Cooties

If you are after a comedy that actually makes you laugh out loud, Cooties is available in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video and Philo right now. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. 821 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Elijah Wood leads a cast with real comic timing. Start it on Amazon Prime Video whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

There is a reason Cooties keeps coming up in conversation. Cooties gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. A mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the kids into a feral swarm of mass savages. An unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives. Between them, Elijah Wood and Alison Pill carry the comedy without ever forcing it. It was released in 2014. Cooties earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Cooties is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Elijah Wood anchors an ensemble with real chemistry. Genuinely funny, consistently, across the whole run.