2021 has been a great year for movies across the board. Although audiences around the world have been slowly making their way back to theaters, the pandemic has made at-home premieres a central part of the film industry’s future – when it comes to comedies, a high-fidelity screen doesn’t matter as much as who you share the movie with.

Well-known directors like The Suicide Squad’s James Gunn or The French Dispatch’s Wes Anderson returned to the big screen with highly anticipated features in 2021. Smaller-scale films like Psycho Goreman and Werewolves Within were hilarious hits that didn’t get the attention they deserved, but are sure to become cult classics with time.

Werewolves Within

  • Starring Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, Anni Krueger Watch this if you like Tucker and Dale VS Evil, The Cabin in the Woods, or the original video game

Werewolves Within is a movie that arrived in theaters five years after the VR video game it was based on, also called Werewolves Within. The story follows a group of people trapped in a snowstorm who have to figure out who amongst them is a werewolf.

It’s a pretty loose adaptation of the game that keeps the core whodunit gameplay intact when translated to the screen. It’s a hilarious, stylish film that blurs the lines between mystery, horror, and comedy seamlessly.

The French Dispatch

  • Starring Timothee Chalamet, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman Watch this if you like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, or other Wes Anderson films

The French Dispatch is the latest film from pastel-comedy mastermind Wes Anderson, known for films like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, and The Royal Tenenbaums. The French Dispatch is a tale told in several parts all revolving around a magazine, the writers, and the subjects.

It’s a movie made for writers and journalists (and not just because of the incredibly dense amount of dialogue) that everyone can find something in. Wes Anderson’s comedy style is unlike any other – but don’t go into The French Dispatch expecting non-stop laughs and jokes.

Shiva Baby

  • Starring Rachel Sennott, Dianna Agron, Molly Gordon, Danny Deferrari Watch this if you like Death at a Funeral (UK), Booksmart, or other “serious” comedies with heart

Shiva Baby is a bit of a sleeper hit that found a dedicated following on its initial release on HBO Max. Shiva Baby tells a raucous story of a young woman who runs into her baby daddy at a Jewish funeral.

It’s a coming-of-age film at heart that shows Danielle, played by Rachel Sennott, trying to balance her multiple personas in one of the most hectic (and inapt) scenarios imaginable. It’s hilarious the whole way through, even if it does take moments to breathe and re-establish a more serious tone.

​​​​​​Bo Burnham’s Inside

  • Starring and Directed by Bo Burnham Watch this if you like Make Happy, Eighth Grade, and other Bo Burnham-led projects

Bo Burnham is an internet legend whose standup career has been the envy of thousands of comedy YouTubers worldwide. With Inside, Bo Burnham takes a step back from the parody and ridiculousness to self-reflect during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It might seem like a heavy subject, and in many ways it is, but in Bo Burnham’s unique way these year-long feelings of gloom and doom are given levity. It’s a relatively “serious” comedy with a message that many viewers resonated with.

The Suicide Squad

  • Starring John Cena, Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, Pete Davidson, Jennifer Holland Watch this if you like Guardians of the Galaxy, Invincible, Thor Ragnarok, and other action-comedy movies

The Suicide Squad comes on the heels of 2016’s box-office and critical flop Suicide Squad. James Gunn hopped in the director’s seat to give his own interpretation of the comic book antihero troupe, and by all accounts, this second go-around is a vast improvement.

The Suicide Squad features a star-studded cast of characters who are all instantly memorable in their roles. The action sequences are brutal and punchy, but it’s the interactions of the characters that make it one of the funniest films of 2021.

Free Guy

  • Starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi, Pokimane, Jacksepticeye Watch this if you like Ready Player One, Deadpool, or other Ryan Reynolds-led movies

Free Guy is a movie that should have never happened, but somehow Ryan Reynolds worked his magic and a film about NPCs and the fourth wall came to be. In Free Guy​​​​​​, Reynolds plays a bank teller, appropriately named Guy, who realizes that he lives as a side character in an open-world video game.

It’s a film that somewhat requires viewers to understand the concept of NPCs in virtual spaces and how they “experience” a fully-scripted world. If you don’t play video games, Free Guy might not be for you. But if you like games like Grand Theft Auto, it’s well worth seeing.

Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar

  • Starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Vanessa Bayer, Damon Wayans Jr. Watch this if you like Anchorman, Zoolander, Hot Rod, and other movies featuring former SNL members

The comedy Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar is one of the many 2021 films that was originally slated for a 2020 release before the COVID-19 pandemic reached new peaks and pushed the industry back by months.

Starring (and produced by) a variety of SNL alums, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar is a comedy that is much funnier than it might at first seem. It’s an over-the-top portrayal of two women leaving home for the first time that features characters who are as memorable as the trip itself.

Psycho Goreman

  • Starring Nita-Josee Hanna, Owen Myre, Adam Brooks, Matthew Ninaber Watch this if you like better-than-B-quality B movies, impressive practical effects, or the metal band GWAR

Psycho Goreman is a low-budget horror-comedy that features a monstrous creature from another world, children who don’t quite understand what Goreman is, and incredible use of practical effects, puppeteering, and costume design.

While it’s categorized by many as a B movie, the film has countless hilarious moments and a flair completely its own that makes it rival the highest-budget comedies of the past decade. If someone likes a bit of hellish aesthetics with their comedy, Psycho Goreman will more than satisfy them.