Barbarella

If you are after a comedy that actually makes you laugh out loud, Barbarella is available in Australia on BINGE and Foxtel Now, and in the US on fuboTV and MGM+ Amazon Channel right now. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 6/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Jane Fonda sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on BINGE.

Barbarella arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Barbarella gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people. Jane Fonda and John Phillip Law lead a cast with the timing to make it work. It was released in 1968. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and Barbarella holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Comedy fans looking for a reliably funny watch will find it in Barbarella. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Jane Fonda's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.