The 70 Best Black Comedies Of The 2000s, Ranked

The 2000s were a golden age for black comedy (a.k.a. dark comedy): movies that make you laugh, then immediately wonder if
your FBI agent just wrote “yikes” in the margins of your file. Between post-dot-com disillusionment, post-9/11 anxiety,
tabloid culture, corporate absurdity, and the internet learning to yell in all caps, the decade produced a lot of films
that treated modern life like a cosmic joke… with a slightly alarming punchline.

What counts as a “black comedy”?

For this list, “black comedy” means humor that comes from bleak situations: death, crime, grief, hypocrisy, obsession,
moral rot, or the kind of everyday humiliation that feels like it should require a waiver. Some entries lean into satire
(politics, media, capitalism), others into crime, and a few wander into horror-comedy territory. If a movie’s funniest
moments are also its most uncomfortable, you’re in the right neighborhood.

How this ranking works

• Dark-humor impact: Does it land the laugh without dodging the darkness?
• Rewatch value: Is it still sharp after you know where the bodies are buried (sometimes literally)?
• Cultural footprint: Quotes, scenes, memes, and the way it influenced later comedies.
• Craft: Writing, performances, direction, and how confidently it commits to the bit.
• 2000s energy: The specific flavor of chaos only this decade could bottle.

The 70 best black comedies of the 2000s, ranked

1. In Bruges (2008) A hitman “vacation” that turns guilt, violence, and Catholic-level remorse into one of the decade’s funniest moral spirals.
2. A Serious Man (2009) The universe shrugs, bad things happen, and the laughter arrives like a bill you didn’t know you owed. Brilliantly bleak.
3. Burn After Reading (2008) Paranoia, ego, and pure stupidity collide in a spy-story blender. Nobody learns anything, and that’s the point.
4. American Psycho (2000) A razor-edged satire of status worship that’s as funny as it is horrifyinglike a business card, but with more blood.
5. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) A family road trip where love shows up wearing exhaustion, grief rides shotgun, and the jokes come with real bruises.
6. Thank You for Smoking (2005) A charming devil sells poison with a smile. One of the decade’s best takedowns of spin, PR, and moral gymnastics.
7. Shaun of the Dead (2004) Zombies as a metaphor for numb adulthood, delivered with perfect timing and surprising heart (which may or may not get eaten).
8. Adaptation. (2002) Writerly self-loathing becomes a full cinematic event: hilarious, anxious, and weirdly tender about failure and identity.
9. Ghost World (2001) Teenage alienation as dry, cutting comedyquietly devastating and painfully funny in that “I recognize this cringe” way.
10. In the Loop (2009) Political bureaucracy as verbal combat sport. Savage, fast, and merciless about how power talks when it thinks you’re not listening.
11. Bad Santa (2003) A holiday comedy that stares into the void… then steals the void’s wallet. Rude, sad, and weirdly heartfelt.
12. Death to Smoochy (2002) Children’s TV meets corruption and violence. It’s unhinged satire with a surprisingly sharp view of “family-friendly” hypocrisy.
13. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) Noir crime, Hollywood vanity, and wisecracks that don’t stop to check if you’re okay. A modern cult classic.
14. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) A gorgeous portrait of family dysfunction where the jokes land softly… and then haunt you for days.
15. Tropic Thunder (2008) A vicious meta-satire of ego, war movies, and performance. Big laughs, bigger risk, and a surprisingly smart core.
16. Borat (2006) Dark comedy via social ambush: the funniest moments often reveal something genuinely unsettling about prejudice and politeness.
17. Idiocracy (2006) A dumb future that hits a little too close to home. The joke is broad, but the satire sticks like gum on your shoe.
18. Sideways (2004) Midlife despair, romantic mistakes, and wine snobbery swirl into a comedy that’s equal parts cringe, honesty, and heartbreak.
19. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Grief and ego wrapped in whimsy. It’s funny, melancholy, and secretly about how people fall apart in public.
20. World’s Greatest Dad (2009) Fame, grief, and lies spiral into a pitch-black satire that’s uncomfortable in exactly the way it’s meant to be.
21. Zombieland (2009) Apocalypse comedy with rules, heart, and enough dark punchlines to keep the undead from getting too cozy.
22. I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) Romance, scams, and identity collide in a story that’s both oddly sweet and morally chaotic.
23. The Informant! (2009) Corporate crime as cheerful self-delusion. A “true story” vibe where the biggest twist is how long the lies can smile.
24. Observe and Report (2009) A mall-cop fantasy curdles into something darker and more disturbing than you expectdeliberately so.
25. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) Folksy, musical, and slyly cynical about myth-making. Even the humor feels sunbaked and slightly haunted.
26. Snatch (2000) Crime, bad decisions, and dialogue that moves like a fistfight. Funny because everyone is so confidently wrong.
27. Nurse Betty (2000) Trauma, obsession, and romance-TV logic fuse into a darkly comic identity detour with real emotional bite.
28. Drowning Mona (2000) Small-town nastiness as a murder mystery where basically everyone deserves side-eye… and the comedy thrives on it.
29. The Whole Nine Yards (2000) Suburban anxiety meets hitman chaos. Slick, snappy, and proof that crime comedy can be charmingly grim.
30. Scotland, PA (2001) Macbeth in a fast-food joint is exactly as darkly funny as it sounds: ambition, grease, and guilt with a side of fries.
31. Buffalo Soldiers (2001) Military life as a black-comic hustle: discipline, corruption, and survival instincts turned into uneasy laughs.
32. Novocaine (2001) A dentist’s life unravels into a nightmare of bad choices. The humor is as sharp as the tools.
33. Series 7: The Contenders (2001) Reality TV as literal deathmatch, played with deadpan calm. The satire hits harder now than it did then.
34. Donnie Darko (2001) Time loops, dread, and the kind of teen humor that feels like a defense mechanism. A cult classic with dark laughs.
35. The American Astronaut (2001) A bizarre retro-space musical with deadpan, pitch-black absurditylike a fever dream with tap shoes.
36. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) Celebrity, paranoia, and self-mythology swirl into a spy-story that laughs at how badly we want to be important.
37. The Rules of Attraction (2002) A vicious campus satire where emptiness becomes the punchline. Stylish, cruel, and intentionally uncomfortable.
38. Secretary (2002) Offbeat romance with a dark comic edge, finding humor in control, shame, and the messy business of becoming yourself.
39. Pumpkin (2002) A cheerleader romance turned sharp satire, daring you to laugh and then question what you’re laughing at.
40. Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) Elvis (maybe) fights a mummy in a nursing home. It’s hilarious, yes, but also strangely moving about aging and obscurity.
41. Matchstick Men (2003) Con artists, anxiety, and family complications collide in a story that’s funny because the control is always slipping.
42. 11:14 (2003) A time-sliced car-crash of bad luck and worse behavior. Dark, twisty, and amused by the domino effect of terrible choices.
43. Duplex (2003) The nightmare neighbor comedy where desperation turns decent people into monsterspolitely, at first.
44. The Green Butchers (2003) A macabre premise played with straight-faced charm. You’ll laugh, then stare at your sandwich suspiciously.
45. Intermission (2003) Crime and chaos in bite-size bursts, mixing wit and brutality like it’s a casual hobby.
46. Save the Green Planet! (2003) A wild genre mashup that’s funny, disturbing, and unexpectedly emotionallike comedy built on a nervous breakdown.
47. The Ladykillers (2004) A criminal plan meets a moral brick wall. Old-fashioned manners, modern stupidity, and dark comedic comeuppance.
48. Saved! (2004) Teen faith culture skewered with bite and heart. The jokes are sharp, but the film’s compassion makes them land.
49. The Stepford Wives (2004) Suburban perfection as body-horror-lite satire, laughing at the nightmare of “ideal” femininity and control.
50. Eulogy (2004) A funeral comedy where grief opens the door for old resentments to sprint in wearing clown shoes.
51. Crimen Ferpecto (2004) A deliciously nasty workplace spiral where ambition meets blackmail and everyone’s morality gets demoted.
52. Team America: World Police (2004) Puppet absurdity with a sharp satirical knife underneath. Loud, ridiculous, and intentionally provocative.
53. I Heart Huckabees (2004) Existential dread as screwball comedy: identity crises, corporate emptiness, and philosophy that arrives screaming.
54. The Chumscrubber (2005) Suburbia’s shiny surface cracks, revealing grief and hypocrisy. The humor is uneasy, like laughing in the wrong room.
55. Adam’s Apples (2005) Faith, violence, and optimism collide in a story that’s darkly funny precisely because it refuses to be simple.
56. Keeping Mum (2005) A “proper” household finds peace through… extremely improper solutions. Cozy, polite, and quietly murderous.
57. Everything Is Illuminated (2005) Quirky comedy with a shadow behind it, blending absurdity and historical pain in a way that lingers.
58. Pretty Persuasion (2005) High school manipulation as media satire. It’s funny until you realize how plausible the chaos feels.
59. Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) A romantic road movie set in a limbo for suicides, balancing sweetness and darkness with surprising grace.
60. The Foot Fist Way (2006) Cringe comedy at its bleakest: ego, failure, and delusion so real you’ll laugh just to relieve the tension.
61. Lucky Number Slevin (2006) A slick crime puzzle where death and humor walk hand-in-hand, smiling like they know something you don’t.
62. Black Sheep (2006) Creature-feature comedy with a mean streak (and a lot of sheep-related regret). Delightfully gross.
63. Art School Confidential (2006) Artistic ambition and insecurity skewered until they squeak. A dark laugh for anyone who’s ever chased “cool.”
64. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) Absurd, gory, and intentionally tastelesslike a midnight-movie dare that somehow becomes satire.
65. Death at a Funeral (2007) A funeral collapses into chaos, secrets, and increasingly desperate lying. Classic farce, black-comedy flavor.
66. The Savages (2007) Siblings deal with aging and responsibility, finding comedy in the bleak logistics of love and duty.
67. Teeth (2007) A bold, unsettling horror-comedy that weaponizes discomfort to make a very sharp point (and gets some huge laughs doing it).
68. You, the Living (2007) Deadpan vignettes of human misery and absurdity, funny like a sigh you didn’t know you were holding.
69. Choke (2008) Compulsion, identity, and scammy salvation collide in a dark comedy that’s messy on purpose.
70. Jennifer’s Body (2009) Teen horror with a black-comedy bite: sharp dialogue, social satire, and a wicked sense of revenge.

What the best 2000s black comedies have in common

1) They treat “normal life” as the scariest genre

Many of the decade’s strongest dark comedy movies don’t start with monstersthey start with a job, a family, a town,
or a reputation. Thank You for Smoking turns a suit and a grin into a moral horror story. Ghost World
makes boredom feel like a trap. Observe and Report shows how fragile the line is between “confidence” and “danger.”

2) Satire gets sharper when the characters fully believe their own nonsense

The funniest black comedies don’t wink; they commit. Burn After Reading is hilarious because nearly everyone is
sincerely convinced they’re the hero of a much smarter movie. Idiocracy works because it never stops treating the
absurd world as routine. And In the Loop weaponizes language itselfinsults as policy, policy as theater.

3) The laughs usually come with consequences

A top-tier 2000s black comedy doesn’t let you off the hook. In Bruges may be riotously funny, but it also insists
that guilt has weight. A Serious Man makes the joke cosmicand that’s precisely why it stings. Even crowd-pleasers
like Zombieland and Death at a Funeral keep reminding you that panic, grief, and survival are never that far away.

Conclusion

Ranking the best black comedies of the 2000s is basically ranking the decade’s ability to stare directly at chaos and
still find a punchline. These films don’t just deliver jokesthey deliver perspective: sometimes cynical, sometimes
tender, often both in the same scene. If you want comedy with teeth (occasionally literal teeth), this decade is a buffet.

Bonus : The black-comedy watching experience

Watching a black comedy is a different kind of fun than throwing on a breezy rom-com or a slapstick crowd-pleaser. It’s
not “turn your brain off” entertainmentit’s more like “turn your brain on, but hand it a stress ball.” The best dark
comedies invite you into a strange agreement: you’re allowed to laugh at the mess, as long as you acknowledge the mess is
real.

The first experience most people have with this genre is that tiny moment of social panic: you laugh, then you look
around to see if anyone else is laughing, too. Black comedy turns a living room into a courtroom. Your friends are the
jury. Your snort-laugh is Exhibit A. And yet, once the room “gets it,” the vibe changes. The laughter becomes communal,
even bondinglike everyone silently agreed, “Yes, life is horrifying… but we’re here, and snacks exist, so let’s do this.”

This is why dark comedies are perfect for rewatching. The first time through, you’re reacting to surprise: the shocking
line, the sudden violence, the emotional left turn. On a second viewing, you start noticing craftthe way In Bruges
plants guilt in a throwaway joke, or how Burn After Reading makes every character’s confidence feel like a ticking
time bomb. Rewatching turns “I can’t believe they went there” into “Oh, they were always going thereand they left a map.”

Another very real part of the experience is choosing the right moment. Black comedies can be cathartic when you’re
stressed (because they make your problems feel temporarily smaller), but they can also hit too hard if you’re already
carrying grief or anxiety. A movie like World’s Greatest Dad can feel like a sharp satire one day and an emotional
ambush the next. The genre’s superpowermixing humor with painis also its warning label. If you’re hosting a movie night,
it helps to know your crowd. The friend who loves Idiocracy might not want A Serious Man at 11:30 p.m. on a Tuesday.

And then there’s the aftertaste: the best 2000s black comedies don’t end when the credits roll. They linger. You quote
them, sure, but you also think about themabout the way people justify themselves, chase status, avoid responsibility, or
pretend they’re fine while clearly not fine. The laugh becomes a lens. Suddenly, a corporate meeting feels like a scene
from Thank You for Smoking. A minor bureaucratic delay feels like In the Loop but with fewer creative insults. That’s
the genre doing its job: making reality funnier without pretending it’s harmless.

If you’re new to black comedy, the best “starter pack” approach is to build a mini ladder: begin with something warm but
sharp (Little Miss Sunshine), move into satire (Thank You for Smoking), then try a heavier hit (In Bruges or
A Serious Man). Before you know it, you’ll be laughing at jokes you would’ve found “too dark” a year agoand you’ll
also be a little better at spotting the absurdity in everyday life. Which is either personal growth… or the first symptom
of becoming the kind of person who says, “This is hilarious,” during a crisis. (Kidding. Mostly.)