Dying of Laughter

Dying of Laughter (Muertos de risa, 1999) is Álex de la Iglesia's pitch-black Spanish comedy, and you can watch online on iFILM. Audiences adored them. The two men loathed each other. This is the story of a comedy double act that conquered television and nearly destroyed both of its halves.

Nino and Bruno are jobbing entertainers whose joint routine suddenly catches fire and turns them into TV celebrities. The bigger the fame, the deeper the hatred — envy over who gets the laughs, fights over money and women, small cruelties stacking up across the years. Santiago Segura and El Gran Wyoming throw themselves into the slow-motion meltdown, and de la Iglesia runs their feud across three decades, from the Franco era into modern Spain.

Coming off The Day of the Beast, the director again folds farce into violence and a sharp jab at show business. It's for anyone who likes their comedy mean and unsentimental, where the gags and the bloodshed sit right next to each other. Stream Dying of Laughter (1999) online on iFILM.