Comedy

Comedy is the most honest genre because you cannot fake a laugh. No amount of reputation, budget or five-star reviews will make a joke land if it does not land. Either the timing, the writing and the performance are right, or the room stays quiet. That makes the good stuff easy to trust and the bad stuff easy to leave.

It spans an enormous range under one name: screwball and satire, romantic comedy and cringe, deadpan and slapstick, stand-up specials and mockumentary. What unites them is intent — comedy is built to make you feel better, and it is one of the few kinds of screen time that reliably does.

Use it for: resetting a bad day, background rewatches, and the specific pleasure of a film that is funnier the third time. Don't expect it for: universal agreement — nothing is more personal than a sense of humour.

Rewatchability is comedy's hidden superpower. The best of it is not consumed once; it is a familiar room you return to.