Bridesmaids is difficult to top when it comes to absolutely iconic humor that focuses on friends, but there are plenty of other movies like Bridesmaids that are worth watching. The hit 2011 film has everything from a stellar cast to glorious improvisation, and it is topped off with an unstoppable energy that cannot be beaten. Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids follows Annie, a struggling single woman, as she tries to help plan her best friend Lillian’s (Rudolph) wedding.

Unfortunately for Annie, Lillian’s new seemingly perfect friend Helen (Rose Byrne) uses her affluence and influence to try and undermine Annie, and what ensues is a hilarious romp of one-upping from both sides and some of the best Bridesmaids quotes to boot. Couple that with the fact that Lillian has a bizarre roster of bridesmaids, from her husband’s rough-around-the-edges sister Megan (McCarthy) to the jaded boy mom Rita (Wendy McLendon-Covey), and one has a recipe for comedic success. The best movies like Bridesmaids contain on-point comedic timing, female-led casts, and compelling storylines that aren’t reliant on the classic tropes.

15

Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar (2021)

Kristen Wiig And Annie Mumolo’s Wacky Follow-Up

Given the success of Bridesmaids, it is surprising how long it took for Kristen Wiig and her writing partner Annie Mumolo to make another movie together. However, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is a must-watch follow-up to their Bridesmaids collaboration while also showing a new side of their talents. Wiig and Mumolo star in the movie as the тιтular best friends who take a vacation to a tropical resort, leaving behind their small-town life for the first time.

Seeing these two colorful characters let loose a little with their getaway is terrific fun, especially as the two stars and co-writers have amazing chemistry together and seem to know these characters inside and out. Like Bridesmaids, the movie deals with a strong friendship suddenly being tested as Barb and Star gradually drift apart. However, Bridesmaids fans should also be aware that the humor in the movie is much more absurd and over-the-top, including Barb and Star getting mixed up in a plot by an evil criminal mastermind.

14

Trainwreck (2015)

Amy Schumer’s R-Rated Rom-Com

Amy Schumer was already a successful female comedian by the time she wrote and starred in Trainwreck, but the film is still a terrific showcase of her talents. Schumer stars as Amy, a girl who grew up following her father’s lessons that monogamy is not a realistic lifestyle. However, after hopping around from one casual hookup to another, her views are challenged when she begins a romance with a doctor (Bill Hader) who is interested in making things a little more serious.

Trainwreck is a reminder of how important Bridesmaids was to female-led comedies, as it is hard to imagine this raunchy and vulgar movie getting made before Bridesmaids‘ success. Schumer is hilarious and charming in the lead role, and she is backed by an incredible cast, including Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, John Cena, Tilda Swinton, and a hilarious turn from LeBron James.

13

Wedding Crashers (2005)

A Wedding-Set Comedy About Friendship And Romance

As a sign of Wedding Crashers‘ long-lasting legacy as a 2000s comedy hit, fans are still asking for a Wedding Crashers sequel 20 years later. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn prove themselves to be an ideal comedy duo as John and Jeremy, two lawyers who spend the wedding season going to weddings they have not been invited to in order to drink free booze, eat free food, and meet women. However, things get complicated when one of them falls for a girl and wants to extend their lie.

The wedding setting is a clear connection to Bridesmaids, but even though it is a male-led comedy, the similarities go beyond that. Bridesmaids excelled at being both about the friendship between Annie and Lillian as well as the burgeoning romance between Annie and Rhodes. Likewise, the romance between Wilson and Rachel McAdams is very charming, but it is a comedy about two friends at the center of it all.

12

Bachelorette (2012)

Three Women Reluctantly Celebrate Their Friend’s Wedding

Bachelorette is another hilarious female-led comedy that shows how weddings are not always as fun as they seem, especially when you’re in the wedding party. Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, and Lizzy Caplan star in the comedy as three women struggling in their personal lives who have to come together when their friend from high school (Rebel Wilson) asks them to be her bridesmaids in her upcoming wedding.

While there are plenty of wild and hilarious moments in the movie, it is not as laugh-out-loud funny as Bridesmaids. Bachelorette is happy to make the characters quite flawed and even unlikable at times as they deal with their own anxieties about getting older. However, the three main women in the movie do reflect Annie’s journey in Bridesmaids as being at places in their lives where they are not keen to be part of a celebration of love.

11

Rough Night (2017)

A Darker Wedding Comedy

Rough Night brings together a star-studded cast for another wedding party comedy, but adds in more dark humor than Bridesmaids. Scarlett Johansson stars in the movie as Jess, an aspiring politician who is about to get married and goes on a bachelorette party weekend with her friends from college. However, when the girls let loose with some harmless yet wild fun, it leads to an accident that has them attempting to cover things up, only for the situation to escalate.

The movie is more of an ensemble with Zoë Kravitz, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, and Ilana Glazer playing the other women. The wonderful chemistry between the actors brings to mind the great scenes in Bridesmaids, with the roster of hilarious women playing the other bridesmaids. Even when things go darker, the movie keeps the laughs coming and proves its willingness to be bold in its comedy.

10

Booksmart (2019)

A Heartfelt Coming-Of-Age Comedy

Olivia Wilde’s incredible directorial debut, Booksmart is an incredible starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever. They play two soon-to-be high school graduates who realize that while they were hitting the books every night, their hard-partying classmates got into the same prestigious colleges as they did, meaning they’ve wasted their entire high school years.

In classic high-school-graduation-movie style, they decide they need to have a night of trouble-making in order to catch up to the rest of their grade, so they can say they’ve “lived a little” during high school. While there are some obvious differences to Bridesmaids — most notably the ages of the main characters — it has the same heart of best friends who get up to all kinds of hijinks, but find their friendship stands the test.

The leads do a phenomenal job with the characters, even though they are not the same kind of comedic household names that Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are (yet!), and their connection is incredibly real. The coming-of-age element also echoes the idea of being a bit lost and trying to compete with where other people are in life, which is such a big part of Bridesmaids.

9

Miss Congeniality (2000)

Unlikely Friendships For A Fish Out Of Water

Miss Congeniality is an older movie that is all about unexpected friendships, and the heart of women helping each other is what makes it so perfect for fans of Bridesmaids. It stars Sandra Bullock as an unkempt FBI agent who goes undercover as a glammed-up beauty pageant contestant. At first, she doesn’t take the position seriously, and she considers the pageant girls to be a joke. Yet as the film goes on, she discovers a real respect for these women, and they become her lifelong friends.

While the central friendship of Annie and Lillian isn’t unexpected in Bridesmaids, the way that Annie connects with the other bridesmaids along the way is — and that’s where Miss Congeniality shines in comparison. Both films focus on female friendships, and any romantic storylines are secondary to the main plot, which is one of the most refreshing things about both movies. Miss Congeniality also has a star-studded cast, where Sandra Bullock is joined by William Shatner, Michael Caine, and more.

8

Clueless (1995)

A 90s Take On Austen’s Emma

The quintessential ’90s hit Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd, is a reworking of Jane Austen’s Emma, where a slightly clueless but well-intentioned young woman attempts to play matchmaker for the people in her life — and of course, falls in love herself. While the central story is a classic itself, this take on it is absolutely iconic, especially for its colorful, California girl take on the subject matter. The cast is absolutely stellar, and the movie won multiple awards on release.

Much like Bridesmaids, this is a bright, fun flick — and has become the stuff of legend, with many of the scenes, lines, and slang becoming part of pop culture history. While the romance element is a little stronger in Clueless than in Bridesmaids, the friendship between Cher, Dionne, and Tai is brilliant, and comparable to that of Annie, Lillian, and Helen.

7

Wine Country (2019)

A Comedy About Female Friendships — And Wine!

Wine Country starts with a weekend getaway for a 50th birthday, over the protests of the birthday girl herself. Of course, what should have been a memorable and fun trip with friends quickly turns into absolute chaos, as everyone is trying to deal with their own problems, and not telling any of the other women what is going on. Tensions rise over the course of wine tastings, dinners, tarot readings, and other carefully planned activities, until it looks like some of these friendships will not be able to last the trip.

Wine Country is strikingly similar to Bridesmaids for many reasons. For one, it centers around the hilarious women of Saturday Night Live. It is also focused on friendship as the central theme of the movie. Both Wine Country and Bridesmaids concentrate on all the pressures that can derive from planning a big party, whether that be a 50th birthday, as seen in Wine Country, or a wedding, as seen in Bridesmaids.

Long-term friendships are tested, but at the end of the day, they are able to make it through all the struggles and turmoil they must face. Wine Country isn’t as consistently funny as Bridesmaids, but it does an excellent job of creating tension between characters, and it’s impossible not to fall in love with all of them.

6

Sєx And The City: The Movie (2008)

A Fantastic Evolution Of The TV Series

Fans of Sєx and the City couldn’t get enough of Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, and Miranda. So instead of saying goodbye to these characters for good when the show ended in 2004, audiences were blessed with not one, but two films about the fabulous HBO series, as well as a prequel series and now, a revival in …And Just Like That. What made Sєx and the City such an unforgettable and iconic show was the fact that Sєx and the City‘s likable main characters were depicted as relatable women rather than squeaky-clean role models.

In the first of the two follow-up movies, Sєx and the City also centers on a wedding that doesn’t quite go to plan, when Carrie and Big finally decide to tie the knot. However, the film covers not just the run-up to the wedding, but Big leaving Carrie at the altar, and the fallout of that event over the next year. Of course, Carrie is devastated, and it is her friendships that keep her going.

Sєx and the City: The Movie has some obvious similarities to Bridesmaids, in the central wedding and the focus on female friendships, but the similar vibe also comes from the fact that the characters are wholly relatable, even in their worst moments.