Last Updated on 12 June 2024
The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 200 best dark comedies of all time.
I found 12 different ranked lists online of “best dark comedy movies of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. Sometimes called “black comedies,” dark comedies are comedy movies about subjects that are dark or taboo and often considered too painful to talk about. The term “black comedies” is also used for comedies that primarily feature Black culture, so I will stick with “dark comedies” to keep it clear. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 12 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.
- Fargo (1996)
- Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
- Inglourious Basterds (2009)
- Dr. Strangelove (1964)
- The Ladykillers (1955)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Ready or Not (2019)
- Get Out (2017)
- American Psycho (2000)
- Burn After Reading (2008)
- In Bruges (2008)
- Fight Club (1999)
- What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
- Knives Out (2019)
- Heathers (1988)
- To Be or Not To Be (1942)
- The Death of Stalin (2017)
- Trainspotting (1996)
- Midsommar (2019)
- Death Becomes Her (1992)
- In the Loop (2009)
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- American Beauty (1999)
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Harold and Maude (1971)
- Parasite (2019)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
- Hot Fuzz (2007)
- Life of Brian (1979)
- Death to Smoochy (2002)
- Seven Psychopaths (2012)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- The Lobster (2015)
- Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
- Brazil (1985)
- World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
- Office Space (1999)
- Snatch (2000)
- Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
- Bad Santa (2003)
- Thank You For Smoking (2005)
- Super (2010)
- A New Leaf (1971)
- This Is the End (2013)
- M*A*S*H (1970)
- Election (1999)
- Raising Arizona (1987)
- Withnail and I (1987)
- The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
- Jojo Rabbit (2019)
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Filth (2013)
- Groundhog Day (1993)
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
- Observe and Report (2009)
- Game Night (2018)
- Krampus (2015)
- Sightseers (2012)
- Death at a Funeral (2007)
- The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
- Assassination Nation (2018)
- Happiness (1998)
- Adaptation (2002)
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Multiple Maniacs (1970)
- The Seventh Seal (1957)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Zombieland (2009)
- The Cable Guy (1996)
- The Producers (1967)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
- Four Lions (2010)
- The Favourite (2018)
- Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
- The Meaning of Life (1983)
- Better Off Dead (1985)
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
- Airplane! (1980)
- Borat (2006)
- Ghost World (2001)
- Ingrid Goes West (2017)
- Kick-Ass (2010)
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
- Network (1976)
- Barton Fink (1991)
- The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
- Clue (1985)
- Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
- Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
- Delicatessen (1991)
- Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
- A Serious Man (2009)
- Down By Law (1986)
- Who’s Singin’ Over There? (1980)
- All About Eve (1950)
- The ‘Burbs (1989)
- The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
- A Simple Favor (2018)
- Falling Down (1993)
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
- But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
- I, Tonya (2017)
- Ruthless People (1986)
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
- Very Bad Things (1998)
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- Bedazzled (2000)
- Addams Family Values (1993)
- A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
- The Addams Family (1991)
- The Rules of Attraction (2002)
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
- Man Bites Dog (1992)
- The Marathon Family (1982)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- Shallow Grave (1994)
- The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
- The Firemen’s Ball (1967)
- Gremlins (1984)
- Polyester (1981)
- God Bless America (2011)
- The Trouble with Harry (1955)
- A Film With Me in It (2008)
- The Dictator (2012)
- The Other Guys (2010)
- After Hours (1985)
- Damsels in Distress (2011)
- Horrible Bosses (2011)
- This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
- Cheap Thrills (2013)
- What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
- Female Trouble (1974)
- Spring Breakers (2012)
- The Longest Yard (2005)
- The Nice Guys (2016)
- In Order of Disappearance (2014)
- Team America: World Police (2004)
- The Party (2017)
- You’re Next (2013)
- Eating Raoul (1982)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
- Rushmore (1998)
- Scrooged (1988)
- Risky Business (1983)
- Bottle Rocket (1996)
- Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
- The Girl Next Door (2004)
- The War of the Roses (1989)
- Wild at Heart (1990)
- Anger Management (2003)
- Tamara Drewe (2010)
- Clockwise (1986)
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- Flowers (2016)
- Kingpin (1996)
- Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995)
- The Brothers Grimm (2005)
- Berberian Sound Studio (2012)
- Men & Chicken (2015)
- The Foot Fist Way (2006)
- Matchstick Men (2003)
- The Brand New Testament (2015)
- The Skeleton Twins (2014)
- 8 Women (2002)
- Stretch (2014)
- T2 Trainspotting (2017)
- Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
- Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
- Choke (2008)
- Misery (1990)
- Pink Flamingos (1972)
- Killer Joe (2011)
- Catch-22 (1970)
- Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
- Hail, Caesar! (2016)
- Deconstructing Harry (1997)
- Freeway (1996)
- Corpse Bride (2005)
- Used Cars (1980)
- Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
- The Voices (2014)
- The Ref (1994)
- Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
- Carnage (2011)
- Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
- Meet Joe Black (1998)
- Adam’s Apples (2005)
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
- The Frighteners (1996)
- They Live (1988)