A cult classic comedy from 21 years ago is now trending on streaming, proving that it still resonates with audiences. It can be hard to predict exactly what movies will make an impression on streaming platforms, especially if certain movies weren’t particularly popular at the box office when they were first released.

Comedy movies often do surprisingly well on streaming, partly because comedy movies have changed so much over the years. Older comedies offer something that audiences don’t get to see very much of today, so they can consistently outperform more modern movies on streaming.

Napoleon Dynamite Is In HBO Max’s Top 10 Movies

The Indie Comedy Is Still Popular 21 Years Later

21 years after it became a surprise box office sensation, Napoleon Dynamite is now in HBO Max’s top 10 movies. Napoleon Dynamite was an immense success for an independent movie, making $46.1 million on a budget of just $400,000. It has since gone down as a cult classic, famous for its unorthodox style and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpan humor.

Napoleon Dynamite stars Jon Heder as a socially awkward high schooler grappling with a series of problems, from his crush on an equally nerdy classmate to his quirky, argumentative family. It’s an unusual coming-of-age comedy, but it still resonates with plenty of people, who can sympathize with Napoleon’s feeling of being trapped.

Why You Should Watch Napoleon Dynamite

There’s Nothing Quite Like Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite is packed with great quotes, although it has a unique sense of humor that makes it stand out. It might not be for everyone, but Napoleon Dynamite is the kind of movie that has dedicated fans for life, ready to quote Napoleon, Pedro, Uncle Rico and the other characters at a moment’s notice.

Napoleon Dynamite is also famous for Jon Heder’s dance scene, which provides a jolt of zany energy to a movie that otherwise keeps everything low-key. This one scene, and the bizarre build-up to it, is enough of a reason to give Napoleon Dynamite a chance. It’s hilarious out of context, but even funnier, and disarmingly meaningful, with the weight of the narrative behind it.

Rewatching Napoleon Dynamite can reveal the film’s surprising pathos. While first-time viewers might be blindsided by the dry humor, true Napoleon Dynamite fans will find a lot more to love once they can resonate on the film’s frequency. It’s a deeply rewarding film, even though it squeezes into a relatively short runtime of under 90 minutes.

The Napoleon Dynamite animated TV show failed to recapture the magic, and it was promptly canceled after just Sєx episodes. It’s probably for the best that a sequel has never managed to get off the ground. This leaves Napoleon Dynamite as a marvel that seems to exist inside a vacuum.