This year, the best comedy movies do not actually look like comedies. Instead, they are hidden inside scary horror movies, violent prison films, art thrillers, and traditional Scottish stories.
Some of these movies will make you laugh and cry at the same time. One of them received two standing ovations at the Sundance Film Festival. Another features three Oscar-winning actors but still got a very low rating of 4.8 out of 10 on IMDb.
We have collected ten comedies from 2026. We included their ratings, actors, and main facts directly from IMDb. We did not rank them from best to worst. Instead, we just show you the films, their stories, and why they are worth watching.
Content
- Wicker
- The Gallerist
- Ghost in the Cell
- Le rêve américain
- The Incomer
- Power Ballad
- Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
- Solo Mio
- I Love Boosters
- Forbidden Fruits
Wicker
IMDb: 8.2/10
2026, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
UK / USA
Director: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson
Top Cast: Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki
She smells. She’s single. Her neighbors never let her forget either. The Fisherwoman lives on the edge of a seaside village — mocked, lonely, and fed up. So she does something about it. She commissions a husband. Made of wicker. What follows is a love story that throws the whole village into chaos.
The film is based on a short story by British writer Ursula Wills-Jones. Directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson wrote the script themselves and shot it together. Olivia Colman plays the Fisherwoman — and produced the film. Alexander Skarsgård plays the Wicker Husband, under layers of prosthetics and costume work. Peter Dinklage and Elizabeth Debicki round out the village.
Wicker got a double standing ovation at Sundance 2026. Woody Harrelson was reportedly in the crowd. Critics compared it to a medieval Edward Scissorhands.
The Gallerist
IMDb: 4.8/10
2026, Psychological Thriller
USA
Director: Cathy Yan
Top Cast: Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis
Polina’s gallery opens tomorrow. She’s broke. And there’s a dead body on the floor. Rather than call the police, she does what any desperate art dealer would do. She puts him in the show. As the centerpiece. At Art Basel Miami. The film is a satire about art, money, and the lengths people go to look important.
Director Cathy Yan was the first Asian woman to direct a superhero film — Birds of Prey (2020). The cast includes three Oscar winners: Natalie Portman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Sterling K. Brown is also in it. So is Charli XCX, in her film debut.
Critics split hard. The Hollywood Reporter called it ‘clumsy and inert.’ Vanity Fair called it ‘playful satire.’ The IMDb score — 4.8 — is the lowest on this list. Three Oscar winners couldn’t save a weak script.
Ghost in the Cell
IMDb: 7.4/10
2026, Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Indonesia / South Korea, M18
Director: Joko Anwar
Top Cast: Abimana Aryasatya, Endy Arfian, Bront Palarae
Someone is killing inmates. The bodies turn up arranged like art installations. The warden is corrupt. The gangs hate each other. The guards are on the take. None of that matters anymore because whatever is doing this is coming for all of them. So rivals team up. Kierkegaard gets quoted. There’s a dance-off at some point.
This is Joko Anwar’s twelfth feature. He made Satan’s Slaves and Impetigore; if you know Indonesian horror, you know the name. The film premiered at Berlin 2026. Well Go USA picked up North American rights shortly after.
It’s a co-production between Indonesia and South Korea. The Korean side is Barunson E&A; the same producers behind Parasite. The film skewers Indonesia’s prison system and judicial corruption. It does it through splatter comedy and martial arts.
Le rêve américain
IMDb: 7.5/10
2026, Comedy
France
Director: Anthony Marciano
Top Cast: Jean-Pascal Zadi, Raphaël Quenard
Jérémy works at a video store counter in Amiens. Bouna cleans floors at Paris-Orly airport. No connections. No money. Barely any English. They decide to become NBA agents anyway.
This is a true story. Jérémy Medjana and Bouna Ndiaye went on to represent Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Rudy Gobert, and Victor Wembanyama.
Director Anthony Marciano made the film for Gaumont with France 2 Cinéma. Jean-Pascal Zadi and Raphaël Quenard play the two leads. Quenard is one of the most in-demand French actors working right now. The film opened in France on February 18, 2026. Audience score on AlloCiné: 4.3 out of 5.
The French press called it 'a totally consensual feel-good film.' They meant it as a compliment.
The Incomer
IMDb: 7.4/10
2026, Comedy
UK
Director: Louis Paxton
Top Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Gayle Rankin, Grant O’Rourke
Isla and Sandy have lived on a remote Scottish island for decades. They hunt seabirds. They talk to mythical creatures. They throw outsiders off the island. Then Daniel shows up. He’s a council worker from the mainland. His job is to relocate them to civilization. They try to throw him in the sea. It doesn’t quite work out that way.
This is director Louis Paxton’s first feature. Trevor Noah and Moby are executive producers. Gayle Rankin, who plays Isla, is known from House of the Dragon. The film competed at Sundance 2026 and won the NEXT Innovator Award.
Critics picked out the animation sequences and the Scottish folklore creatures as highlights. Letterboxd called it one of the funniest films at Sundance.
Power Ballad
2026, Comedy, Musical
Ireland, USA, R
Director: John Carney
Top Cast: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald
Rick had a dream. Rock star. World tours. The whole thing. Instead, he plays weddings outside Dublin. At one gig, he meets Danny — a boy band singer whose career died quietly years ago. Late that night, they wrote a song together. Danny turns it into a hit. His career comes back. Rick’s doesn’t. Now Rick wants what’s his.
Director John Carney made Once, Sing Street, and Begin Again. If you’ve seen any of them, you know what you’re getting: music, Dublin, feelings you didn’t expect. Paul Rudd plays Rick. Nick Jonas plays Danny. The film shot in Dublin in 2024–2025 and opens June 5 via Lionsgate.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96. Metacritic: 77. The press is calling it one of the best performances of Rudd’s career. The world premiere was March 1 at the Dublin International Film Festival.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
IMDb: 7.8/10
2026, Comedy, Horror, Thriller
USA, R
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Top Cast: Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy
Grace survived the Le Domas family. She thought it was over. It wasn’t. That was just level one.
Now four rival elite families are hunting her. The stakes are higher. And her estranged sister Faith — someone she hasn’t spoken to in years — is caught in the middle of it. The film picks up exactly where the first one ended. No time jump.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett made the original 2019 film and Scream (2022). Same team, same tone. The budget was $14 million. Box office hit $42 million. David Cronenberg plays a villain — a rare acting appearance for the director. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a new antagonist.
Solo Mio
IMDb: 7.5/10
2026, Comedy, Romance
USA
Director: Chuck Kinnane, Dan Kinnane
Top Cast: Kevin James, Nicole Grimaudo, Kim Coates
Matt wanted a wedding in Rome. He got left at the altar instead. He could have gone home. He didn’t. He went on the honeymoon alone. What happens next is the whole film. Go in without spoilers.
All eight Kinnane brothers worked on this together. Two directed. Two wrote the script with Kevin James. One edited. Three were executive producers. Angel Studios released it — the same company behind Sound of Freedom. Andrea Bocelli shows up in a cameo.
Budget: $4 million. Box office: $26 million. The IMDb score is unusually high for a rom-com. Angel Studios has a loyal audience, and they vote.
I Love Boosters
2026, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
USA, R
Director: Boots Riley
Top Cast: Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige
A crew of shoplifters in a surreal version of San Francisco has turned stealing into an art form. Then a fashion mogul finds out. She wants them gone.
What follows gets strange fast.
Director Boots Riley made Sorry to Bother You in 2018. This is only his second film. Associated Press put it simply: ‘It is a crime that this is only Riley’s second produced movie.’ Cinematographer Natasha Braier shot Rocks and Babi Yar — she knows how to make a film look like nothing else. The film opened SXSW 2026 and hit wide release May 22.
Rotten Tomatoes sits at around 70. Critics split cleanly: some call it a masterpiece, others call it a mess with no narrative. Both camps are probably right.
Forbidden Fruits
IMDb: 6.5/10
2026, Comedy, Horror
USA, R
Director: Meredith Alloway
Top Cast: Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti
Apple works at a mall store called Free Eden. Quiet, unremarkable, easy to overlook. After hours, she runs a witch cult in the basement with her coworkers Cherry and Fig. Then a new hire named Pumpkin starts asking questions. The wrong questions. Someone isn’t going to make it out.
Director Meredith Alloway adapted a 2019 stage play by Lily Houghton. Diablo Cody — who wrote Juno and Jennifer’s Body — produced it. That tells you the tone. The film premiered at SXSW and hit Shudder on March 27.
Emma Chamberlain is in it. If that name means nothing to you: 12 million YouTube subscribers, zero prior film credits. This is her debut. Rotten Tomatoes: 72%. Critics flag unexpected plot turns and a feminist undercurrent running through the whole thing.
