Share

6 dark comedies to binge on this weekend

accreditation
Kirsten Dunst in Fargo. (Photo supplied)
Kirsten Dunst in Fargo. (Photo supplied)

Johannesburg - How do you like your comedies?

If you answer “Like I like my chocolate: Dark AF”, then you’ll get your fix on internet TV this weekend, with 6 bittersweet, beautifully balanced comedies ready for to binge on.

Fargo

Seasons 1 and 2

In the multi-award-winning Season 1 of Fargo, the very dark, pretty gruesome TV comedy inspired by the Coen Brothers movie, we witness a series of grisly murders in the freezing hell-hole that is Minnesota. We can’t help but side with the murderers in most cases because, let’s be honest, the victims almost always deserve what they get at the hands of insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) and cold-blooded hitman Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton). Season 2, recently launched on Showmax, acts as a kind of prequel to Season 1. A killer cast including Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson and Jesse Plemons (remember his name because it’ll come up later) take us on a ride through the Midwest in 1979, when a naive young hairdresser accidentally kills a guy  and seems to get away with it - until it emerges that the victim was a member of one of the biggest crime families in the US. Fargo is not for sensitive viewers, but if you enjoy wry, subtle comedy by some of the best actors in the game, and don’t mind a bit of blood and gore, it’s an absolute gem.

Watch the trailer here:

Available on Showmax.

Satisfaction

Seasons 1 and 2

If you miss out on this bleak comedy with a sexy flavour, you won’t be able to bare it. (Sorry.) Neil and Grace are committed to their marriage but are both really bored in bed. When Neil catches Grace in a compromising position with a male escort, he decides he’s found his calling. But by Season 2, their flings are starting to take a toll, and neither of them is sure how much longer Neil will be able to keep up his … um … escapades as an escort. Though it may sound more like a drama than a comedy, the show is laced with subtly, genuinely funny moments, even though the question at its heart is sobering - what do you do when having it all is no longer enough?

Watch the trailer here:

Available on Showmax.

Shameless

Seasons 1-5

If you haven’t already, it’s time to fall in love with the Gallaghers. The shocking and hilarious antics of alcoholic, deadbeat, conniving, selfish dad Frank (William H Macy), well-meaning Fiona, who has terrible taste in men but works hard to provide for her siblings, too-smart-for-his-own-good Lip, troubled Ian, sweet but doomed Debbie, young Carl, who shows a taste for sadism from an early age, and the lone innocent soul, little Liam, will have you hooked quicker than you can say “dysfunctional family”. 

Watch a sneak peek here:

Available on Showmax.

The Lobster (2015)

In a dystopian future, single people are vilified. If you’re an adult without a partner, you’re sent to The Hotel, run by a formidable manager (brilliantly played by Olivia Colman, who also plays Carol Thatcher in The Iron Lady), and you have 45 days in which to find your soulmate. If you don’t, you’ll be released into the woods, where a terrible fate awaits you. Your only hope for survival? Find someone to spend the rest of your life with (even if it means lying about your traits and flaws), or learn how to survive in the woods with the rest of the Loners. Colin Farrell plays a singleton who manages to attach himself to a woman at the Hotel and thinks he’s almost home free … until she discovers the truth about him. This darkly funny movie is incredibly disturbing and very bloody, and if you can watch the whole thing without covering your eyes even once, you’re made of stern stuff.

Watch the trailer here:

Available on Netflix.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

A classic Coen Brothers crime comedy starring Jeff Bridges (who’s also in the Coen Brothers classic True Grit) as The Dude Lebowski, a hippy who is mistaken for a very wealthy man with the same surname. After he catches two thugs, who think he's the other Lebowski, urinating on his rug, The Dude is forced to ask the rich guy for compensation, and from there his life swiftly takes a turn for the criminal. Starring John Goodman as his bowling buddy turned partner-in-crime Walter and Julianne Moore as his independent daughter Maude, whose art “has often been described as vaginal”.

Watch the trailer here:

Available on Netflix.

Other People (2016)

This touching movie is about a comedy writer who goes back home to look after his mother, who is dying of cancer. Jesse Plemons of Fargo Season 1 (see, told you) stars as David, who says that your own mother dying is something that “only happens to other people”, and Molly Shannon, who won the Independent Spirit Award this year for Best Supporting Female, plays his mother Joanne. Dealing with cancer, death, and a family’s difficulty in accepting their son’s homosexuality, the subject matter of this film is undoubtedly dark, but it is so packed with laugh-out-loud moments that can’t be described as anything but a comedy.

Watch the trailer here:

Available on Netflix.

Want to binge on these and other dark comedies on Showmax? Sign up now and you’ll get a 14-day free trial »

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE