July is a good month for comedy movies on Netflix, which has added several new films that will keep you howling with laughter for hours. Admittedly, many of these comedies come from other studios, and they tend to be anywhere between forty to ten years old rather than anything recent. But trust us, you’re going to be too busy laughing to care how old these movies are.
It would be very helpful if Netflix had an organized way to tell subscribers which movies are new and where you can find them. But that’s where we come in. We’ve already done the work for you so you can find the best comedies on Netflix right now.
We’ve also curated guides to the best comedies on Hulu, the best romantic comedies on Netflix, and the best rom-coms on Hulu if you’re looking for additional recommendations.
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Bridesmaids2011 -
Liar Liar1997
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The Breakfast Club1985
Bridesmaids (2011)
75%
6.8/10Bridesmaids is one of the best comedies from the last decade, and it’s the film that made Melissa McCarthy a star. But the real focus is on Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig), a woman who is figuratively at the end of her rope. Annie’s career is in shambles, and her lover, Ted (Jon Hamm), treats her like less than a person. The only thing Annie has to look forward to is the wedding of her best friend, Lillian Donovan (Maya Rudolph).
But that changes when Annie meets her new rival, Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne), Lillian’s new best friend, who just so happens to be unbelievably wealthy. Among the rest of the bridesmaids, Megan (McCarthy), Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), and Becca (Ellie Kemper), Helen clearly outshines Annie’s efforts to celebrate Lillian’s nuptials. And Annie can only take so much before she blows up.
Liar Liar (1997)
70%
6.9/10Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) lies like most people breathe. In Liar Liar, this makes Fletcher an excellent lawyer, but it also makes him a terrible father to his son, Max (Justin Cooper), and a less-than-trustworthy co-parent to his ex-wife, Audrey (Maura Tierney). After letting Max down one too many times, Fletcher’s son makes a wish that his dad could only tell the truth for a day.
And that’s exactly what happens. Fletcher realizes that he’s been cursed with the gift of truth and he can not tell a lie, even when his job and the fate of his family depend on it. Carrey’s physical comedy chops are put to good use as his body seems to force him to obey his newfound truth-telling with every fiber of his being.
Rush Hour (1998)
60%
7.0/10“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!” All three of the Rush Hour films are now on Netflix, but we’re partial to the first team-up between Jackie Chan’s Chief Inspector Lee and Chris Tucker’s Detective James Carter.
When Soo-Yung Han (Julia Hsu), the daughter of a high-ranking Hong Kong diplomat, is kidnapped, Lee takes it upon himself to go to Los Angeles to find her. Carter is unwillingly tasked with keeping Lee out of the way. After initially being at odds with each other, Carter and Lee find common ground and form a partnership to find Soo-Yung and unmask the international crime lord, Junato.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
66%
7.8/10One of the seminal comedies of the ‘80s, The Breakfast Club, may seem a bit dated. But there are also parts of it that feel very timely even after the better part of four decades. Five teens, Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), John Bender (Judd Nelson), Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), and Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), are forced to attend Saturday detention under the semi-watchful eye of Vice Principal Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason).
Despite their differences, the kids soon realize that their struggles are the same and they form new bonds of friendship while attempting to pass the long hours in any way that they can. It’s a classic, and it made its teenage leads into stars.
Mean Girls (2004)
66%
7.1/10Tina Fey wrote and co-stars in Mean Girls, which is arguably the best movie that Lindsay Lohan ever starred in. Lohan plays Cady, a teenage girl who is thrust into the social jungle of her new high school. At the urging of her new friend, Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan), Cady makes it her mission to take down the top clique, the Plastics: Regina George (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried).
Cady’s plan works all too well, and the Plastics are in disarray as she assumes control of the clique. The problem is that Cady loses herself along the way, and she may lose a lot more than that before the school year is out.
Bruce Almighty (2003)
46%
6.8/10Jim Carrey is God in Bruce Almighty. Or more accurately, Carrey’s Bruce Nolan is simply filling in for the Almighty (Morgan Freeman) because God wants to prove a point. Bruce uses the power of God in very Carrey ways as he gets back at everyone who ever wronged him, including his rival, Evan Baxter (The Office‘s Steve Carell).
But as Bruce soon discovers, being God isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And when he lets his powers go to his head, Bruce finds that even his great power can’t make his girlfriend, Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston), stay with him after a betrayal.
Groundhog Day (1993)
72%
8.0/10Everyday is Groundhog Day for Phil Connors (Bill Murray), and he’ll do almost anything to change that. Groundhog Day never explains how Phil got trapped in this time loop, and the reason why and how it happened isn’t info we need. Instead, the film is carried by Murray’s manic energy as Phil tests the limits of the time loop.
Yet for all of its silliness, the reason why Groundhog Day resonates 30 years after its release is that Phil has to learn how to be a better man, no matter how long it takes. But even Phil’s mastery of the time loop has its limits, and winning the heart of his producer, Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell), may be one of the few things that he can never do.
The Cable Guy (1996)
56%
6.1/10Jim Carrey’s early career was filled with unhinged characters, but few more so than Chip Douglas in The Cable Guy. Chip is a lonely man who is desperate for anything resembling friendship, which is why he latches on to one of his customers, Steven M. Kovacs (Matthew Broderick), after accepting a bribe for free cable channels.
Unfortunately, Chip never knows when to quit or pull back. And even though Chip helps Steven get back together with his girlfriend, Robin Harris (Leslie Mann), he rejects Chip’s friendship as his behavior becomes even more erratic. But this Cable Guy simply won’t take no for an answer.
Zombieland (2009)
73%
7.6/10Do you remember the rules of surviving a zombie movie apocalypse? If not, don’t worry, Zombieland will humorously give you the abridged version. Jesse Eisenberg headlines the film as Columbus, a college student who convinces an older survivor, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), to accompany him.
Although Columbus and Tallahassee make a good team, they are thrown off of their game by Wichita (Emma Stone) and her younger sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). The sisters prove to be more adept at navigating the new world than the guys, which leads to some serious trust issues. But if they hope to survive, then these four will have to stick together.
A League of Their Own (1992)
69%This comedy classic has recently been spun off into an Amazon Prime TV show also called A League of Their Own, and the original film is well worth a revisit. As America’s young men head overseas to fight in World War II, there’s a desperate need for entertainment and morale-boosting on the homefront. Enter candy maker Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall) who funds the first all-female professional baseball league in the Midwest.
Front and center of the new league are sisters Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (Lori Petty), stars of the Rockford Peaches, coached by has-been major leaguer Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks). But as the league gains interest and traction, the competitive spirit between the sisters puts a wedge in their relationship — especially when Kit requests a trade to get out from under her older sister’s shadow.
Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
32%
5.7/10In roasting ’80s and ’90s teen movies, Not Another Teen Movie is perhaps the most teen movie ever made, but it is remembered fondly by millennials who grew up on the likes of She’s All That and Can’t Hardly Wait.
Every scene in Not Another Teen Movie satirizes a famous teen movie scene, weaving an arc in which popular jock Jake Wyler (Chris Evans) accepts a bet to turn bespectacled art geek Janie (Chyler Leigh) into prom queen. Of course, all she has to do is take off her glasses and remove her paint-covered overalls to suddenly “become beautiful,” but there are a whole lot of pointless shenanigans to get through before that epiphany.
Easy A (2010)
72%The Bad Guys (2022)
64%
6.8/10Dope (2015)
72%
7.2/10Fatherhood (2021)
53%
6.6/10The Polka King (2017)
65%
5.9/10Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
59%
6.1/10Metal Lords (2022)
Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020)
76%
5.7/10A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
91%
8.2/10Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
76%
7.2/10Life of Brian (1979)
77%
8/10Related Topics: Netflix | Hulu | Amazon Prime | More Streaming Services
Can’t find what you want on Netflix? Fortunately, we’ve also rounded up the best comedies on Amazon Prime Video and the best comedies on Hulu.
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