We end the 2025 season on a high, with this glorious love-letter to screwball movies, which has more laughs in each of its many set pieces than most comedies do in their entire runtime. Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal are backed by a solid gold supporting cast.
This uber-quirky film is not for everyone, but for those willing to dive into the surreal world of its creator and star Julio Torres it’s a delirious and joyous experience. He stars as an inventor of surreal toys, with Tilda Swinton as the unhinged art critic who holds the key to his fate. Wu Tang Clan rapper RZA and Past Lives’ Greta Lee co-star, with Isabella Rossellini narrating.
If you’re up for offbeat, occasionally dark comedy, this story of a failed American standup returning to his Blackpool birthplace in search of inspiration just might be the funniest film you’ve never heard of. Oliver Platt, Jerry Lewis, Oliver Reed, Leslie Caron and Richard Griffiths are all terrific, but it’s physical comedy genius Lee Evans you won’t be able to take your eyes off.
A beautifully woven and uplifting tapestry of wonderful absurdist humour alongside heartache and loss, this is the fish-out-of-water story of Syrian musician Omar and three other asylum-seekers marking time on a remote Scottish island while their applications are assessed.
Based on the true story of how gay activists ended up supporting striking Welsh coal miners in 1984, it will make you laugh a lot, and likely shed a tear too. The stacked cast includes Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, and Andrew Scott.
