Film

The Little Hours

A medieval comedy that drops a charming drifter into a convent full of sexually frustrated, theologically confused nuns. It's absurdist, unruly, occasionally shocking—less interested in plot than in watching talented comedians riff on forbidden desire and existential boredom. For people who think *Heathers* meets *Midsommar* sounds fun.

TMDb rating2.9

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The Lobster2015

Deadpan absurdism about impossible social rules, with a gifted ensemble cast playing it completely straight. Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, and others disappear into a weird, hilarious world that feels both utterly foreign and deeply true.

But The tone is aggressively flat and the premise is bizarre; if you need traditional plot momentum or warmth, you'll feel like you're pushing uphill the whole time.

The Lobster poster

Heathers1989

Poisonous high school comedy with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. It's genuinely funny, genuinely dark, and it understands that the best satire plays everything completely straight while the world burns around it.

But It's a product of the '80s in ways both good and dated. Some of the humor lands softer now, and the tone whiplash isn't for everyone.

Heathers poster

8½1963

Fellini's masterpiece about creative paralysis, desire, and the impossibility of finding meaning. Surreal, gorgeous, and genuinely funny in ways that sneak up on you. A film that feels like being inside someone's dream.

But Nearly three and a half hours, Italian, deliberately confusing. It's not interested in plot coherence or easy answers. Patience required.

8½ poster

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Babadook2014

Both films are about bodies and desire twisted into wrong shapes by confinement. Both use comedy as a way to express things too dangerous to say out loud.

Australian horror-comedy about grief and maternal rage wearing a monster suit. It's genuinely scary, genuinely funny, and genuinely heartbreaking. Toni Collette is extraordinary. A film that understands that horror and comedy come from the same nerve.

But It's a child-endangerment narrative that doesn't shy away from how much kids make you want to lose your mind. Bleak in ways that will upset people looking for redemption.

The Babadook poster
More like this (7)

Withnail & I1987

Two unemployed actors stumble through the countryside in this perfectly observed British comedy. Quotable, caustic, and packed with a kind of hopeless charm that's genuinely moving underneath all the booze and complaints.

But The humor is very British and very dry; long stretches feel more like watching people be miserable than laughing at jokes. A slow burn.

Withnail & I poster

The Favourite2018

Period comedy about lust, manipulation, and female power. Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz in a film that's as funny and vicious as it is visually stunning. Sharp and utterly alive.

But The baroque sex comedy angle isn't subtle; if period pieces bore you or you're uncomfortable with explicit content, this isn't your film.

The Favourite poster

After Hours1985

Scorsese's surreal comedy about a man's nightmare night in downtown Manhattan. Weird, genuinely unsettling, and funnier than it has any right to be. A masterclass in controlled chaos.

But It's deliberately disorienting and the humor comes from escalating dread. Not comforting; not a film you watch to feel good.

After Hours poster

Happiness1998

Todd Solondz's dark comedy about suburban despair. Audacious, uncomfortable, and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny in the midst of discussing things most comedies won't touch. Fearless filmmaking.

But It addresses pedophilia, sexual dysfunction, and depression with comedy, which is exactly the point—and also why some people will find it unbearable or offensive.

Happiness poster

Zoolander2001

Ben Stiller's fashion-world satire is dumb and smart at the same time. It commits completely to its absurd premise and every joke lands. Rewatchable and quotable.

But It's a comedy built on shallow targets; if you need substance, you'll find it feels slight. Some jokes haven't aged particularly well.

Zoolander poster

Phantom Thread2017

A period film about obsession and control in 1950s London. Daniel Day-Lewis as a brilliant, narcissistic dressmaker. It's beautiful, strange, and occasionally very funny in dark, unexpected ways.

But It's slow, deeply interior, and the humor is entirely dependent on subtext. If you want entertainment rather than immersion, you'll feel bored.

Phantom Thread poster

The Holy Mountain1973

Both are comedies that use religious spaces and bodies as sites of transgression. Both refuse to be reverent about spirituality; both find the obscene at the heart of the sacred.

Jodorowsky's surreal, blasphemous, utterly unhinged masterpiece. A spiritual journey that's also grotesque, sexual, violent, and hilarious. Like watching someone's fever dream of organized religion. Visually unlike anything else.

But It's three hours of genuinely disturbing imagery in the service of a philosophy that's deliberately cryptic. You will be baffled. Also: there's animal cruelty, body horror, and more nakedness than most people expect.

The Holy Mountain poster

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