As of November 2021, these are the funniest movies available on Hulu.

The Art of Self-Defense

This is perhaps the darkest comedy on this list, premiering at SXSW in 2019. It tells the story of a bashful young guy (Jesse Eisenberg) who enrolls in a martial arts class to develop some confidence. There, he encounters a bizarre colony run by a despotic master, played by Alessandro Nivola. Riley Stearns, the writer-director, isn’t afraid to go there in a film that doesn’t always succeed but takes enough real chances to warrant its flaws.

Big Time Adolescence

This is Pete Davidson’s second coming-of-age narrative in 2020, following The King of Staten Island. With this Sundance premiere, Jason Orley makes his writing and directorial debut, starring Griffin Gluck as a youngster whose closest buddy happens to be that older person with no purpose in his life that your parents advised you to avoid. Davidson is astute and amusing in a film that depicts how adulthood arrives at a different age for everyone.

Booksmart

Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is one of the year’s sharpest and most straight-up funny comedies. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever play lifelong friends who discover on the last day of school that their priorities were a little off-kilter — thus, desperate to make up for a lost time, they spend a wild and crazy night. This is bound to be a cult classic since it has been described as “Superbad with chicks.”

Greener Grass

Do you prefer your comedy strange? Isn’t John Waters strange? Then this is the one for you. With its exaggerated study of suburban culture, this is a very caustic and weird comedy, similar to one from Tim Burton’s early period. Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe co-star co-wrote, and co-direct, and this already seems like a cult classic.

Happiest Season

This holiday rom-com with a twist was co-written and directed by Clea DuVall. While these films are nearly always heterosexual love stories, the love story here is between Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, who portrays a woman who hasn’t informed her girlfriend that she isn’t gay to her family. The entertaining supporting ensemble for this progressive Hulu original includes Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Mary Holland, Victor Garber, and Mary Steenburgen.

Heathers

Ignore the articles about how Heathers plays now and see this 1989 dark comedy, a satire that captured Christian Slater and Winona Ryder at the perfect time in their careers. He portrays the mysterious new kid who teaches her the art of revenge, while she plays the misfit in high school. It’s also razor-sharp in the way it weaponizes a clique culture that, in the three decades afterward, has maybe become even more ubiquitous.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Taika Waititi wrote and directed this adaption of Barry Crump’s Wild Pork and Watercress before making Chris Hemsworth your favorite Chris in Thor: Ragnarok. Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) gets a new foster home, which includes a lovely foster mother. When Ricky’s new mother dies, he’s trapped with the grumpy husband, bringing Ricky and Hec (Sam Neill) on an incredible trip. This is almost difficult to hate comedy that is both funny and uplifting.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Julia Roberts has never been more endearing than in this 1997 comedy about a young lady who made a college deal with her closest friend, portrayed by Dermot Mulroney, to marry him. It isn’t until her friend gets engaged to someone else (the lovely Cameron Diaz) that she realizes how much she adores him. This is one of the finest rom-coms of the 1990s, thanks to a fantastic combination of physical humor and memorable characters.

The Nice Guys

Shane Black directed Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe to two of their greatest performances in an old-school buddy comedy. Gosling portrays a private investigator who becomes involved in the disappearance of a teenager (Margaret Qualley) and teams up with a gruff officer (Crowe) to find her. It’s brilliant and highly amusing – the type of film that should be created more regularly.

Say Anything

Cameron Crowe wrote and directed this love dramedy, which became famous because of that one moment with the boom box and Peter Gabriel. But there’s more to it than that one instance. It’s a beautiful movie about individuals from various backgrounds meeting, and those moments when you realize the world, including your parents, aren’t as easy as you believe they are when you’re a kid. And it remains one of John Cusack’s greatest roles.

Sleepless in Seattle

We could all need a little romance now and again, and movies don’t get much sweeter than Sleepless in Seattle, the 1993 blockbuster that turned Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan into one of the most popular cinematic couples of all time. Nora Ephron tells the story of a widower who goes to Seattle to raise his 8-year-old son and the Baltimore lady who hears his terrible story and falls in love with him.

Spontaneous

Brian Duffield’s critically praised debut from 2020 isn’t precisely a comedy, but it incorporates so many genres that it qualifies. Katherine Langford and Charlie Plummer feature in a wonderfully unique picture about a pandemic. It’s the story of a group of youngsters who start spontaneously exploding, and it’s one of the most 2020 movies of last year. It wonders what you would do differently if you knew you may explode at any moment, which is definitely a remark on school shootings.

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

Although it was met with mixed reviews upon its first release, this silly comedy has now become something of a cult classic, a film that frequently comes up when people discuss Adam Sandler’s work. The Uncut Gems actor portrays Zohan Dvir, an Israeli commando turned New York City hairdresser. He attempts to live a regular life, but a Palestinian cab driver discovers him (played problematically by Rob Schneider, of course).

Yes Man

Peyton Reed directed Jim Carrey in one of his final big comedies as a bank loan manager who tells himself that he would say yes to everything that crosses his way, which leads to some unforeseen outcomes. It’s not one of Carrey’s better films, but it features a terrific cast that includes Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby, Terence Stamp, and many others.

Soapdish

The screenplay for this one is a touch shallow, but it’s a terrific example of a perfect ensemble’s ability to make something enjoyable. Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Cathy Moriarty, Teri Hatcher, Carrie Fisher, and Elisabeth Shue star in this ridiculous behind-the-scenes peek at a daytime soap drama. It’s an excellent option if you’re searching for something silly.