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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Sadie Bell

The 43 Comedy Movies You Need to See in 2025

Sza and keke palmer in a still from one of them days.

We could all use a little something to lighten our moods. Thankfully, we can always count on being able to escape to the cinema to laugh at all of the exciting comedy releases. And many have been released throughout 2025—from heartwarming rom-coms to long-awaited sequels and reboots to original satires featuring stacked casts. So whatever scratches your funny bone, there’s likely something in store.

Below, we've rounded up all of the best comedy movies of 2025, including what’s out now and coming to theaters and streaming soon. (And if you’re looking for something to watch right now, check out our recommendations for the best comedies of 2024.)

'One of Them Days'

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Release date: January 24

Starring: Keke Palmer, SZA, Maude Apatow, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, and Katt Williams

Why it’s worth watching: It’s SZA’s acting debut, and she’s starring opposite Keke Palmer. Need we say more? On top of that, it’s produced by Issa Rae, so if you weren’t already convinced you’re in for a good time, that should seal the deal. The two superstars play besties who get into a hijinks-filled day when an annoying boyfriend runs off with their rent money, and they do whatever they can to earn enough cash and not face eviction.

WATCH IT

'You're Cordially Invited'

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Release date: January 30 on Prime Video

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Meredith Hagner, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Timmy Tatro

Why it’s worth watching: Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell are fronting big studio comedies again, so all is right in the world. They go toe-to-toe in this Hello Sunshine-produced film as the sister of a bride-to-be and the father of a different bride who discovers their destination wedding venue has accidentally booked them.

WATCH IT

'Companion'

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Release date: January 31

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, and Harvey Guillén

Why it’s worth watching: The team behind the 2022 hit horror movie Barbarian produced this wickedly funny thriller, written and directed by Drew Hancock. It's best to go in with as little information as possible, but know that it centers around a twisted love story between a human man (Jack Quaid) and his robot girlfriend (Sophie Thatcher), who set out on a weekend away...that goes very wrong.

WATCH IT

'Heart Eyes'

(Image credit: Screen Gems)

Release date: February 7

Starring: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa, and Jordana Brewster

Why it’s worth watching: This horror-comedy arrived just in time for Valentine’s Day, so fans could laugh and hide in the arms of their funny valentine. The genre-bending serial killer movie centers on a pair of coworkers who work late on Valentine's Day and are mistaken for a couple by the sadistic, romance-hating Heart Eyes Killer.

WATCH IT

'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy'

(Image credit: Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures)

Release date: February 13 on Peacock

Starring: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Isla Fisher, and with Colin Firth and Hugh Grant

Why it’s worth watching: Everyone’s favorite, relatable rom-com heroine returns with more adventures in motherhood and love to juggle. Recently widowed (maybe keep tissues in tow for this one!), she navigates single motherhood and dating for the first time in years, including online (gasp!) and with younger men (another gasp!). We’re stoked to have our girl back!

WATCH IT

'Paddington in Peru'

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Release date: February 14

Starring: Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Hugh Bonneville, Olivia Colman, and Antonio Banderas

Why it’s worth watching: Are the Paddington movies some of the greatest art of our time? Maybe! The first movie about the beloved children’s book character captured our hearts with its quirky, twee sensibilities, and, well, Paddington 2 is among the highest-rated films of all time on Rotten Tomatoes. The third movie in the franchise has a tough act to follow, but it’s sure to charm, as the titular talking bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is set to bring his British-found family, the Browns, to his home in Peru. It’s said to be inspired by Werner Herzog’s films Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, so do with that information what you will.

WATCH IT

'My Dead Friend Zoe'

(Image credit: Briarcliff Entertainment)

Release date: February 28

Starring: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Utkarsh Ambudkar

Why it’s worth watching: This film from Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, marking his feature directorial debut and based on his short Merit x Zoe, was a hit at SXSW 2024, taking home the Audience Award. The moving comedy centers on veteran Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) who keeps being visited by the ghost of her best friend who died in combat (Zoe) and takes it upon herself to become the caretaker for her estranged grandfather (Ed Harris) when he’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

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'The Friend'

(Image credit: Bleecker Street)

Release date: March 28

Starring: Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, and Ann Dowd

Why it’s worth watching: A book-to-movie adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s beloved, National Book Award-winning novel of the same name, The Friend follows a woman (Naomi Watts) who inherits her friend/mentor’s (Bill Murray) Great Dane named Apollo when he dies, much to her frustration. As she grows closer to the dog, her life changes in unforeseen ways—a.k.a., this is a comedy with heart and might just be a major tearjerker.

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'A Nice Indian Boy'

(Image credit: Blue Harbor Entertainment )

Release date: April 4

Starring: Karan Soni, Jonathan Groff, Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, and Harish Patel

Why it’s worth watching: Who doesn’t love a wedding hijinks rom-com? This one, based on a play by Madhuri Shekar, sees an Indian family as they come to accept their son’s love for a white man and help plan a celebration that pleases everyone involved. We bet this one will be heartwarming and swoon-worthy, especially with Broadway darling Jonathan Groff as the charming love interest.

WATCH IT

'Sacramento'

(Image credit: David Haskell/Vertical)

Release date: April 11

Starring: Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart, and Maya Erskine

Why it’s worth watching: Actor/filmmaker Michael Angarano stars and directed/co-wrote this humble road movie (which happens to be a family affair, as his wife Maya Erskine also stars). He plays a directionless man named Rickey who convinces his friend (Michael Cera), who’s more settled into his adult life (and intentionally trying to distance himself from Rickey), to go on a road trip with him from L.A. to Sacramento. It's heartfelt and will put all your own anxieties about growing up or ambivalence around parenting at ease.

WATCH IT

'Magic Farm'

(Image credit: MUBI)

Release date: April 25

Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Amalia Ulman, Alex Wolff, Joe Apollonio, Simon Rex, Guillermo Jacubowicz, Camila del Campo, and Valeria Lois

Why it’s worth watching: Amalia Ulman is an indie filmmaker to watch—her 2021 debut El Planeta was an instant mother-daughter movie classic—and her latest is an absurdist satire. The indie follows a group of documentarians who travel to a remote town in Argentina for a project, and when plans go awry, they fake their documentary. Resonant of Documentary Now!, it’s a silly look at missing what can be right in front of us and is full of wonderfully weird notes.

WATCH IT

'Another Simple Favor'

(Image credit: Lorenzo Sisti/Amazon Studios)

Release date: May 1

Starring: Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively

Why it’s worth watching: Pour out a dirty martini because a sequel to A Simple Favor was released. Paul Feig, who directed the 2018 adaptation of the bestselling mystery-thriller novel, helms the follow-up, which takes its complicated besties Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) and Emily (Blake Lively) to a destination wedding in Italy. Chaos inevitably follows.

WATCH IT

'Friendship'

(Image credit: A24)

Release date: May 9

Starring: Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Josh Segarra, and Billy Bryk

Why it’s worth watching: You won't laugh harder at a movie this year. The A24 project from Andrew DeYoung is centered around the question of whether men should have friends (kidding, but not), following a man (Tim Robinson) who becomes obsessed with becoming besties with his new weatherman neighbor (Paul Rudd). With notes of Robinson’s cult-loved Netflix sketch series I Think You Should Leave, this will make you shield your eyes from secondhand embarrassment and crack up all the same.

WATCH IT

'The Phoenician Scheme'

(Image credit: Focus Features)

Release date: May 30

Starring: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Imad Mardnli, and Benedict Cumberbatch

Why it’s worth watching: Lovers of A-list ensembles, pastels, perfectly symmetrical production design, witty dialogue, and deeply heartfelt storytelling, assemble: A new Wes Anderson movie is here. The cult-loved filmmaker’s latest is a comedic spy movie he co-wrote with his frequent collaborator Roman Coppola about a wealthy arms dealer (Benicio del Toro) who requests the help of his estranged nun daughter (Mia Threapleton) as part of a larger plot.

WATCH IT

'Mountainhead'

(Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

Release date: May 31 on HBO Max

Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef

Why it’s worth seeing: Do you miss Succession? Well, this year marked the series creator’s directorial debut. Jesse Armstrong helmed this dark comedy that’s very much in the vein of the Emmy-winning HBO drama, about a group of billionaires on a weekend away while the rest of the world is in turmoil after AI-generated disinformation has been spread across social media.

WATCH IT

'I Don't Understand You'

(Image credit: Vertical)

Release date: June 6

Starring: Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells, Morgan Spector, Eleonora Romandini, and Amanda Seyfried

Why it’s worth watching: I Don’t Understand You is the latest entry in the vacation-gone-wrong subgenre. The very funny pairing of Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells stars as a couple on the brink of adoption who travel to Italy to celebrate their 10th anniversary before the newborn arrives. With a language barrier between them and the locals of the remote town they visit, and one mishap after enough, their dream vacay turns into a nightmare.

WATCH IT

'Deep Cover'

(Image credit: Peter Mountain/Prime Video)

Release date: June 12

Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed, Ian McShane, Paddy Considine, Sean Bean, and Sonoya Mizuno

Why it’s worth seeing: Calling all improv aficionados: If you’re always up for saying, “Yes, and…” tune into Deep Cover. The crime-comedy centers around a group of improvisational actors hired by the London police to go undercover in a sting operation. It’s just as fun a watch as it sounds.

WATCH IT

'Materialists'

(Image credit: A24)

Release date: June 13

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal

Why it’s worth seeing: More of a dramedy and a muted, contemporary take on the rom-com, this film from Celine Song follows a matchmaker to the ultrawealthy (Dakota Johnson) who ends up in a whirlwind romance with one of her clients (Pedro Pascal) while simultaneously reconnecting with a man from her past (Chris Evans).

WATCH IT

'M3GAN 2.0'

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Release date: June 27

Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Ivanna Sakhno, Timm Sharp, Aristotle Athari, and Jemaine Clement

Why it’s worth watching: Are you ready to be back in the cold embrace of everyone’s favorite killer robot doll? A sequel for the Blumhouse horror-comedy hit M3GAN was greenlit shortly after it slayed at the box office in early 2022. Though her tech was deactivated at the end of the original, she returns in the new version to fight a new, stronger AI.

WATCH IT

'Heads of State'

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Release date: July 2 on Prime Video

Starring: John Cena, Idris Elba, Priyanka Chopra, Jack Quaid, Paddy Considine, Stephen Root, and Carla Gugino

Why it's worth seeing: Do you like your comedies with some high-octane action? This movie, starring John Cena and Idris Elba, has equal laughs and explosions. The two lead this action-comedy as the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the U.K., who have to join forces when they discover they're being targeted in a global conspiracy.

WATCH IT

'Happy Gilmore 2'

(Image credit: Scott Yamano/Netflix)

Release date: July 25 on Netflix

Starring: Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, Dennis Dugan, Christopher McDonald, Ben Stiller, Bad Bunny, Margaret Qualley, Kym Whitley, and Benny Safdie

Why it’s worth watching: Get ready to tee up! After nearly 30 years, a Happy Gilmore sequel was released. The Sandman reprises his role as the titular hockey player turned golf star, and several other OG cast members will return, as well. The follow-up will see him get back into the swing after losing his spark on the golf course and not playing for over 25 years.

WATCH IT

'The Naked Gun'

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Release date: August 1

Starring: Liam Neeson, Kevin Durand, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Pamela Anderson, and Liza Koshy

Why it’s worth watching: The members of Saturday Night Live’s The Lonely Island have seemingly taken on a lot of childhood wish-fulfillment-type projects over the years, and this seems to be Akiva Schaffer’s latest. He directs this spin-off of the beloved cop comedy franchise The Naked Gun. Liam Neeson takes on Detective Frank Drebin, famously first portrayed by deadpan icon Leslie Nielsen, so you can bet he’ll be tapping into his action blockbuster leading man persona and his own humorous spin. It fires off more jokes per minute than we've seen from a comedy blockbuster in years, and many ridiculous bits run throughout. It might just be the best comedy of the year—and in many years.

WATCH IT

'Freakier Friday'

(Image credit: Walt Disney StudiosMotion Pictures)

Release date: August 8

Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chad Michael Murray, Manny Jacinto, Mark Harmon, Julia Butters, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Why it’s worth watching: After 22 years, we finally got a sequel to one of the most beloved ‘00s films. LiLo and Jamie Lee are back as the hilarious mother-daughter duo Anna and Tess. The next generation of their family faces the same challenge they did as Anna gets ready to get married and blend her family with her husband-to-be (Manny Jacinto). The best part: It sees a reunion of Anna’s band, Pink Slip.

WATCH IT

'Eddington'

(Image credit: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

Release Date: July 18

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deirdre O'Connell, Micheal Ward, and Clifton Collins Jr.

Why it’s worth seeing: Auteur Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar) made a name for himself in the horror genre before venturing into cringe comedy with 2023’s Beau is Afraid. This year, he continued his black-comedy streak (and collaboration with Joaquin Phoenix) with Eddington. Set during the 2020 pandemic, it looks at how our divisiveness and internet usage at the time manifested, focusing on a small-town sheriff (Phoenix) as he runs for mayor against a beloved incumbent (Pedro Pascal).

WATCH IT

'Oh, Hi!'

(Image credit: SXSW)

Release date: July 25

Starring: Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, Geraldine Viswanathan, and John Reynolds

Why it’s worth watching: If you’re still reeling with the trauma from a situationship, Oh, Hi! will catch you in all the feels. The latest from Sophie Brooks is set over a couple’s first weekend away together and the shocking turns that ensue when it comes out that they’re on different pages in terms of how serious their relationship is. It's basically Misery for the dating app generation—with the internet’s boyfriend, Logan Lerman, as the lead. What more could you want?

WATCH IT

'Splitsville'

(Image credit: NEON)

Release date: August 22

Starring: Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Dakota Johnson, and Adria Arjona

Why it’s worth seeing: Was 2025 the year of the anti-rom-com? We sure think so. This comedy from friends/frequent collaborators Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin jeers at the flaws and limitations of non-monogamy and open relationships. It centers on a couple headed toward divorce whose relationship and marriage philosophy are upended when they learn their friends are in an open relationship.

WATCH IT

'The Thursday Murder Club'

(Image credit: Giles Keyte/Netflix)

Release date: August 28 on Netflix

Starring: Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Richard E. Grant, Tom Ellis, Geoff Bell, Paul Freeman, and Ingrid Oliver

Why it’s worth seeing: Cozy thriller fans, your dream movie has arrived. Based on the beloved mystery author Richard Osman’s novel of the same name (and the first in a popular series), this adaptation from Chris Columbus assembles a team of British icons to play a group of elderly besties who consider themselves armchair detectives. When the property developer at a retirement center in town winds up dead, they have an actual murder that’s close to home that they can solve.

WATCH IT

'Caught Stealing'

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Release date: August 29

Starring: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D'Onofrio, Bad Bunny, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane

Why it’s worth seeing: You can think of Caught Stealing as auteur filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s After Hours. If you’re unfamiliar, After Hours was Martin Scorsese’s (incredible) attempt in 1985 to make a screwball comedy and veer away from his typically dark material for a moment. Caught Stealing is a sillier affair for the mother! director, about a former baseball star (Austin Butler) thrust into the world of crime in New York's Lower East Side in the '90s due to a mix-up.

WATCH IT

'The Roses'

(Image credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Release date: August 29

Starring: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao, and Allison Janney

Why it’s worth seeing: Bring on the snarky, dry British humor! Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch are an unexpectedly delightful match-made-in-movie-Heaven as a married couple on the rocks in The Roses. A remake of the 1989 divorce comedy The War of the Roses, it doesn’t shy from the amount of farce of the original and keeps things just as dark, as well. Plus, look how many comedic A-listers fill out that cast!

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'The Threesome'

(Image credit: SXSW)

Release date: September 4

Starring: Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, and Ruby Cruz

Why it’s worth watching: While it sounds like an erotic drama, this indie film is far more heartfelt. After a whirlwind hookup between a will-they-won't-they couple and a woman they meet in a bar leaves both women pregnant, the three individuals wrestle with the ramifications of their affair and weigh how to make things work.

WATCH IT

'Twinless'

(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance)

Release date: September 5

Starring: Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham

Why it’s worth watching: Dylan O’Brien pulls double weight here (well, really triple because he produced the film), playing a set of twins. It follows the “bromance” that develops between two young men who connect in a twin bereavement support group. Expect more than a few twists, niche Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen references, and a really moving story about connection.

WATCH IT

'Spinal Tap II: The End Continues'

(Image credit: Bleecker Street)

Release date: September 12

Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Fran Drescher,

Why it’s worth watching: Are you ready to rock? The classic 1984 mockumentary about a fictional heavy metal band, This Is Spinal Tap, will release its long-awaited sequel this fall. The original cast reprises their roles as the band sets out on a reunion tour after going on hiatus for 15 years.

WATCH IT

'One Battle After Another'

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Release date: September 26

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Wood Harris, and Alana Haim

Why it’s worth seeing: If a Paul Thomas Anderson movie with an all-star cast comes to theaters, you see it. One Battle After Another marked his biggest-budgeted film to date—and he delivered. Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, it focuses on a facet of underground revolutionaries known as the French 75, who are determined to fight fascism, no matter what it takes. Years after a pair of fighters in love (Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor) were pulled apart, DiCaprio's character Bob Ferguson is drawn back in after their daughter (Chase Ifiniti) is kidnapped by a former adversary (Sean Penn). The action is riveting—it features one of the all-time best car chases—it's full of witty humor, and it feels like the blockbuster for our times.

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'Good Fortune'

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Release date: October 17

Starring: Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, and Keanu Reeves

Why it’s worth seeing: Aziz Ansari made his feature directorial debut with Good Time. He pulled out all the stops with an ensemble full of comedic faves to tell a thoughtful story about class and goodness. He leads on-screen as Arj, a working-class man who body-swaps with tech investor Jeff (Seth Rogen) after a low-level angel interferes in their lives, hoping to perform his own miracle.

WATCH IT

'Bugonia'

(Image credit: Focus Features)

Release date: October 24

Starring: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Alicia Silverstone, Aidan Delbis, and Stavros Halkias

Why it’s worth watching: Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos are back at it. For their fourth collaboration, they remade the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet!. The plot follows two conspiracy theorists who kidnap the CEO of a major company (Stone), convinced that she’s an alien. Put on your tin foil hats and lock in!

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'Rental Family'

(Image credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Release date: November 21

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto

Why it’s worth seeing: Every holiday season needs a wholesome comedy that makes you weep; allow that to be Rental Family. Acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hikari helms this dramedy about an American expat/actor (Brendan Fraser) who takes up work in a peculiar service, playing a stand-in role in real people’s lives. Don’t say we didn’t warn you that the tears might start flowing.

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'Eternity'

(Image credit: A24)

Release date: November 26

Starring: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Why it’s worth seeing: When you die, what if you got to choose what your eternity looked like? That’s the premise of this afterlife fantasy-comedy, which becomes a hellish situation for Miles Teller’s curmudgeony character, who tries to wait for his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) to pass, only to find out her first husband (Callum Turner) has been waiting for her too. It feels like a rom-com of yesteryear, with solid laughs, romance, and twists abound, as well as an inspired production design. If you pay close attention to the various “eternities,” there’s even more laughs to find in the details.

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'Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man'

(Image credit: Netflix)

Release date: November 26 in theaters and December 12 on Netflix

Starring: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church

Why it’s worth watching: Netflix will release the third Knives Out movie this holiday season, with Daniel Craig slipping back into his New Orleans drawl as detective Benoit Blanc. As usual, the cast of suspects in the murder mystery is stacked, and it’s already been teased as revolving around the “most dangerous” investigation yet. We’re ready to pull out our deerstalker caps and magnifying glasses to get on the case.

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'Oh. What. Fun.'

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Release date: December 3 on Prime Video

Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Danielle Brooks, Denis Leary, Dominic Sessa, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow, Devery Jacobs, Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, and Joan Chen

Why it’s worth seeing: If you watch one new holiday movie this year, you may want to make it Oh. What. Fun. Comedy king Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer, The Big Sick) helms this fun mystery about a matriarch (Michelle Pfeiffer) who puts a lot of overlooked work into Christmastime...which her family only notices when she goes missing.

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'Fackham Hall'

(Image credit: Bleecker Street)

Release date: December 5

Starring: Ben Radcliffe, Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Lizzie Hopley, Emma Laird, Damian Lewis, and Tom Felton

Why it’s worth seeing: We just don’t see spoof films like we used to, but Fackham Hall is filling that void. It satirizes classic British period pieces, being set at a posh early 20th-century British manor, where a pickpocket (Ben Radcliffe) is wreaking havoc.

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'Atropia'

(Image credit: Courtesy of Sundance)

Release date: December 12

Starring: Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny, and Tim Heidecker

Why it’s worth watching: Luca Guadagnino is among the producers of filmmaker Hailey Gates’s full-length adaptation of her short Shako Mako. Alia Shawkat led the short and returns for the feature, playing an aspiring actress named Fayruz who works at a U.S. military base in the fictional country Atropia. The synopsis reads: “When she meets Abu Dice, an experienced soldier playing the role of an insurgent, their romance quickly threatens their respective ambitions and questions their allegiance to the military and Atropia’s purpose. Set on the eve of Bush’s “surge,” the bloodiest year of the war, Atropia is a comedic love story cast against a uniquely absurd American backdrop.”

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'Ella McCay'

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Release date: December 12

Starring: Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Julie Kavner, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, Albert Brooks, and Woody Harrelson

Why it’s worth seeing: James L. Brooks, one of the most celebrated filmmakers and showrunners of all time—with credits like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Broadcast News, and Terms of Endearment to his name—is back with the kind of movie we seldom see anymore. We guarantee Ella McCay will warm your heart; as the titular character, Emma Mackey plays a young politician thrust into a governorship amid the Obama administration, attempting to balance her career and home life.

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'Is This Thing On?'

(Image credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Release date: December 19

Starring: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Bradley Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole, and Ciarán Hinds

Why it’s worth seeing: Though Bradley Cooper won us over as a filmmaker with A Star Is Born, some critics have been calling this his best. The relationship dramedy examines a couple, Alex (Will Arnett) and Tess (Laura Dern), who amicably decide to get a divorce, and the impact of their decision on their lives. Tess, for instance, focuses on their family, while Alex decides to take up standup. We expect lots of bittersweet moments and more solid bits long past a tight five.

WATCH THE TRAILER

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