Disability may seem like too sensitive of a topic to joke about, but disabled people have been using humor as a tool for fostering community and justice for decades.

*Note: This list was intentionally limited to titles with authentically cast characters, resulting in a majority of the titles being from the last decade. It is a joy to see such thoughtful and authentic films being made these days, and I cannot wait for the next generation of funny disability movies.

10. Elf (2003)

Address the elephants in the room

Peter Dinklage delivers a performance for the ages as Miles Finch, a highly successful and serious literary agent who is nothing but furious about Buddy the Elf’s (Will Ferrell) misbelief that he, as a little person, is an elf. By acknowledging the trope of people with dwarfism playing elves, the plot flips the conventional narrative and empowers the disabled character all without a moment to stop laughing.

9. A Different Man (2024)

Challenge the preconceptions of the audience

In A Different Man, a struggling actor with neurofibromatosis is miraculously cured, and he dreams of a future as a conventionally attractive movie star. While in a hackier flick this would be a picturesque ending, A Different Man uses this premise as a setup almost for a horror, as recently-cured Edward (Sebastian Stan) starts to lose his identity and blend into a sea of normies while newcomer disabled actor Oswald (Adam Pearson) steals his job, his girl, and the fantasy life that Edward always dreamed of. 

8. Champions (2023)

Make the minority the majority 

A remake of a Spanish film of the same name, Champions follows a disgruntled coach (Woody Harrelson) who is sentenced to community service in coaching a team of disabled basketball players. While most comedies focus on a outlier-disabled-character in a nondisabled world, Champions throws its two nondisabled characters into scenes where they are the minority, and finds its humor in that reversal.

7. Give Me Liberty (2019)

Nothing is funnier than reality  

Give Me Liberty tells the story of a medical transport driver having an absolutely terrible day. The charm of the film is how real it feels – where every lift malfunction, every minute of running late, and every awkward social interaction is grounded in the diversity, poverty, and desperation of the disability community. While this may seem depressing, there is a true hilarity in the real-life calm and chaos that Lolo Spencer and her costars are able to recreate on screen.

6. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

If it’s ain’t broken, just disable it

The Peanut Butter Falcon is a modern adaptation of the Huckleberry Finn tale, which follows Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a character with Down Syndrome in his journey to escape a state-run care facility and flee south to become a professional wrestler. By injecting new themes and authenticity into a classic adventure, it creates opportunities to spark familiar hijinks with a disabled twist.

5. Patrice: The Movie (2024) 

Disability can be whimsical

Documentaries are the perfect vehicle to showcase the everyday humor of disabled life, and Patrice: The Movie, a documentary following two disabled people seeking marriage in their pursuit to overturn the marriage penalty, elevates the ordinary. With elaborate costumes, vibrant set pieces and quirky animations, the film visualizes the vast array of colorful and imaginative worlds that disabled people often see in themselves.  

4. Best Summer Ever (2020)

Genre is an opportunity for humor

With every film genre – horror, action, sci-fi – there are a set of expectations and traditions to be followed. Add a bunch of disabled people into a cookie-cutter format and the humor will naturally arise. In Best Summer Ever, a high school musical with a large disabled cast, the group of quirky disabled characters each find themselves in humorous situations when their disabilities interact with classic movie-musical tropes. 

3. Life After (2025)

It’s never too dark for humor

While a documentary focused on how the for-profit healthcare system incentivizes disabled people to elect for assisted dying may not sound too ripe for comedy, there are a few perfect nuggets of humor in Life After that drew audible laughter during both screenings I attended. In one instance, director Reid Davenport demonstrates the form required to request assisted death, and jokes that if he accidentally clicks “submit”, it’s all over for him. Moments like these scatter the film, releasing the intense tension that builds during its more harrowing segments, and showing how cathartic humor can be. 

2. Freaks (1932)

Humor is contextual

While originally released as a horror film, nearly a hundred years has passed since Freaks was made, and in some ways, it feels more relevant than ever. What was originally a threat within the context of the film, the famous “One of us!” chant has been memeified and recontextualized into a pro-disability slogan, and numerous aspects of the film are so authentic and cheeky that you can’t help but giggle. What’s funny today might not be funny tomorrow, and Freaks shows us how humor can change over time. 

1. Then Barbara Met Alan

Comedy is speaking truth to power

No disability film captures speaking truth to power quite like Then Barbara Met Alan. The film tells the story of Barbara Lisicki (Ruth Madeley) and Alan Holdsworth (Arthur Hughes), the founders of Disabled People's Direct Action Network, a disability activism group in England. Filled with sex, drugs, rage and politics, the jokes never stop as the rebel protagonists quip on the injustices society has placed upon them. What really brings the laughter is the relatability of the struggle, and how universal and timeless it can be.