Bernie

Bernie (2012) is Richard Linklater's pitch-black comedy, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Jack Black plays Bernie Tiede, the soft-spoken assistant funeral director whom an entire small Texas town happens to adore.

Bernie befriends wealthy widow Marjorie Nugent, played by Shirley MacLaine — a woman so sour that all of Carthage gives her a wide berth. At first the two are inseparable: trips, dinners, a shared bank account. Then she sinks her claws in completely, and one day Bernie simply snaps. Linklater stages it like a mock documentary, cutting away to actual townsfolk who lean into the camera and gleefully tell their own version of events. Matthew McConaughey turns up as the district attorney, the lone voice unconvinced that this beloved man deserves the town's sympathy.

The whole thing really happened — it grew out of an East Texas case that made headlines back in the nineties. Linklater shot much of it with locals who knew the real Bernie, which gives the comedy an unnervingly true ring. It's that rare film where you laugh and genuinely can't decide whose side you're on. Stream Bernie (2012) online on iFILM.