The 21st century has been a time of streaming, social media, and cell phones. It has also been the time for some incredibly funny and incisive comedies. Here are the best comedies of the 21st century, ranked.

10 Frances Ha (2013)

Frances Ha
IFC Films

Frances Ha is the film where many people first discovered actress, writer, and director Greta Gerwig, as the dreamer, Frances. The movie explores the quarter-life crisis masterfully, while also making some incisive commentaries about female friendships, people with wealthy parents who can’t understand the value of money or the aimlessness of someone who doesn’t know who they want to be. Gerwig’s the secret weapon in the movie, as her character is infectiously sunny and fun, even when her life is failing around her, making the audience root for her during the whole movie.

9 Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Universal Pictures

Forgetting Sarah Marshall might be the funniest movie ever made about being broken up and being depressed about it. That’s what happens to Peter (Jason Segel, who also wrote the script) when his girlfriend, actress Sarah Marshall (Kirsten Bell), breaks up with him. Things get even weirder when Peter goes to Hawaii and finds her there, with her new boyfriend, rock star, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Segel’s script is funny and knows how to make fun of himself and his situation, while also having some sincere observations about moving on in a relationship. The movie also has an incredible cast, just before many of their big breaks; from Bell and Brand to Mila Kunis, Jonah Hill, and Bill Hader. The puppet Dracula musical at the end is so strange and unique that we would watch a whole film about Peter making it.

8 What We Do In the Shadows (2014)

What We Do in the Shadows
Madman Entertainment

What We Do in the Shadows uses the mockumentary style and New Zealand deadpan humor to create an incredibly funny comedy. Made by the same people who created Flight of the Conchords, this film is one of the most influential mockumentaries of all time. The movie tells the story of a group of vampires that share an apartment, and it gets wackier, stranger, and funnier with every new scene, idea, and gag. The premise had so much juice in it that it has become a hilarious TV show, and what’s more surprising is the fact that the TV cast is as good or even better than the movie cast.

Related: Best Comedies of the 2010s, Ranked

7 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Anchorman
Dreamworks Pictures

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy might be one of the most quotable movies ever made. Its thousand jokes per minute, its absurd surrealism, and its cast make it what still is Will Ferrell’s and Adam McKay's best film ever. The actors look as if they're having as much fun shooting the movie as the audience are watching it, and every one of them is at the top of their game. This is a comedy where everything is possible, be it a brawl between reporters that escalates quickly, or an anchorman who can understand his dog, and is impressed he’s eaten all the cheese in the fridge, making its outcome the most surprising and funny possible.

About shooting the film, Will Ferrell told Her: “When we get in a room, we improvise the scenes in the character scenes in the voices. On top of that, these guys come and add their own lines. Somehow, they become quotable. (laughs) There's no trick to it. There's no science.”

6 Shaun of the Dead (2004)

The cast of Shaun of the Dead
StudioCanal

Shaun of the Dead is one of the most realistic zombie movies ever. It’s also the film that, for those who hadn’t seen Spaced, put Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright on the map, and was the first installment in their Cornetto Trilogy. Like all the films made by Wright, the movie is able to mesh and change genres frequently, giving us a rom-com, a zombie film with many action set pieces, a funny comedy, and a story about friendship, all at the same time. And surprisingly, they all work and mesh together brilliantly. Who would’ve thought that the zombie apocalypse could be the best thing to happen to someone?

5 In Bruges (2008)

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell both aim guns in In Bruges
Focus Features

More in the dark comedy mold, than in the laugh-out-loud mold, In Bruges is a unique film. Made by the same team as The Banshees of Inisherin (it was Martin McDonagh's filmmaking debut, and had the same two stars in Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson), the movie is the weird story of two hitmen who are sent to Bruges to hide, and there, the city becomes their own personal hell. For a script that pays so much attention to grief, guilt, and death, its incredible one-liners and the hitmen hijinks keep the movie from being depressing, and full of despair, and make audiences smile at their adventure.

4 Mean Girls (2004)

mean-girls-mall
Paramount Pictures

Written by Tina Fey, Mean Girls was a unique way to show how savage and cruel teenage girls can be. The film is seen through the eyes of Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) and how she discovers high school and wants to be part of the popular girls, led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams). The movie is a great satire with an incredible cast; from Lohan and McAdams to Lizzy Caplan and Amanda Seyfried. The film also knows how to make audiences laugh, while also making fun of itself, showing how chaotic and strange the teenage years of high school are. The chemistry between all the characters is so great that the film has become an iconic teenage classic, able to be talked about in the same breath as other classic films of the genre like Clueless or The Breakfast Club.

Related: The Best Comedies of the 2000s, Ranked

3 Borat (2006)

Borat
20th Century Fox

Borat was a surprise hit when it was released, and many people even believed he was a real person, and not a character played by Sacha Baron Cohen. His uncomfortable humor and his no-holds-barred attitude amazed and disgusted audiences equally. Baron Cohen proved everyone has blind spots, and the hypocrisy of most of them, while making people laugh about things they know they shouldn’t. This mockumentary is a pure satire and shows how far the actor can take an idea, and moment, and how quickly he’s on his feet to take the joke even further than anyone thought possible.

2 Bridesmaids (2011)

Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids (2011)
Universal Pictures

Bridesmaids is about female friendship, and shows some authentic, honest feelings, combining them with many lough-out loud moments. The movie is as scatological and sex-focused as any male-led comedy could be, while also getting a sad protagonist in a bad moment of her life. The film has an incredible cast full of MVPs and breakout stars. Melissa McCarthy appeared in this movie and never looked back, becoming a comedy movie star; Rose Byrne proved here that she could be hilarious and could improv with the best, and Wiig and Rudolph show their chemistry, hilarious improvisation, and Saturday Night Live background in every scene they share. Add an in-the-joke Jon Hamm, and small roles for fun actors like Ellie Kemper or Chris O’Dowd, and the recipe is a breakout movie that surprised audiences and Hollywood and proved that women are as funny (and bankable at the box office) as men.

About the jokes in the film, Kristen Wiig told Collider: “We did a lot of improvising. We rehearsed for weeks before we started shooting, and did a lot of improvising there. And then, on the set, we shot it every way you could think of. We did the script, we improvised, and people would hand in lines from off-camera. All of the cast are amazing improvisers, so why not let them go to town with what they do best?”

1 Superbad (2007)

Superbad by Greg Mottola
Sony Pictures Releasing

Superbad is many things at once; it’s a comedy about teenagers trying to get laid, it’s a story about friendship and moving on; it’s one of the last good high-school movies; it’s Emma Stone’s breakout role; it’s raunchy, and it’s funny. Most importantly, it is a movie that is very funny and has a soul and something to say about friendship. Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are going to different colleges and won’t see each other every day, and that’s something that frightens them more than they’re able to communicate. Its third musketeer, McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), steals the show in the strangest, quirkiest storyline in the whole movie. Making a movie full of jokes is not easy; making one that has a thousand laughs per minute, but also makes you feel for its characters, is even more difficult, and Superbad has both, making it the best comedy of the 21st Century.