You're Dead Wrong About Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral (2007) is one of the funniest movies I have ever watched, and sometimes I think I may be the only person alive who's seen it.

Okay, maybe not the only one. But whenever my friends and I are discussing our favourite comedies and I bring up Death at a Funeral I'm met with a resounding, "Huh?" I mean come on, it stars a post-Pride and Prejudice Matthew Macfadyen! This movie deserves to be recognized as one of the greats.

It's a raucous dark comedy chronicling the funeral of a family patriarch and the fallout of his best kept secret. Mix in ex-flames, blackmail, family quarrels, a missing bottle of Valium, plus one very nosy hypochondriac, and you're left with a recipe for delicious disaster. Murphy's Law says that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Even Murphy wouldn't have believed his eyes if he was at this particular family gathering.

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Death at a Funeral is quintessential British absurdity. Just when you think it's going to pitch itself over the edge, it brings you back down to earth with the very real grief that each character is dealing with in their own—likely ill-advised—way. Don't worry, the heart at the movie's core does not detract from the many, many layers of English wit wrapped around it. Every line of dialogue drips with trademark sarcasm and double meaning. Which is why I refuse to watch the US version. It just doesn't have the sauce.

I'll admit that I was skeptical at first when my mom recommended the movie to me. She made me watch Young Guns II with her the week before, so my trust in her movie-picking abilities was at an all-time low. But this movie comes in at a nice tight 90 minutes, so I decided to give her one more chance. It only took me five minutes to forgive her for making me watch that terrible Emilio Estevez cowboy movie. Now, Death at a Funeral is a family favourite and we watch it whenever we get stuck in the endless cycle of Netflix scrolling. There is quite literally no bad time to watch it. Want to laugh until your stomach hurts? Put it on. Want to relax while cooking dinner and finishing emails? Put it on. Want to think deeply about how your search for parental approval and fear of growing up follows you into adulthood and never truly goes away? Put it on.

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I'm just amazed by the efficiency of the filmmaking on display. Nearly the entire film takes place in one location, so the house where this unfortunate funeral takes place becomes a character all on its own. You've heard of a contained thriller, but for me a contained comedy can be even better. With the limited cast all forced together into a small space, they have no choice but to talk to one another. Sometimes it would be smarter if they didn't, but where would the fun be in that?

Every single character is full and distinct, with their own complex inner world, which is more than can be said for a lot of movies I have seen recently with bigger budgets and much longer runtimes. The sibling rivalry brewing between Daniel (Macfadyen) and Robert (Rupert Graves) is so true-to-life that it makes me cringe. Thank goodness my sister and I are so different, because if we were pursuing the same careers, I would certainly have less class about it than Daniel does.

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Peter Dinklage in Death at a Funeral

The funeral quickly devolves into a Rube Goldberg machine of chaos, and it is so satisfying to watch the dominoes fall. I have a very distinct memory of watching the movie with my family, and while Howard (Andy Nyman) is trying to carry decrepit Uncle Alfie (Peter Vaughan) to the toilet, we had to rewind the movie because no one could hear it over the sound of my grandma laughing. Just a warning, your grandma might not be as cool as mine, so check if she's down with a few poop jokes and psychadelics before you throw this on after Easter dinner.

Death at a Funeral is definitely not flashy, and it falls into some of the traps common in 2000s comedies—like flat lighting and cookie-cutter composition—but to be honest, I barely even noticed. The script is electric and the editing is pitch perfect. Frank Oz directs the shit out of this movie. Yes, you heard me right. The Muppet puppeteer and the voice of Yoda can also direct, damn him. It makes me sad that he hasn't made any narrative features since. I suppose I'll have to be content with rewatching his other directorial material like The Dark Crystal and Little Shop of Horrors.

Oz is able to extract some extraordinary performances out of his cast, with Alan Tudyk delivering one of the most ingenious comedic performances of the decade. I will hear no arguments to the contrary. But the real magic in this movie is the tragicomedy of of it all. It isn't anything like the American comedies that were coming out at the time—the Apatow-esque ones that hinge on the quality of the actor's improvisation. Don't get me wrong, I like those movies well enough, but I'm not watching them for the story. I need something to really sink my teeth into if I am going to fall in love with a movie, and I'm head over heels for this one.

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Alan Tudyk in Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral doesn't rely on jokes and punchlines. The comedy is derived from the absurd situation the characters find themselves in, and the intense schadenfreude we feel watching them try to get out of it.

Maybe that's why the movie never took off. The small UK-made comedy is so wildly different from the ones that were coming out of the US at the time. Perhaps audiences just didn't know what to make of it. With a budget of just $9 million, the movie more than made its money back upon release in 2007, but its reach wasn't anything like those of its peers. 2007 was also the year that Knocked Up burst onto the scene and reshaped the comedic landscape for the next decade or so. It was definitely stiff competition. All I'll say is that I've only seen Knocked Up once, and I've lost count of the times I've watched Death at a Funeral.

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Though it didn't make a big splash at the box office, the film clearly made an impact. A US remake starring Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence premiered in 2010. Writer Dean Craig returned and Peter Dinklage reprised his role, although inexplicably this time his name is Frank. I guess Peter was too British. Like I said, I still haven't seen it, and I don't plan on it. Everything in the trailer looks like a cheap imitation of the original. Even the posters are virtually identical. America doesn't have the best track record when it comes to remaking these kinds of movies, and I don't think I can stand having my heart broken. And if all that wasn't enough to convince me, the reviews I've seen certainly are.

You can't improve what's already perfect, and to me, that's exactly what Death at a Funeral is. Each time I watch it, it delivers the laughs, the wit, and the heart to brighten my day. My crusade to get every single person I know to watch it will never end, because I'm certain that they will love it (almost) as much as I do.

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I love movies
I love movies
 · April 9, 2025
Okay I’m convinced I’ll watch it
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cinejanie
cinejanie
 · April 11, 2025
I can’t believe I’ve never even heard of this movie—what’s going on? Thank you! I’ve already added it to my watchlist, definitely the perfect weekend pick.
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marvelousmars
marvelousmars
 · April 10, 2025
I haven't watched this, but you might just have convinced me to! More importantly, I haven't watched Succession yet, but I know McFayden's in it, plus there's nonsense about a family patriarch in the show, so I'm now imagining a weird crossover of two things I have only baseline familiarity with 😂
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Lucas.
Lucas.
 · April 9, 2025
This is one of those movies that is both underrated and a classic! Alan Tudyk is a legend. Great article!
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carlosnorcia
carlosnorcia
 · April 9, 2025
A few years ago, a friend of mine was always recommending this movie but I haven't watched yet!
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Angeleaf
Angeleaf
 · April 28, 2025
Alan Tudyk is amazing in this, and curiously, I saw this right before I put on the first episode of GoT.
You're doing the right thing by skipping the US remake.
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Juan del cine
Juan del cine
 · April 11, 2025
Good!
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