Dark Comedies on Netflix
Last updated May 12, 2024
El Infierno
2010 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsThis extremely violent, darkly comic film centers on Benny, an ordinary man thrust into the vices and violence of the Mexican drug trade. While he enjoys his new lifestyle, Benny soon begins to question what he has become.
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Mary and Max
2009 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsMary Dinkle, a chubby 8-year-old Australian girl, and Max Horovitz, an obese, middle-aged New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome, are a pair of unlikely pen pals in this quirky clay animation feature from writer-director Adam Elliot. Corresponding for two decades, the friends delve into a variety of topics, including sex, kleptomania, psychiatry, taxidermy and more. Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman provide the voices of Mary and Max.
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Pastorela
2011 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWhen the new pastor shakes up the casting in the town nativity play, Agent Jesus Juarez -- a man who's long played the devil -- gets sucked into an epic battle of good vs. evil. Now the bullets are flying as Juarez tries to reclaim his favored role.
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Struck by Lightning
2012 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAmbitious high school senior Carson Philips is bent on escaping his narrow-minded hometown for college. His last few weeks of school unwind in flashback -- until the fateful day when lightning strikes.
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In Bruges
2008 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsAfter killing an innocent boy in London, hit men Ray and Ken are ordered to lay low at a bed-and-breakfast in Bruges, Belgium, until their boss phones with further instructions. But when he calls, Ken doesn't like the assignment.
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American Psycho
2000 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsWith a chiseled chin and physique, Patrick Bateman's looks make him the ideal yuppie -- and the ideal serial killer. Bateman takes pathological pride in his business card and his CD collection, all while plotting his next victim's vivisection.
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Dead Like Me: Life After Death
2009 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn this feature follow-up to the short-lived cult hit, a new assignment hits home for grim reaper George when her latest reaping, Hudson Hart, turns out to be the secret love of her sister. Meanwhile, Cameron Kane takes over as Head Reaper.
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A Beginner's Guide to Endings
2010 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsWhen their father kicks the bucket, three unsuspecting brothers learn that their dad's gambling and reckless ways have doomed them all to die. With only a few days left to live, they set out to try to make amends. But time's running out quickly.
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The Good Heart
2009 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsJacques (Brian Cox), the rough-edged owner of a New York dive bar, realizes after his fifth heart attack that he is near the end of his life. Unable to face closing the bar, he turns to homeless Lucas (Paul Dano) to keep the place going. For Lucas, it's a steep learning curve, made even trickier by the fact that Jacques is a madman with a long list of crazy rules, including no new customers and no women. Dagur Kári writes and directs this drama.
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Brassed Off
1996 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsA big energy company threatens to move in and close the coal mine in the town of Grimley, but the miners' brass band conductor refuses to hang up his baton. With one last chance to shine, Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) perfects his band for a national competition. Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald) tries to perform flawless flugelhorn as she wrestles resentment for her part in the mine's closure and falls for Andy (Ewan McGregor).
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A Shock to the System
1990 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsA no-nonsense advertising executive plots a series of murders (his wife and new boss among them) when he's passed over for a promotion. Fueled by his apparent omnipotence, he maniacally (and comically) reaches for the top.
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Burke and Hare
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis black comedy is based on the true exploits of two 19th-century body snatchers. When Burke and Hare's business -- selling corpses to a medical college for dissection -- is hampered by a supply shortage, they're forced to take drastic measures.
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAfter learning that his ex-girlfriend had an experimental medical procedure to purge all memories of him, a man decides to do the same with her. But during the operation, he realizes he doesn't want to lose what's left of their relationship.
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Super
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen his wife (Liv Tyler) falls in league with a drug dealer, average guy Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) dons the guise of a superhero, dubs himself the Crimson Bolt and tries to keep a tagalong comic-book store clerk (Ellen Page) from becoming his sidekick. But it's hard to be a superhero when all you've got to work with is a pipe wrench. Kevin Bacon co-stars in this action-driven dramedy from writer-director James Gunn.
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Four Lions
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsComedy writer Christopher Morris makes his feature directorial debut with this outrageous comedy about a group of young Islamic Brits who fancy themselves bloodthirsty jihadis of the first order. The film showcases Morris's satirical talents at their vicious best in a scathingly hilarious indictment of true believers and the social systems that create them. Viewers took note and bestowed it the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the L.A. Film Festival.
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Withnail and I
1987 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTwo unemployed actors -- Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and Marwood (Paul McGann) -- take a trip to the British countryside in 1969. But instead of rejuvenation, they experience a lack of food, an abundance of rain and a plethora of alcohol. Their host, Withnail's gay Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths), displays a love for life and a lust for Marwood. This classic art-house comedy won an Evening Standard British Film Award.
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Barton Fink
1991 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen Hollywood taps him to pen a movie script, idealistic playwright Barton Fink develops severe writer's block and soon falls victim to a strange sequence of events, culminating in a murder investigation.
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The Vicious Kind
2009 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsThere's nothing like first love to bring family tensions to a boil in this dark comedy, nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Adam Scott stars as Caleb Sinclaire, whose emotions go haywire when his brother (Alex Frost) brings home new girlfriend Emma (Brittany Snow). As the dysfunctional family is propelled into chaos, Caleb and Emma confront their mutual distrust and attempt to resist a growing sexual attraction.
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Let Go
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsA disheartened parole officer struggling to find happiness in a ho-hum marriage finds inspiration from an unlikely source: his own parolees. As his slightly loopy ex-cons play out their dramas, the parole officer works to resolve his own.
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She-Devil
1989 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsWhen her two-timing husband deserts her for a toffee-nosed romance novelist, dowdy housewife Ruth Patchett goes berserk and -- aided by her mother -- sets out to methodically ruin his life in this dark comedy.
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The Details
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsAfter discovering that his lawn has been completely destroyed by raccoons, frustrated Jeff foolishly cheats on his wife, Nealy, which leads to a series of agonizing predicaments involving his best friend's husband and next-door neighbor.
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Natural Selection
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsAsked by her dying husband to locate a boy he fathered through a sperm donation decades ago, a repressed housewife sets out on a wild road trip, shedding her strict morals and making an unlikely connection with her husband's troubled son.
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Mafioso
1962 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsWhen the mob calls in a favor, factory executive Antonio Badalamenti finds himself in an unlikely role. Tapped to carry out a hit, the inexperienced Antonio must execute his mission while keeping his criminal connections hidden from his family.
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Trees Lounge
1996 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsShiftless barfly Tommy Basilio (Steve Buscemi, in his writing and directing debut) spends virtually all his time at the neighborhood watering hole, Trees Lounge. As a result of his ambiguous ethical choices, he's alienated his family and lost both his job and his girlfriend, Theresa (Elizabeth Bracco). Still, the underachieving Tommy would rather deaden the pain than try to turn his life around, and in Trees Lounge, he's in good company.
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Very Bad Things
1998 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsDirector Peter Berg's dark comedy chronicles a bachelor party gone horribly wrong. Kyle (Jon Favreau) and his pals are off to Vegas to celebrate Kyle's upcoming marriage to Laura (Cameron Diaz) when things take a decidedly bad turn. After an accidental death, murder and cover-up, guilt starts to take its toll. As the body count rises, ex-pal Robert (Christian Slater) inadvertently proves that a bride will do anything to have her dream wedding.
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