There’s a lot of bleakness in the world these days, and sometimes you just need to hunker down with a movie that will make you smile — or at least laugh through the pain. The good news is that 2018 has actually been a solid year for cinematic comedies from the gushy romances of Book Club to the lewd gags of Blockers.
Here are the year’s best comedies you can catch in theaters or at home. That’s not to say that all of these selections necessarily make for good escapist fare. For every Paddington 2, a thoroughly heartwarming fantasy about kindness, there’s The Death of Stalin, reminding us that even the worst people can be absurdly funny. And yet you will find chuckles in every selection listed here.
12. Love, Simon
Released: March 16
Cast: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford
Director: Greg Berlanti
Why it’s great: As revolutionary as Love, Simon is given its focus on a gay lead, its comic tropes are practically Shakespearean. There are mistaken identities, ill-conceived matches, and betrayal, which all makes sense for a movie about a bunch of theater kids. Berlanti and his game cast of rising stars executed all of these beats with an abundance of warmth. When it does get serious, Love, Simon tugs at your heartstrings in all the right ways. Bonus points for Natasha Rothwell as a fed-up drama teacher, who elicits a guffaw every time she speaks.
Where to see it right now: Rent on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, and Google Play (watch the trailer)
11. Book Club
Released: May 18
Cast: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen
Director: Bill Holderman
Why it’s great: For a while there, it seemed like Book Club would never be able to top the Instagram of its four legendary stars looking at the eclipse, but never underestimate the likes of Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen. Book Club is by no means a great movie — hell, it’s not even a particularly good one on a technical level — but it is a deliriously silly joy to watch. Our protagonists play a group of longtime friends who read Fifty Shades of Grey and decide to spice up their romantic lives by getting on dating apps, hanging out with old flames, and flirting with sexy pilots played by Andy Garcia. It’s packed with innuendo and moments that are downright goofy, including some really terrible CGI and a sequence in which Steenburgen tap dances to Meatloaf. However — through all of that — it also treats its leads with such dignity that you can’t help but get invested. Pairs best with a glass of rosé.
Where to see it right now: Buy on iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play, and YouTube (watch the trailer)
10. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Released: August 17
Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, John Corbett
Director: Susan Johnson
Why it’s great: Of all the entries in the rom com revival, this one is heavier on the rom than the com. But even though it won’t make your sides hurt, it will make your heart flutter. The plot is ripe with high school movie hijinks that arise when the love letters of Lara Jean Covey (the wonderful Lana Condor) accidentally get mailed to her crushes, namely the contractual faux relationship she starts with heartthrob Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). Like its heroine, it’s big hearted but skeptical in all the right places.
Where to see it right now: Netflix (watch the trailer)
9. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Released: July 20
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Cher, Andy Garcia, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep
Director: Ol Parker
Why it’s great: The sequel to 2008’s Mamma Mia! languishes in its ridiculousness. Oh, you want a reprisal of “Dancing Queen,” ABBA’s catchiest hit? Well, you’ll get it, and you’ll see Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård imitating The Titanic on the bow of a boat. You’ll also find yourself cackling with glee as Cher and Andy García perform “Fernando” in a sultry fashion as fireworks explode. And what about the sight of the patrons and employees of a French restaurant bursting out into “Waterloo”? Sure, there’s some sadness (Meryl’s dead!), but mostly it’s, to quote 30 Rock‘s assessment of the original, “a madcap musical romp… fun… good.”
Where to see it right now: In theaters (watch the trailer)
Released: May 4
Cast: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Mark Duplass
Director: Jason Reitman
Why it’s great: Diablo Cody and Reitman’s third collaboration — and their second with Charlize Theron — is maybe not the most laugh-out-loud entry on this list. At times, it’s a searing examination of the struggles of motherhood, specifically homing in on postpartum mental health. But Cody’s brutal wit courses through the narrative about an overtaxed mother of three who receives a reprieve in the form of a night nanny with a twinkle in her eye and a secret. Theron plays the weary Marlo with a wry edge, injecting humor into every exasperated glance.
Where to see it right now: Buy on iTunes, Amazon Video, and Google Play (watch the trailer)
7. Game Night
Released: February 23
Cast: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons
Director: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
Why it’s great: I have been thinking about Jesse Plemons’ bizarro performance in Game Night ever since I saw it back in February. But the Breaking Bad actor’s turn as an uncomfortably intense next door neighbor still wounded from his divorce is merely just one of the gifts contained within this surprisingly dark comedy-action-thriller hybrid. There’s a genuine tension behind the antics, which really kick off when Kyle Chandler’s suave Brooks, the obnoxious brother to Jason Bateman’s neurotic Max is actually kidnapped during what is supposed to be a fake game night adventure. The bits are memorably specific — from a tangent about Denzel Washington to a bullet extraction gone awry. Meanwhile, everyone in the stacked cast is in peak form, Rachel McAdams especially. Her delivery of one line in particular is genius.
Where to see it right now: Rent on iTunes, Amazon Video, YouTube, or Google Play (watch the trailer)
6. Crazy Rich Asians
Released: August 15
Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh
Director: Jon M. Chu
Why it’s great: Crazy Rich Asians is many things: A historic moment, a gorgeous romance, a convincing reason to take a trip to Singapore. But we’re talking about comedy here, so let’s discuss how director Jon M. Chu brought out some of the funniest people and let them do their thing. Sure, the central couple Nick (Henry Golding) and Rachel (Constance Wu) might steal a lot of the spotlight, but don’t count out Peik Lin, played by Awkwafina, and her loving, effusive, ridiculous family. Rachel’s initial trip to the gold-covered Goh home is a showcase not just for the perfect duo of Ken Jeong and Awkwafina, but also for Singaporean comedian Koh Chieng Mun as Peik Lin’s ostentatious mother Neena and newcomer Calvin Wong as her awkward teen brother P.T. The film works as well as it does because of the way it translates book author Kevin Kwan’s array of characters onto the screen, from the bon mots of Nico Santos’ stylish Oliver to the belly out antics of Jimmy O. Yang’s Bernard Tai.
Where to see it right now: In theaters (watch the trailer)
5. The Death of Stalin
Released: March 9
Cast: Simon Russell Beale, Steve Buscemi, Michael Palin, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrea Riseborough
Director: Armando Iannucci
Why it’s great: Iannucci, the brilliant Veep creator, set his sights on Russia with this savage political satire. Based on a graphic novel, the film dramatizes the madcap, maniacal plots of the men jostling for power after their leader, Joseph Stalin, keels over. From there, backstabbing, furious insults, and general chaos unfolds. Anchored by performances from Shakespearean great Simon Russell Beale and American icon Steve Buscemi, it’s a pleasure to see what the rest of the cast — from Star Trek: Discovery‘s Jason Isaacs to Homeland‘s Rupert Friend — do with Iannucci’s eloquently brittle text.
Where to see it right now: Rent on iTunes, Amazon Video, YouTube, or Google Play (watch the trailer)
4. Blockers
Released: April 6
Cast: Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Gideon Adlon
Director: Kay Cannon
Why it’s great: Kay Cannon slid narratives about female friendship and middle-aged anxiety into her ridiculously funny sex comedy about three teens that plan to lose their virginities on prom night. Two of their parents (Leslie Mann and John Cena) lose their minds when they discover this pact, and decide to make it their mission to stop it from ever taking place. A third dad (Ike Barinholtz) tags along — not because he thinks what they are doing is right, but because he’s lonely and needs some pals so he can riff about Ron Howard’s Inferno. (Barinholtz deserves a prize for the most random movie callback of all time.) Meanwhile, the girls — played by Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Gideon Adlon — are experiencing their own uneasy awakenings as they forge ahead during the raucous night. Viswanathan, a newcomer, gets some of the best punchlines, and Adlon, daughter of Pamela, navigates her character’s coming out with delicacy. There are crass gags galore, but you’re also likely to leave thinking about Blockers‘ melancholy threads about adulthood.
Where to see it right now: Buy on iTunes, Amazon Video, YouTube, Google Play (watch the trailer)
3. Sorry To Bother You
Released: July 6
Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Steven Yeun
Director: Boots Riley
Why it’s great: Sorry to Bother You is disarmingly hilarious. One minute you’re giggling along with bits about masturbation and Michel Gondry parodies, the next you’re blindsided with a stark, dystopian picture of the true evil of America’s corporate entities. The movie thrives on absurd imagery, like telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) getting plopped, desk and all, right in front of his potential customer when he makes a sales call, even if they are having sex or sitting on the toilet. But all of this is in the service of Boots Riley’s vision, which goes to extremes to show the stranglehold of racism and abuses of labor in this country.
Where to see it right now: In theaters (watch the trailer)
2. Paddington 2
Released: January 12
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville
Director: Paul King
Why it’s great: When the first Paddington hit our shores in early 2015, it was appreciated as a charming, thoughtful antidote to grating children’s programming. The second installment in the saga of the bear from Darkest Peru, who preaches the gospel of “if we are kind and polite the world will be right,” is an improvement on even that, and one of the best movies of the year. Director Paul King — a veteran of the UK’s beloved cult TV show The Mighty Boosh — crafted a luminously colorful world, a visionary whirligig of imagery. The film catches up with our friend Paddington settling into his London neighborhood — bringing good cheer to all of his neighbors — but things start to go awry when he’s wrongly accused of stealing a pop-up book from the local antiques store he frequents. The true perpetrator is Phoenix Buchanan, a washed-up actor played by Hugh Grant in what is — no joke — one of the best and funniest performances of the year. Phoenix is truly a ham, who does his dastardly deeds in his old costumes, considering each crime a triumphant act worthy of applause. Meanwhile, our friend Paddington is imprisoned, but making the best of it by introducing his fellow inmates, including Brendan Gleeson’s particularly grumpy cook, to the wonders of marmalade. Like that sticky substance, Paddington 2 is sweet, but in a way that’s soothing.
Where to see it right now: Rent on iTunes, Amazon Video, YouTube, Google Play (watch the trailer)
1. Eighth Grade
Released: July 13
Cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson
Director: Bo Burnham
Why it’s great: The horrors of being 13 may make you laugh — or cry out of empathy — but that dichotomy is the beauty of Bo Burnham’s directorial debut, Eighth Grade. Burnham, despite being a stand-up, doesn’t pepper his plot with punchlines. (Although, it should be said, the sight of a school administrator dabbing in lackluster fashion to impress a group of unenthusiastic kids is very funny.) Still, the core of the Eighth Grade experience is getting to see life as lived by Kayla, the quietest girl in her eighth grade class. Some of the terrors of her age are amusing in retrospect; others are downright grim. That alchemy makes for powerful viewing.
Where to see it right now: In theaters (watch the trailer)
Story by Thrillist.