Although 2024 is entering its final months, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited as a movie fan. Even if you’re not into the traditional prestige fare that comes with Oscar season, there are still several interesting titles to choose from.
If you’re looking for reasons to laugh this fall, then we’ve got you covered. We’ve pulled together the most exciting comedies of the fall movie season and ranked from least to most anticipated. Every movie on this list is going to be interesting, but we’ll have to wait and see how many of them will ultimately be great.
Need some streaming recommendations right now? We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
5. Y2K — December 6
Perhaps the most purely comedic movie on this list, Y2K is set at the turn of the millennium, and imagines a world in which the fears that Y2K would start some sort of apocalypse are well-founded. The movie follows two high school juniors who crash a New Year’s Eve party, and then have to fight for their lives after the world starts to crumble around them.
Directed by Saturday Night Live‘s Kyle Mooney, the film seems to have the kind of gonzo sensibility that will help it find an audience that’s willing to go along for the ride.
4. Nightbitch — December 6
Nightbitch has got to be among the strangest premises of the fall, but that’s part of what makes it so intriguing. Starring Amy Adams as a stay-at-home mom who slowly becomes convinced that she’s turning into a dog, Nightbitch is in part about the ways that motherhood can drive a person crazy, even when nothing all that terrible is happening.
Adams has never been one to turn in anything less than a fully committed performance, and director Marielle Heller has made a number of genuinely excellent films, so don’t be surprised if Nightbitch is better than its trailer suggests.
3. Saturday Night — September 27
A stressful comedy about making comedy, Saturday Night documents the 90 minutes immediately before the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, which was then called simply Saturday Night.
Featuring a lineup of young stars who have been tasked with playing legends, Saturday Night is very much about what a long shot the show seemed to be when it premiered, and what a disaster the show’s first episode almost was. Watching early SNL, you might realize that the show took a minute to find its footing. This movie is about exactly how the show went about doing that.
2. A Real Pain — November 1
A small-scale comedy featuring two great central performances, A Real Pain tells the story of two Jewish cousins who travel to Poland together to honor their grandmother following her death. As they journey through the country, they also deal with resurfaced tensions between them, and with the scars the Holocaust has left behind even on generations that were born decades later.
Starring Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg, the movie has earned rave reviews since its premiere at Sundance, including particular praise for Culkin’s performance.
1. Anora — October 18
Director Sean Baker makes observational comedies that can, at least at times, also feel incredibly tense. Anora seems to fit firmly into that mold, telling the story of a Brooklyn sex worker who finds herself swept into a life of luxury after she marries the son of a Russian oligarch.
Once the news reaches Russia, though, the couple’s fairytale life begins to get a little more complicated. Featuring a widely praised performance from Scream‘s Mikey Madison, Anora could be the kind of comedy that goes deep into the Oscar race because of the way it balances tension with more overtly comedic elements.
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