The Best Body Swap Comedies: ‘Family Switch,’ ‘Turnabout,’ ‘All of Me,’ and More

Samantha Bergeson and Alison Foreman
·2 min read
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Have you ever wanted to trade places with someone else, even just for an hour? Well, the old adage “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” has spurred an entire comedy movie sub-genre: the sometimes hilarious, plenty times not, body swap trope that sits right up there with buddy movies and road trip plots for recognizable narrative arcs.

The concept has been explored with plenty of non-comedy body swaps; it’s a staple in the horror genre thanks to possessions (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers”), Satanic rituals (“The Skeleton Key”), sacrifices gone wrong (“Jennifer’s Body”), and plain ol’ demons (“The Exorcist”). Then, there’s the surgical body swap (“Face/Off,” “Get Out,” “Malignant”) that lacks the certain je n’ai sais quoi of mystical intervention that comedies such as the live-action “Scooby Doo” movie and “All of Me” offer.

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And doe time travel count as body swapping? As much as we love “13 Going on 30,” “Big,” and “17 Again,” swapping with yourself in a younger or older body isn’t quite the same as waking up in a body that has never been yours. That being said, the whole dead person being resurrected in someone else’s body (“Hearts and Souls,” “Far From Heaven,” “Meet Joe Black”) isn’t totally the carefree vibe we’re hoping for.

Just as Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are teasing a “Freaky Friday” sequel and Jennifer Garner spends a week in the life of her teen daughter in Netflix’s holiday hit “Family Switch,” IndieWire has rounded up the best and most beloved and bizarre body swap comedies ever made.

With editorial contributions by Mark Peikert. 

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