The 2020s did not treat comedy like a disposable genre. A time-loop wedding that became a lockdown comfort watch, a video-game extra who decided to be the hero, a pink blockbuster that ate the summer, and a two-hander about a friendship ending on an Irish island all showed up in the same decade. From Palm Springs and Free Guy to Barbie, The Holdovers, and Deadpool & Wolverine, 2020s comedies kept asking the same question: what happens when the joke stops being a costume and starts being the plot?
This list gathers thirteen essential comedy movies from the 2020s — time loops, murder-mystery sequels, animation that actually swung, prestige dark comedies, and one very expensive reunion in yellow and red. Every pick uses TMDB-backed metadata and a short guide to why it belongs on a 2020s comedy watchlist.
1. Palm Springs
- Movie Title: Palm Springs
- Release Date: July 10, 2020
- Main Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons
- Director: Max Barbakow
- TMDB Score: 7.3/10
Why We Included Palm Springs on This List
Max Barbakow’s film is the 2020s comedy that opened the decade by trapping two people at a wedding and refusing to let the hangover end. Andy Samberg’s Nyles, Cristin Milioti’s Sarah, and J.K. Simmons’s older man who already knows the loop turn a desert resort into a relationship argument with no checkout time. It belongs here because so many 2020s comedies are about being stuck — in a house, in a feed, in a job — and this one makes the stuckness romantic without going soft. On a 2020s watchlist it is the movie that proved a time-loop joke could still feel new if the people inside it were actually tired of each other.
Quick Palm Springs Summary
When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other. The ceremony keeps resetting. The speeches do not get better. The only new information is what they are willing to tell each other once they realize tomorrow is the same party.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Palm Springs
The film premiered at Sundance in January 2020 and became one of the first big comedy hits of the streaming-lockdown year after Hulu and Neon released it that July. Barbakow and star Andy Samberg treat the loop as a hangout more than a puzzle, which is why the movie can stay funny after you already know the rule. Milioti is not the sidekick who learns to love the slacker; she is the person who makes the slacker’s routine look like a choice. It is the 2020 comedy people still recommend when someone asks for a rom-com that does not feel like homework.
2. Free Guy
- Movie Title: Free Guy
- Release Date: August 11, 2021
- Main Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery
- Director: Shawn Levy
- TMDB Score: 7.4/10
Why We Included Free Guy on This List
Shawn Levy’s film is the 2020s comedy that looked at an open-world game and asked what would happen if the background teller wanted a quest log. Ryan Reynolds’s Guy, Jodie Comer’s player with a secret, and Lil Rel Howery’s best friend who still thinks this is a bank job turn a blue shirt into a thesis about who gets to be the main character. It belongs here because the decade is full of movies about simulations, and this one is actually funny about the people who live in them. On a 2020s watchlist it is the studio comedy that made “NPC” into a plot instead of a tweet.
Quick Free Guy Summary
A bank teller discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, and decides to become the hero of his own story. Now, in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way before it’s too late. The sunglasses are a power-up. The real question is whether the people who built the map want him to keep walking around in it.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Free Guy
Levy and Reynolds had already built a shorthand on earlier collaborations; here they pointed it at a video-game city that looks expensive enough to be a real summer movie. Comer plays both the avatar and the person holding the controller, which is the film’s cleanest joke and its actual structure. The movie became one of 2021’s theatrical comedies that people showed up for after a year of watching everything at home. It is the 2020s blockbuster that treated a bank queue as the funniest place in a shooter.
3. Licorice Pizza
- Movie Title: Licorice Pizza
- Release Date: November 26, 2021
- Main Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn
- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- TMDB Score: 6.9/10
Why We Included Licorice Pizza on This List
Paul Thomas Anderson’s film is the 2020s comedy that treated first love like a series of badly planned businesses in the San Fernando Valley. Alana Haim’s Alana, Cooper Hoffman’s Gary, and Sean Penn’s aging movie star turn 1973 into a place where a waterbed, a pinball parlor, and a teenage hustle all feel like the same dare. It belongs here because a lot of 2020s coming-of-age movies are tidy; this one is baggy on purpose and still precise about embarrassment. On a 2020s watchlist it is the movie that made running around the Valley feel like the whole plot, because it is.
Quick Licorice Pizza Summary
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. He is already selling a version of himself. She is older and still not sure she wants to be in any of his schemes. The decade they are living through keeps handing them a new hustle instead of a clean ending.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Licorice Pizza
Anderson cast Haim, of the band Haim, in her first leading film role and Hoffman, the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, as the teenage operator who never stops pitching. The title comes from a Southern California record-store chain, which is why the movie feels like a crate-dig even when nobody is buying vinyl. It earned Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. It is the 2020s comedy that looks like a memory and moves like a kid who just got a driver’s license.
4. Triangle of Sadness
- Movie Title: Triangle of Sadness
- Release Date: September 18, 2022
- Main Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon
- Director: Ruben Östlund
- TMDB Score: 7.0/10
Why We Included Triangle of Sadness on This List
Ruben Östlund’s film is the 2020s comedy that invited a model couple onto a yacht and then asked what their follower count is worth after the engines stop. Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean’s influencer pair and Dolly de Leon’s crew member who understands the island better than the guests turn a luxury cruise into a class experiment with no comment section. It belongs here because satire in this decade often winks; this one keeps going until the joke is about who still thinks they are in charge. On a 2020s watchlist it is the Palme d’Or comedy you put on when someone wants pretty people and will accept the consequences.
Quick Triangle of Sadness Summary
A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy. The photos were supposed to be the product. The island does not care about the brand deal.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Triangle of Sadness
Östlund won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2022, his second after The Square, which is why the movie has the confidence to sit in a scene until it becomes uncomfortable. De Leon’s performance turned a supporting part into the film’s actual power shift. The title refers to the frown lines between the eyebrows that models get Botoxed — a small vanity that the movie treats as a whole economy. It is the 2020s comedy that made a captain’s dinner feel like a warning label.
5. The Banshees of Inisherin
- Movie Title: The Banshees of Inisherin
- Release Date: October 20, 2022
- Main Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon
- Director: Martin McDonagh
- TMDB Score: 7.5/10
Why We Included The Banshees of Inisherin on This List
Martin McDonagh’s film is the 2020s comedy that looked at two men in a pub and decided the breakup was the war. Colin Farrell’s Pádraic, Brendan Gleeson’s Colm, and Kerry Condon’s Siobhán turn a small Irish island into a place where “I just don’t like you anymore” is a more dangerous sentence than any punchline. It belongs here because dark comedies in this decade often hide behind crime plots; this one is about a friendship ending and still gets funnier, then meaner, then both. On a 2020s watchlist it is the movie that proved a donkey, a fiddle, and a cutoff could carry a whole year of awards talk.
Quick The Banshees of Inisherin Summary
Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them. Colm wants quiet and a legacy. Pádraic wants the afternoon to stay the same. The island is small enough that there is nowhere to take the hurt except the next conversation, which is usually worse.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About The Banshees of Inisherin
McDonagh reunited Farrell and Gleeson after In Bruges, which is why the silences feel like a second movie the audience already half-knows. The film received nine Academy Award nominations, including Picture, Director, and acting nods for Farrell, Gleeson, Condon, and Barry Keoghan. It won BAFTAs for Outstanding British Film and Original Screenplay. It is the 2020s comedy people still quote when they want to end a friendship politely and fail.
6. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
- Movie Title: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
- Release Date: November 23, 2022
- Main Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe
- Director: Rian Johnson
- TMDB Score: 7.0/10
Why We Included Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on This List
Rian Johnson’s sequel is the 2020s comedy that took Benoit Blanc to a billionaire’s island and let the mystery be the punchline as much as the plot. Daniel Craig’s detective, Edward Norton’s tech host, and Janelle Monáe’s guest with the real reason to be there turn a murder-weekend invite into a movie about people who think complexity is the same thing as intelligence. It belongs here because whodunits in this decade often go grim; this one stays fizzy while still cutting the richest person in the room. On a 2020s watchlist it is the Netflix comedy you can recommend to someone who wants clues and one-liners in the same scene.
Quick Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Summary
World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery surrounding a tech billionaire and his eclectic crew of friends. The weekend is a game until it is not. Everyone on the island has a story about why they were invited, and Blanc is the only one who treats those stories like evidence instead of branding.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Johnson and Craig returned after Knives Out, this time with a Netflix deal that still gave the film a short theatrical run before it hit the service. The glass onion of the title is both a set piece and a warning about puzzles that look deep because they are shiny. Monáe’s role is built as a reveal engine, which is why the movie can afford to be this talky. It is the 2020s comedy-mystery that made a disruption weekend look like the least fun way to spend money.
7. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
- Movie Title: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
- Release Date: December 7, 2022
- Main Cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Harvey Guillén
- Director: Joel Crawford
- TMDB Score: 8.2/10
Why We Included Puss in Boots: The Last Wish on This List
Joel Crawford’s film is the 2020s comedy that looked at a fairy-tale spinoff and decided mortality was the funniest thing a cat could meet. Antonio Banderas’s Puss, Salma Hayek Pinault’s Kitty, and Harvey Guillén’s Perrito turn an eighth-life panic into a road movie that is actually about being afraid. It belongs here because animated comedies in this decade often play safe; this one has a wolf, a wish, and jokes that land because the fear is real. On a 2020s watchlist it is the family movie you can put on for adults who thought they were done with Shrek sequels.
Quick Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Summary
Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: He has burned through eight of his nine lives, leaving him with only one life left. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives. The map is crowded. The thing following him is not interested in a ninth chance.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
DreamWorks gave the sequel a painterly, comic-panel look that a lot of viewers compared to the Spider-Verse films, which is why action scenes here feel drawn instead of merely rendered. Banderas returned to a role he had already voiced for more than a decade and played the midlife version of the same swagger. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It is the 2022 comedy that made a kids’ franchise entry one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, period.
8. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Movie Title: The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Release Date: April 5, 2023
- Main Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day
- Director: Aaron Horvath
- TMDB Score: 7.6/10
Why We Included The Super Mario Bros. Movie on This List
Aaron Horvath’s film is the 2020s comedy that finally treated a Nintendo mascot like a movie star instead of a brand obligation. Chris Pratt’s Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Peach, and Charlie Day’s Luigi turn a Brooklyn plumbing ad into a mushroom-kingdom rescue that is willing to be silly about power-ups. It belongs here because video-game movies spent years being punchlines; this one became the joke people paid to see. On a 2020s watchlist it is the blockbuster comedy that proved a pipe could still be an entrance if the world on the other side was bright enough.
Quick The Super Mario Bros. Movie Summary
While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers—and brothers—Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi. Peach is already better at this than he is. Bowser is not interested in a fair fight, or a quiet wedding.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Illumination made the film with Nintendo involved, which is why the kingdoms look like someone was allowed to open the actual toy box. Pratt’s casting as Mario was argued about for months before release; the movie’s bet was that the world, not the accent, would do the selling. It became one of the highest-grossing animated films ever and the rare game adaptation that parents and kids both finished. It is the 2023 comedy that turned a kart chase into a victory lap for a character who had already won the living room.
9. Barbie
- Movie Title: Barbie
- Release Date: July 19, 2023
- Main Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera
- Director: Greta Gerwig
- TMDB Score: 6.9/10
Why We Included Barbie on This List
Greta Gerwig’s film is the 2020s comedy that took a doll with no inner life and gave her a panic attack in the real world. Margot Robbie’s Barbie, Ryan Gosling’s Ken, and America Ferrera’s Gloria turn plastic pink into a movie about being a woman, being a accessory, and being a little too aware of both. It belongs here because studio comedies this expensive usually sand the joke down; this one kept the monologue and the dance number. On a 2020s watchlist it is the summer movie that made a toy commercial into the decade’s loudest conversation.
Quick Barbie Summary
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. The beach is still there. The job titles are not as clear as the boxes they came in.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Barbie
Gerwig and Robbie’s production became the first film directed by a woman to cross a billion dollars worldwide, and it shared a release date with Oppenheimer in the Barbenheimer double feature that defined summer 2023. Gosling’s Ken turned a supporting part into a pop-culture occupation. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” and collected nominations including Best Picture. It is the 2020s comedy that made people put on pink to go argue about patriarchy in a multiplex.
10. The Holdovers
- Movie Title: The Holdovers
- Release Date: October 27, 2023
- Main Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph
- Director: Alexander Payne
- TMDB Score: 7.6/10
Why We Included The Holdovers on This List
Alexander Payne’s film is the 2020s comedy that locked a teacher, a student, and a cook in a New England prep school and let Christmas do the rest. Paul Giamatti’s Paul Hunham, Dominic Sessa’s Angus, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Mary turn leftover turkey into a movie about people who were not invited anywhere better. It belongs here because holiday comedies usually melt; this one stays prickly and still earns the thaw. On a 2020s watchlist it is the movie that looks like 1970 and feels like the kind of care nobody scheduled.
Quick The Holdovers Summary
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam. The campus empties. The people who stay have to invent a holiday that can stand the quiet.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About The Holdovers
Payne and Giamatti had already made Sideways together; here they use that fluency on a man who would rather be left with his ancient history than with teenagers. Sessa, a first-time film actor found at a boarding school, carries half the movie without looking like a discovery stunt. Randolph won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. It is the 2023 comedy that made a deserted dining hall feel like the warmest room of the year.
11. Poor Things
- Movie Title: Poor Things
- Release Date: December 7, 2023
- Main Cast: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe
- Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
- TMDB Score: 7.6/10
Why We Included Poor Things on This List
Yorgos Lanthimos’s film is the 2020s comedy that rebuilt a woman from a Victorian experiment and then let her walk out of the house. Emma Stone’s Bella, Mark Ruffalo’s lawyer who cannot keep up, and Willem Dafoe’s Godwin Baxter turn a mad-scientist parlor into a travelogue about appetite. It belongs here because weird comedies in this decade often stay cult-sized; this one won the room and still looks handmade. On a 2020s watchlist it is the movie that treats liberation as a punchline you grow into, not a speech you deliver once.
Quick Poor Things Summary
Brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist, a young woman runs off with a lawyer on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, she grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation. Lisbon, Alexandria, and Paris are classrooms. The men who think they are the syllabus keep failing the test.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Poor Things
Lanthimos adapted Alasdair Gray’s novel, which is why the movie has the shape of a picaresque and the manners of a laboratory. Stone won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the film took Oscars for production design, costume design, and makeup and hairstyling after premiering to the Golden Lion at Venice. Dafoe’s Baxter is the rare mad scientist who looks like he has already paid for the experiment in his own face. It is the 2023 comedy that made a steampunk coming-of-age story the year’s most argued-about good time.
12. Hit Man
- Movie Title: Hit Man
- Release Date: May 16, 2024
- Main Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio
- Director: Richard Linklater
- TMDB Score: 6.8/10
Why We Included Hit Man on This List
Richard Linklater’s film is the 2020s comedy that gave a mild professor a fake murder job and then asked whether the costume was the real person. Glen Powell’s Gary, Adria Arjona’s client who wants a problem gone, and Austin Amelio’s cop-adjacent colleague turn a police sting into a rom-com about identity theft you commit on yourself. It belongs here because so many 2020s star vehicles are loud; this one is light on its feet and still about who you become when someone finally finds you interesting. On a 2020s watchlist it is the Linklater movie you put on when you want charm with a body-count premise and almost no bodies.
Quick Hit Man Summary
A mild-mannered professor moonlighting as a fake hit man in police stings ignites a chain reaction of trouble when he falls for a potential client. The disguises are supposed to be temporary. The more Gary invents a dangerous man, the harder it is to go back to the classroom version of himself. Arjona’s Madison is not looking for a lecture. She is looking for someone who will show up as promised.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Hit Man
Linklater based the story on a Texas Monthly piece about Gary Johnson, a Houston college instructor who posed as a contract killer for police stings. Powell also co-wrote the film, which is why the role sits in that sweet spot between screwball and self-mythology. After a festival run it reached a wide audience on Netflix, the 2020s comedy pipeline for mid-budget movies that still want a date-night shape. It is the 2024 comedy that made a fake assassination consult look like the most romantic job interview in Texas.
13. Deadpool & Wolverine
- Movie Title: Deadpool & Wolverine
- Release Date: July 24, 2024
- Main Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
- Director: Shawn Levy
- TMDB Score: 7.6/10
Why We Included Deadpool & Wolverine on This List
Shawn Levy’s film is the 2020s comedy that finally put Wade Wilson in the same frame as the clawed man he had been yelling about for years. Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova turn a multiverse cleanup job into a buddy movie that is filthy, expensive, and oddly sincere about washed-up heroes. It belongs here because superhero comedies spent the decade explaining themselves; this one assumes you already know the bit and still finds a new insult. On a 2020s watchlist it is the closer: the R-rated studio joke that proved a comic-book movie could still feel like an event if the two people in the car actually hated sharing it.
Quick Deadpool & Wolverine Summary
A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life with his days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctant Wolverine. The mission is supposed to be simple. The timeline does not care about their retirement plans, and neither does the woman who wants those timelines gone.
Interesting Facts or Trivia About Deadpool & Wolverine
Levy directed Reynolds again after Free Guy, this time inside Marvel’s first Deadpool movie under the Disney umbrella, which is why the cameos and the rating had to negotiate with each other. Jackman returned as Wolverine after saying goodbye to the role in Logan, a reunion the internet had been writing for him. The film became the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever released. It is the 2024 comedy that ended this list by reminding everyone that a yellow suit and a red suit can still sell a joke if the joke is about being leftover.
If this decade’s comedies left you wanting the earlier maps, start with our lists of the best comedy movies of the 2010s, the 2000s, the 1990s, and the 1980s — then come back and argue about which 2020s title still has the last laugh.
