The Best Dark Comedies On Netflix Right Now
Vertical Entertainment
Last Updated: March 11th
There’s comedy and then there’s dark comedy. The two genres share a few traits — you’re guaranteed some laugh-out-loud moments, a few slapstick scenes and plenty of physical humor — but a dark comedy doesn’t shy away from the tough, gruesome, eyebrow-raising elements of life. If anything, a dark comedy takes those awkward, macabre, tension-filled moments and mines humor from them. Sure, you’ll watch these films below and constantly question, “Should I be laughing at this?” but that’s really half the fun.
Here are the 10 best dark comedies currently streaming on Netflix that deserve a place in your queue.
Related: The Best Cult Classics On Netflix Right Now
Focus Features
In Bruges (2008)
Run Time: 107 min | IMDb: 7.9/10
No one hates Bruges more than Colin Farrell. The actor plays a rookie hitman named Ray, who’s stuck in the charming city after a hit gone wrong with his more experienced associate, Ken (Brendan Gleeson). The two pal around for a bit, hanging out with cocaine-snorting dwarfs on movie sets and production-assistants-turned-drug-dealers before their pissed off boss catches up to them, and things get bloody. Farrell does some of his best comedic work here and while the ending is a bit of a downer, getting there is wicked fun.
Overture Films
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 6.9/10
A comedy about a pair of sisters who run a maid service that cleans up crime scenes is the definition of dark but there are some bright spots in Amy Adams and Emily Blunt’s Sunshine Cleaning. The two play siblings struggling to find themselves and stay afloat in a small town before they happen upon a macabre idea for a new business. Mopping up blood and hazardous waste isn’t the most reputable of jobs, and the two aren’t particularly good at it, especially Blunt who plays a woman floundering in her personal and professional life, but if you’ve got a strong stomach, there’s plenty of payoff here.
New World Pictures
Heathers (1988)
Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Heathers was a vicious counterpoint to the John Hughes ’80s teen flicks. Where Hughes found the magic in high school, Heathers dwelled on its hell, subverting high-school politics and making a punchline of teenage suicide (“Don’t do it!”). It’s a deranged Breakfast Club, twisted and turned inside out and layered in scathing satire and school violence that might not sit as well in a post-Columbine world, even if the spirit of Heathers continues to resonate. For younger viewers who have always wondered what the big deal about Christian Slater was, Heathers should provide all the answers.
Netflix
The Land of Steady Habits (2018)
Run Time: 98 min | IMDb: 6.2/10
Ben Mendelsohn, Connie Britton, and Edie Falco star in this American drama about a dysfunctional family and the tragic events that bring them together. Mendelsohn plays Anders Hill, an ex-finance guy who struggles to adapt to retired life, especially since he’s still pining for his ex-wife Helene (Falco). Their son Preston (Thomas Mann) is a recovering addict whose sobriety is in limbo. Over the course of a couple family gatherings, secrets come to light, a death hits close to home, and Anders must figure out how to move on from the life he thought he’d have.
Focus Features
Burn After Reading (2008)
Run Time: 95 min | IMDb: 7/10
Burn After Reading is for people who like their comedy unapologetically mean. Pitch black and filled with irredeemable idiots, Burn After Reading features Brad Pitt as the opportunistic himbo Chad, who accidentally acquires the sensitive memoirs of a CIA agent, and George Clooney as the inept and unscrupulous U.S. Marshall, who is trying to retrieve it. While these two morons may be at the center of the film, scene-stealing supporting performances from Frances McDormand and John Malkovich really elevate this to one of the Coens’ funniest and best films to date.
A24
Life After Beth (2014)
Run Time: 89 min, IMDb: 5.6/10
Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan star in this horror comedy about a guy named Zach mourning the loss of his girlfriend, only to discover she’s come back to life. Plaza stars as Beth, the dead girl revived, who begin exhibiting strange behavior, eventually going into full-blown zombie mode while her devoted boyfriend Zach (DeHaan) tries to manage her mood swings and her pesky craving for human flesh. John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon play Beth’s parents, who hilariously try to cover-up their daughter’s current undead state, and though things go off the rails in the final third, watching Plaza play a moody, angst-ridden walking corpse is one hell of a good time.
Vertical Entertainment
Other People (2016)
Run Time: 97 min | IMDb: 6.7/10
There’s a lot going on in the dramedy Other People. Most of the action centers on Jesse Plemmons’ David, a 29-year-old gay man returning home to a conservative, religious household. Then there’s the subplot, David’s coming home because his mother (a brilliant Molly Shannon) has cancer. On top of that, David is trying to reconcile with his father, a man who refuses to accept his son’s sexuality even though it’s been 10 years since he came out of the closet. Of course, Shannon can be counted on to bring the laughs, even as a woman who’s resigned herself to an early grave, and Plemmons is awkward and endearing as a young man searching for his place in the world. Most of the comedy is mined from pretty sh*tty circumstances, but there’s a lot of heart to this one.
Paramount
The Truman Show (1998)
Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
The Truman Show was truly ahead of its time when it landed in theaters in 1998. Starring Jim Carrey, the comedy centered on a young man, Truman Burbank, who unknowingly spent his entire life in front of the camera. With Carrey starring, the film had some funny moments but it’s probably most memorable thanks to the subversive commentary it offers on our obsession with the intimate details of peoples lives. That and the fact that Carrey, who’s known for his over-the-top, obnoxious comedy style, kept it relatively low-key for most of the film and proved he could actually act.
Netflix
The Polka King (2017)
Run Time: 95 min | IMDb: 5.9/10
Jack Black stars in this quirky comedy about the leader of a polka band who finds himself in trouble with the law after running a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Black plays Jan Lewans, an immigrant working hard to pursue the American dream, performing with dancing bears, delivering pizzas, and swindling unsuspecting investors out of their money. Jenny Slate plays Jan’s wife, a beauty pageant contestant, but Black is the real star of the show, proving his comedic chops with this eccentrically memorable turn.
Warner Bros.
The Informant! (2009)
Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 6.5/10
Matt Damon stars in this comedy-crime flick from Steven Soderbergh playing an in-over-his-head whistleblower during the lysine price-fixing conspiracy of the mid-90s. Based on a true story, Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, an executive at Archer Daniels Midland who informs the FBI that his company is price-fixing a chemical used in the commercial livestock industry. He spends years gathering evidence in order to bring the criminals down, but, in a shocking turn of events, his bipolar disorder and increasing paranoia implicate him in a much larger embezzlement scheme. Most of the movie is Damon losing his sh*t over increasingly random events, which is as fun to watch as it sounds.
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