8 Comedies Critics Love That Regular People Just Shrugged At. Pick a Side, I Already Did.

Critics loved these. Regular people shrugged. I pick a side on every single one, and I'm not always siding with the people who get free screeners.

Number 1 isn't even marketed as a comedy. That's the fight.

1. 8
   Night of the Zoopocalypse (2024)5.4

   Critics went soft on a zombie zoo. Audiences didn't.

   88% on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.0 on IMDb. Cartoons get a grading curve, and this one needed it. It's fine. It is not 88% fine.
2. 7
   Drive-Away Dolls (2024)3.1

   Audiences nailed it. This Ethan Coen caper is a shrug.

   A C CinemaScore and a 9% audience ranking. Margaret Qualley goes full screwball and the script never catches up to her. Regular people win this round.
3. 6
   Babes (2024)6.1

   Side with critics. Babes is funnier than its box office.

   87% on Rotten Tomatoes, $3.8 million domestic. Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau have a best-friend act that feels lived in. The plot is sitcom thin. The chemistry isn't.
4. 5
   The Wedding Banquet (2025)6.3

   Critics win. Bowen Yang deserved more than a shrug.

   86% on Rotten Tomatoes, $2.09 million domestic. Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone carry it. The farce gears grind a little, but the warmth is real.
5. 4
   Between the Temples (2024)5.5

   Biggest gap on this list, and critics are right.

   Critics rank it ahead of 79% of movies, audiences 27%. Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane are a nuts pairing that works. It's prickly and slow. Worth it anyway.
6. 3
   Materialists (2025)5.2

   Audiences shrugged, then paid $107.9 million to shrug.

   IMDb 6.2, but $107.9 million worldwide on a reported $20 million budget. Chris Evans versus Pedro Pascal sold tickets. The movie is way chillier than the poster promised.
7. 2
   The Naked Gun (2025)6.4

   Liam Neeson doing slapstick is 2025's best casting decision.

   88% on Rotten Tomatoes, $102.1 million worldwide on a reported $42 million budget, yet audiences ranked it ahead of only 38% of movies. Critics got this one right.
8. 1
   Challengers (2024)7.1

   Challengers is a comedy, and the best movie here.

   Metacritic 82, CinemaScore B+, $96.1 million worldwide on a reported $55 million budget. Three people turn a tennis match into a petty grudge war. Audiences called it drama. It's hilarious.

$58.53 says somebody types "Challengers is not a comedy" before they even scroll to number 2.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it