit defeat, and the arrogant French soldiers are thrown by livestock.

3. King of Comedy

• USA, 1982.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

The freaky guy Rupert Papkin is sure that he has the makings of a genius humorist. You just need to perform in front of the audience - and he will become a star. Without waiting for the grace of fate, the hero decides to steal the host of the popular evening show Jerry Langford in order to attract attention at all costs.

The King of Comedy by Martin Scorsese has many things in common with The Taxi Driver, which was filmed seven years earlier. By the way, both films served as inspiration for director Todd Phillips and his team in the work on the film "Joker".

4. After work

• USA, 1985.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Work-obsessed programmer Paul Hacket is about to spend one of the most nightmarish and bizarre nights of his life in the bohemian Soho quarter of New York. It all happens because of three women - Marcy, Kiki and Julie - who drag the hero into incredible adventures.

After the box office failure of The King of Comedy, Hollywood no longer wanted to trust Martin Scorsese to work on major projects. Then the director shot a low-budget film with young actors. And although this picture, full of absurdist and surrealistic humor, also did not collect a large box office, it received high praise from critics. Thanks to this, Scorsese was eventually able to regain the confidence of the producers.

5. Whitnale and me

• Great Britain, 1986.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

The heroes of the film are young unsuccessful actors Whitnale and Marwood. In order to save money, they live in the same apartment, and they spend unemployment benefits exclusively on drinking. Once Marwood offers to get out of London to "get some air", and the friends go to Uncle Whitnale's country house. However, rest quickly turns into failure.

The debut film directed by Bruce Robinson ("The Rum Diary") has deservedly become a cult. The picture is built on subtle dialogues full of absurd English humor. And at some point the comical in the plot gives way to the tragic - namely, the feeling of the cruel senselessness of any attempts by the heroes to change the usual course of their lives.

6. Burton Fink

• USA, 1991.
• Surreal black comedy.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Hollywood studio offers aspiring playwright Burton Fink a job. The screenwriter moves from New York to Los Angeles and settles in a provincial hotel, where strange and mysterious events take place.

Barton Fink is one of the iconic films by the Coen brothers. This movie is so strange, absurd and at the same time intellectual that it is often compared to the works of Lynch and Buñuel.

7. Death suits her

• USA, 1992.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

Broadway actress Madeline Ashton once stole the fiancé from the writer Helen Sharp, but after many years she feels unhappy in this marriage. One day, the heroine, with amazement and envy, discovers that somehow her former rival has become slim, young and beautiful. To regain her elusive youth, Madeline decides to take extreme measures.

Black Comedy by Robert Zemeckis won an Oscar for visual effects. They are really quite impressive and kind of creepy. So, during the ladies' showdown, the body of Goldie Hawn is "decorated" with an impressive hole, and Meryl Streep turns her head 180 degrees.

8. Fargo

• USA, 1996.
• Crime thriller, black comedy.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Car salesman Jerry Lundegaard, mired in debt, plans to "kidnap" his own wife and demand a ransom from his father-in-law. To do this, he hires two crooks, Karl and Geir, but the situation quickly gets out of control.

Five years after Barton Finck, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen won an Oscar for their original screenplay for Fargo. Another Oscar in the same year was won by actress Frances McDormand for Best Actress.

Later, based on the cult film, a series was also filmed, borrowing from the original only the atmosphere and scene of action. This time, the Coen brothers acted as executive producers, although they usually prefer to work on their own projects.

9. The Big Lebowski

• USA, 1998.
• A comedy of the absurd.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The quiet life of an unemployed loafer Jeffrey Lebowski, nicknamed the Dude (English Dude, in other translations - Dude) comes to an end when two bandits are announced on the threshold of his house. The latter demand the return of the debts of Lebowski's wife, although he has never been married. Realizing that they had the wrong address, the bouncers leave, but before that they spoil the wonderful carpet. The dude decides to go to his namesake and demand compensation for the damage caused, but he unwittingly finds himself drawn into a series of ridiculous events.

The audience greeted the new work of the Coens very coolly, but after a while the film found its way to the hearts of the public and was dismantled for quotes. Although at first viewing it is far from always clear why. After all, half of the events of the film could be thrown out without prejudice to the plot, and even the voiceover does not seem to really know what to tell him about. Still, thanks to the strange charm of the motley characters in The Big Lebowski, it's hard not to fall in love.

10. Happiness

• USA, 1998.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

The plot is centered around the three Jordan sisters, each of whom is unhappy in her own way. One is married to a pedophile psychiatrist, the other is an intellectual writer who secretly dreams of being raped, and the youngest occasionally contemplates suicide.

In "Happiness," American independent filmmaker and screenwriter Todd Solondz raises the complex subject of the degradation of the family. But at the same time, the film does not look depressing or gloomy, and it is very easy to watch it due to the playfully cynical manner of presenting the plot. The further fate of the characters can be found in Solondz's later film Life in Wartime, filmed 10 years later with a different cast.

11. Office space

• USA, 1999.
• Crime comedy.
• Duration: 89 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Ordinary office worker Peter Gibbons hates his boring and uninteresting job. In the end, one failed hypnosis session inspires him to revolt against bosses and corporate America.

The film's director, Mike Judge, is best known as the creator of Beavis and Butt-head. The painting "Office Space" has many things in common with the comedy series "Office". Both works make fun of corporate culture, and many of the issues they highlight are relevant to this day.

At the same time, the main idea of "Office Space" is optimistic: there is no ideal job, but in any one you can find something that makes you happy.

12. Dogma

• USA, 1999.
• Black comedy, fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 130 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Two fallen angels, expelled from paradise for disobeying the Lord, find a way to return home thanks to a loophole in church dogmas. But the former celestials do not assume that, having carried out their plan against the will of God, they will create a paradox and destroy the principles of the universe. So humanity is in dire danger.

In the hope of preventing a catastrophe, the archangel Metatron hastily assembles a team of the elect. Among them are the Catholic Bethany Sloane in crisis of faith, in whose veins the blood of Jesus Christ flows, the sloven prophets Jay and Silent Bob, the thirteenth apostle Rufus and the inspiring muse Serendipity, who temporarily works as a stripper at a roadside bar.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith got serious about "Dogma" when he was only 23 years old. The young director dreamed of making a movie in which the key issues of religion would be discussed in a humorous manner. At the same time, the director did not want to ruin a very important picture for him with his inexperience and put the ambitious project on the shelf.

As a result, Smith was still able to carry out his plan to the fullest. The roles of the fallen angels went to the very young and little-known Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. In addition, many celebrities played in the film: Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, singer Alanis Morissette and pop comedy veteran George Carlin.

Critics took the tape favorably, and ordinary viewers were delighted. "Dogma" instantly became a cult, and remains a hit even now.

13. Phantom world

• USA, UK, Germany, 2001.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 111 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Bosom friends Enid and Rebecca decide not to go to college like other classmates, but to live for themselves. They have a long summer ahead, looking for work and an apartment. Spying on other people's lives is Enid's main passion, and one day the girl meets music lover and record collector Seymour, a typical loser and dumbass. Gradually, Enid begins to seem that she is increasingly moving away from this world, because except for Seymour, no one understands her.

The Phantom World is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Daniel Close, one of the most talented contemporary artists working in the genre of independent comics. This direction had a strong influence on the film's director Terry Zwigoff. Back in the 70s, the director met one of its founders - the Californian artist Robert Crumb, about whom he later shot a documentary.

Curiously, in the original comic, the main character's full name (Enid Coleslaw) is a complete anagram of the artist's name (Daniel Clowes).

14. A zombie named Sean

• UK, France, 2004.
• Comedy zombie horror.
• Duration: 99 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

The infantile seller of electrical appliances, Sean, does not strive for anything and spends most of his free time in nonsense with his childhood friend Ed. Everything changes when a zombie virus begins to spread rapidly across London.

Edgar Wright's black comedy is a parody of classic zombie movies, from Dawn of the Living Dead to 28 Days Later. The film even contains a subtle reference to Lucio Fulci's little-known Zombies and an explicit homage to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

And after the fun "Zombie named Sean", you can watch the rest of the "Trilogy of three Cornetto tastes" - "Kind of cool cops" and "Armageddian", which will definitely not disappoint fans of black humor.

15. People smoke here

• USA, 2005.
• A satirical black comedy.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Nick Naylor, a leading lobbyist for one of the largest tobacco manufacturers, is fighting uncompromisingly against smoking opponents. The hero is not too worried about being called America's main killer. But very soon his life principles will be tested for strength.

The film is based on Christopher Buckley's bestseller "They Smoke Here" and turned out to be quite worthy of the original source, and the charming character of Aaron Eckhart delights in spite of his immorality. At the same time, throughout the entire picture, the audience is not shown a single lit cigarette.

16. Death at a funeral

• UK, 2007.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

In the house of Daniel and his wife Jane, the whole family gathers to honor the memory of the deceased father of the protagonist. Only now the funeral did not work out from the very beginning. The coffins are mixed up in the funeral office, and one of the guests mistakenly takes drugs instead of sedatives. Well, to top it all off, a dwarf-blackmailer comes to the event with compromising evidence on the deceased.

This is an exemplary black British comedy, watching it with the right mood, you can get a lot of pleasure and laugh to tears. The audience liked the film so much that a few years later the American adaptation of the same name was released.

17. Welcome to Zombieland

• USA, 2009.
• Comedy zombie horror.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

A zombie virus outbreak has occurred in the United States. The main character named Columbus is one of the few who managed to survive in a changed world. Throughout the country, the guy goes home to find out if his parents are still alive, and on the way he meets strange fellow travelers.

Ruben Fleischer's film has everything a perfect black comedy needs. And exactly 10 years later, the entire cast returned to continue the picture.

18. Dirt

• UK, 2013.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Bruce Robertson is a staunch sexist, racist, foul language and generally a terrible person. At the same time, the hero occupies not the last post in the Edinburgh police and hopes for a promotion, but at some point he begins to rapidly go crazy.

Scottish filmmaker John S. Baird turned Irwin Welch's cynical and evil novel into a successful black comedy. And James McAvoy played one of his best roles in it.

19. Real ghouls

• New Zealand, USA, 2014.
• Black comedy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Viago, Vladislav, Deacon and Petyr are vampires living in Wellington. Over the years of immortality, bloodsuckers have not been able to adapt to modern realities. But after a newly converted ghoul named Nick joins the four, the Internet and other digital technologies come into their lives, as well as new problems.

The low-budget New Zealand comedy, directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, has become a cult icon and has grown into an entire franchise. First, the New Zealand channel TVNZ aired the mini-series Wellington Paranormal, which takes place in the same universe. Tactful police officers, already familiar to the audience from The Real Ghouls, became the heroes, and the show itself makes fun of the X-Files and is dedicated to investigating supernatural events.

And a year later, another multi-part spin-off of the original film premiered on the American cable channel FX. The series "What are we doing in the shadows" also tells about the life of modern vampires. But now the action is centered around new characters and has moved from New Zealand to the United States.

20. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

• USA, UK, 2017.
• Crime drama.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

A terrible event occurs in the life of Mildred Hayes - her teenage daughter dies at the hands of unknown persons. Tired of waiting for the results of the investigation from the police, the desperate mother pays the rent for three billboards and places eye-catching accusations against the local sheriff on them. The war of a lonely woman with an entire town eventually leads all participants in the events to an unpredictable and dramatic outcome.

This film has everything that the soul of a moviegoer can require: outstanding acting, well-chosen musical accompaniment and an extraordinary story that goes beyond good and evil in the traditional sense. That is why the picture is a must-see, like the previous full-length works by Martin McDonagh - "Lay Down in Bruges" and "Seven Psychopaths".