Whether by design or not, the black comedy has come roaring back to life in cinemas over the past few months. One only has to acknowledge the victory of Birdman at the Oscars as proof that this minor sub genre is undergoing a resurgence in popularity.
Thankfully though, there have been other examples of films with the black stuff pumping through their veins to satisfy fans of this under-appreciated strand of comedy. Nightcrawler with a career best Jake Gyllenhaal turn was that other entertainment satire that got no love from the Academy, but its tale of the TV news rat race in LA is well worth a watch.
If you like comedy with a nastier edge, The Voices is the one for you, it is at times hilarious and then extremely disturbing, black and red in equal measure. Ryan Reynolds delivers a standout performance in this defiantly oddball character study.
And it’s not just Hollywood; foreign films have been getting in on the act too. Wild Tales from Argentina and Force Majeure from Sweden are still playing in cinemas and both very good. The former tells six short stories of human frailty with a frenetic energy, it’s a vengeful hoot from start to finish. Force Majeure is a very different story, one of a married couple under pressure in the French Alps, and though more of a drama than the others, there are plenty of awkward laughs to be had as you find yourself in the middle of a two hour domestic.
Although these films are very different from each other, they share a little of the same DNA; don’t forget, it’s even funnier laughing when you’re not supposed to. Rent, stream or just flat out pay in to the cinema.
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