The 7 Best Surreal Comedies to Turn Your World Upside Down

Contrary to popular belief, surrealist comedies are difficult to properly execute. After all, anybody can conjure up nonsensical punchlines for an absurdist joke, but actually earning laughs based on a surreal narrative takes time, effort, and energetic artistic skill.

Though somewhat of a rarity in the larger film industry, the entertainment medium has seen plenty of unforgettable surreal comedies over the past several decades. From cult comedy classics to lauded A24 films, here are several topsy-turvy surreal comedies we’d recommend checking out.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Among the most acclaimed films from A24 yet, Everything Everywhere All at Once unfolds like a comedic version of The Matrix cross-bred with an anarchic episode of Rick and Morty. Jumping between alternative realities over the course of its cartoonish narrative, the Daniels’ madcap action extravaganza wields an equal number of laughs as it does heartfelt dramatic sequences, thanks in large part to the movie’s exploration of family, romantic relationships, and unfulfilled professional endeavors.

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Inheriting Monty Python’s unofficial place at the center of the surreal comedic landscape, Charlie Kaufman has proven himself a creative force to be reckoned with in the annals of absurdist humor. For ample proof of that fact, just look at Kaufman’s imaginative work on 1999’s dark fantasy, Being John Malkovich. Weaving in numerous disparate elements related to puppetry, immortal secret societies, and interdimensional portals into celebrities’ minds, it’s a thoroughly engrossing narrative that never fails to gauge audiences’ interests.

The Lobster (2015)

Nowadays, it’s fair to say that Yorgos Lanthimos is spearheading his own distinct vision for surrealism with his most recent films. As many great movies as Lanthimos has released in the past, The Lobster remains a startlingly different kind of film. Drawing on a darkly humorous sci-fi premise, The Lobster presents a dystopian world straight out of your worst nightmares, ensuring a movie that’s as likely to get you laugh as it is to make you seize up in avid discomfort.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

No offense to the equally brilliant Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but Life of Brian remains the definitive creative achievement of Monty Python’s collaborations together. Examining the social norms of organized religion, Life of Brian uses its sarcastic wit to deliver some profound messages related to individuality and conformity, encouraging each of us to think for ourselves rather than allowing us a faceless political or religious regime to govern our thoughts. Lampooning various aspects of the Bible and Christian antiquity, its infectious humor is both endlessly intelligent and overwhelmingly unique, setting the standard for practically every absurdist comedy film that followed.

Problemista (2023)

Julio Torres may not command the same widespread popularity as Charlie Kaufman or Yorgos Lanthimos, but this brilliant young filmmaker has been implementing his own artistic vision with movies like Problemista. As with Torres’ television work on the underrated Max series Fantasmas, Problemista relies on a chaotic brand of comedy that fuses surreal imagery with a heartrending central premise. Incorporating all kinds of harebrained comedic concepts into his script, Torres finds a way to present each of his colorful ideas with energetic verve, from its depiction of cryogenic preservation to its laugh-out-loud portrayal of Craigslist’s shadier side.

Brazil (1985)

Taking what he’d learned from his time in Monty Python and expanding it in new and creative ways, director Terry Gilliam adopted a distinctly surrealist tone with each of his movies, none more so than his 1985 dystopian dramedy, Brazil. A ferocious attack on fascism, bureaucracy, and government-backed capitalism, Brazil’s Kafkaesque portrait of the totalitarian future might prove disturbing at times, but Gilliam loads in enough comedic material to keep viewers chuckling throughout.

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

In a decade marked by ingenious comedy films like Problemista or Everything Everywhere All at Once, Sorry to Bother You might just serve as the most original absurdist comedy we’ve seen in some time. Infusing topical subject matter into its fast-moving two-hour runtime, Sorry to Bother You uses its idiosyncratic humor to probe into plenty of relatable social themes, from race and capitalism to unethical business practices and corporate exploitation of workers.