The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film, and it is derived from classical comedy in theatre. Some of the earliest silent films were slapstick comedies, which often relied on visual depictions, such as sight gags and pratfalls, so they could be enjoyed without requiring sound. To provide drama and excitement to silent movies, live music was played in sync with the action on the screen, on pianos, organs, and other instruments. When sound films became more prevalent during the 1920s, comedy films grew in popularity, as laughter could result from both burlesque situations but also from humorous dialogue.
Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016); and the romantic comedy Hit Man (2023).
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on niche, low budget movies in various genres, from horror to sci-fi. Regularly held in July/August, by 2016 its annual audience had already surpassed 100,000 viewers and outgrown even the Montreal World Film Festival.
Climate of the Hunter is a 2019 American horror film directed by Mickey Reece, who co-wrote the film with John Selvidge. It stars Mary Buss and Ginger Gilmartin as sisters Elizabeth and Alma, who attempt to reconnect with their friend Wesley, who may or may not be a vampire, after twenty years apart.
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the film, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiquette. Sony Pictures Experiences acquired the chain in June 2024.
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse.
Zombieland is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer in his theatrical debut and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. It stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray. In the film, four survivors of a zombie apocalypse,Tallahassee (Harrelson), Columbus (Eisenberg), Wichita (Stone), and Little Rock (Breslin) make their way on an extended cross-country road trip to find a sanctuary free from zombies.
Glen Thomas Powell Jr. is an American actor. He began his career with small roles on television and in films such as Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) and Fast Food Nation (2006). Powell had roles in the comedy-horror series Scream Queens (2015–2016), the teen comedy Everybody Wants Some!! (2016), and the romantic comedy Set It Up (2018). He also portrayed astronaut John Glenn in Hidden Figures (2016) and aviator Tom Hudner in Devotion (2022).
Issa López is a Mexican director, writer and producer. Twelve Spanish language features have been produced from her scripts, four of them directed by herself. She has won several literary awards, including the National Novel Award granted by Mexico's Institute of Fine Arts and Literature in 2007.
Balls Out is a 2014 American sports comedy film directed by Andrew Disney, based on a script by Bradley Jackson. The film stars Jake Lacy, Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah, Nikki Reed, Kate McKinnon, DC Pierson, Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney, Nick Rutherford and Gabriel Luna, and focuses on a group of college seniors that decide to form an intramural football team before graduating.
Lace Crater is a 2015 American comedy film written and directed by Harrison Atkins; the film marks his first feature full-length film. The film stars Lindsay Burdge, Peter Vack, Chase Williamson, Joe Swanberg, Jennifer Kim, Keith Poulson and Andrew Ryder. The film had its world premiere on September 15, 2015 in the Vanguard section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film had its American premiere at the Cucalorus Film Festival on November 13, 2015. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on July 29, 2016, by Invincible Pictures.
Epic Pictures Group is an American independent film and television studio engaged in the development, financing, production and distribution of film and television. Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent genre films a year.
Shelby Oaks is a 2024 American supernatural horror mystery film produced, written, and directed by Chris Stuckmann in his feature directorial debut. It stars Camille Sullivan, Brendan Sexton III, Michael Beach, Robin Bartlett, Keith David, Charlie Talbert, Emily Bennett, and Sarah Durn. The film is also produced by Aaron B. Koontz, Cameron Burns, and Ashleigh Snead.
Piety, also known as La Pietà is a 2022 Spanish-Argentine film directed and written by Eduardo Casanova which stars Ángela Molina and Manel Llunell as Libertad and Mateo in a toxic mother-son relationship. It has been variously billed as a drama, "mother-son horror", and black comedy. It displays camp elements.
All Jacked Up and Full of Worms is a 2022 American horror film directed by Alex Phillips, starring Trevor Dawkins, Phillip Andre Botello, and Betsey Brown.
Lake Michigan Monster is a 2018 American adventure comedy horror film written, produced and directed by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews. It stars Tews, Erick West, Beulah Peters, Daniel Long and Wayne Tews and centers on an eccentric alcoholic who assembles a team to track down and kill the titular monster to avenge the death of his father.
Amanda Kramer is a director, screenwriter, and producer. She is best known for the films Ladyworld (2018) and Please Baby Please (2022), both of which she wrote and directed.
Booger is a 2023 American body horror comedy film written and directed by Mary Dauterman in her feature directorial debut. It stars Grace Glowicki, Garrick Bernard, Heather Matarazzo, and Marcia DeBonis. The film follows Anna (Glowicki), who, while grieving the unexpected death of her best friend and roommate Izzy, is bitten by their runaway cat Booger, causing Anna to undergo an unusual bodily transformation.
The Dead Thing is a 2024 American erotic thriller film directed by Elric Kane and co-written by Kane and Webb Wilcoxen. It is starring Blu Hunt and Ben Smith-Petersen.
Dead Lover is a 2025 Canadian thriller film directed, written, and produced by and starring Grace Glowicki. Inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it follows a woman's attempt to resurrect her deceased lover.
