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25 powerful movies based on real-life political drama

Sometimes, actual people and the events surrounding them make for the best stories.

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Politics aren't always fun to talk about, but they sure make for compelling drama. Whether it be examinations of presidents like Nixon (1995) and Lincoln (2012) or depictions of major historical events like in All the President's Men (1976) and Selma (2014), some stories are so juicy that it's easy to see why they've been adapted to film. Then there are movies that merely take inspiration from famous figures, imagining private conversations that give us further insight into the psychology of being in the public eye.

Here are our picks for 25 of the most notable movies about real-life politicians and high-ranking figures.

All the President's Men (1976)

While Bob Woodward got a whole lot prettier as played by Robert Redford , not much else is changed in this accounting of the Watergate scandal. The incident itself takes place off-screen, and, other than a brief clip at the end, Richard Nixon doesn't appear at all. The consummate process film is a deliberate portrayal of shoe-leather journalism and uncovering the government rot from the outside in. — Keith Staskiewicz

Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Tom Hanks plays Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who facilitated the CIA's covert efforts in Afghanistan against the Soviets. Made in 2007, the film foreshadows the eventual blowback of the U.S. support of the mujahideen. — K.S.

Elizabeth (1998)

Cate Blanchett brings Queen Elizabeth I's highly political ascent to the throne to the big screen in 1998's Elizabeth . The Oscar-winning film follows the 25-year-old Brit from prisoner in the Tower of London all the way to the highest throne in the land, while also navigating royal marriages, Parliament, and diplomatic relations. —Madeline Boardman

Fair Game (2010)

The story of Valerie Plame — whose status as a CIA agent was outed by sources close to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney — is a small but pivotal tale in the long chronicle of Bush-era controversies. Doug Liman 's film may be the lowest of low-key thrillers, but it's an intriguing peek behind the curtain. And kudos to character actor David Andrews, whose "Scooter" Libby is a memorably preening political grotesque. — Darren Franich

Frost/Nixon (2008)

The relationship between a reporter and a president in delicate standing is examined in 2008's Frost/Nixon . Michael Sheen stars as David Frost, a British journalist who finagles a series of sit-downs with former President Richard Nixon ( Frank Langella in an Oscar-nominated performance) following the politician's very public fall from grace. The Ron Howard -directed film sheds new light on what happened behind the scenes and the true fragility of power. — M.B.

Gangs of New York (2002)

Martin Scorsese 's decades-in-the-making dream project ran over budget and had a famously troubled production , and the end result is a fascinating mess filled with bizarre tangents. Occasionally, Gangs of New York becomes a portrait of late-19th century New York politics, and Jim Broadbent gloriously chews the scenery as infamous Tammany Hall politician Boss Tweed. — D.F.

Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975)

James Whitmore (a.k.a. Brooks from The Shawshank Redemption ) was nominated for an Academy Award for his soft, almost grandfatherly portrayal of President Harry S. Truman, the man who ordered the A-bomb dropped. — K.S.

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

Neither Hollywood nor history has been kind to Joseph McCarthy, and for good reason. But in his 2005 black-and-white drama about journalist Edward R. Murrow, George Clooney , much like Murrow before him, uses actual footage of ol' Tail Gunner Joe as indictment enough. — K.S.

Il Caimano (2006)

Depending on your point of view, the political success of Silvio Berlusconi — Italy's boisterous, sex-obsessed prime minister — is either a sad comedy or a hilarious drama. Nanni Moretti 's 2006 film finds the exact right tone with the meta-story of a director attached to a production about a thinly veiled version of Berlusconi. — K.S.

Il Divo (2008)

In the hands of writer-director Paolo Sorrentino , the true-life tale of Giulio Andreotti, the fabulously corrupt former president of Italy, becomes a film that's simultaneously tragic and funny. Andreotti's ties to the mob (and the possibility that he ordered political assassinations) are horrifying. Equally horrifying: The real-life Andreotti walked free, with the title "Senator for Life," until his death in 2013. — D.F.

Jackie (2016)

Stephanie Branchu/Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection

Set in the aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination, this sobering biopic from Pablo Larraín follows First Lady Jackie Kennedy ( Natalie Portman ) as she deals with unimaginable grief. Portman delivers a riveting, Oscar-nominated performance as a woman trying to go on with life, fearing "there will never be another Camelot." — Kevin Jacobsen

Who killed President John F. Kennedy? Everyone, if you believe Oliver Stone 's investigative thriller. The Mafia, the Cuban government, the military-industrial complex, a shady cabal of wealthy gay swingers, and even President Lyndon B. Johnson are all implicated by the director as co-conspirators in the Kennedy assassination. As verifiable history, it's a wash, but the sprawling film is a memorable portrait of old-school Americana (personified by Kevin Costner as a Gary Cooper-esque lawman) fighting a losing battle with late-century free-floating paranoia. — D.F.

Judas and the Black Messiah (2020)

This tense drama follows FBI informant Bill O'Neal ( LaKeith Stanfield ) and his experiences undercover with prominent Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton ( Daniel Kaluuya ). The saga of duplicity and racial injustice earned six Academy Award nominations, with Kaluuya winning Best Supporting Actor for his charismatic turn as Hampton. — K.J.

The King's Speech (2010)

Colin Firth picked up a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of King George VI in The King's Speech . Come for Firth's gold-worthy acting chops, stay for the powerful depiction of the king's personal struggles with speaking and a country on the brink of war. —M.B.

Lincoln (2012)

Chronicling Abraham Lincoln's historic fight to pass the 13th Amendment, which ended the enslavement of — and ensured freedom for — Black people in America, Steven Spielberg 's film may cover a short period in the 16th president's life, but its sweeping stance on America's bloodiest conflict is by no means limited. EW's critic deemed the film "one of the most authentic biographical dramas I've ever seen," adding, "The movie is grand and immersive. It plugs us into the final months of Lincoln's presidency with a purity that makes us feel transported as though by time machine." — Lanford Beard

Marie (1985)

You may not remember Ray Blanton, the governor of Tennessee whose administration was rife with cronyism and bribery. You may also not remember Marie Ragghianti, the head of the Tennessee parole board whose anti-Blanton crusade forms the basis of 1985's Marie , with Sissy Spacek playing Ragghianti. But here's a name you might know: Future presidential candidate Fred Thompson made his acting debut in Marie ...as Ragghianti's attorney, future presidential candidate Fred Thompson. (Ain't politics grand?) — D.F.

Milk (2008)

One of the unexpected pleasures of Milk is the nimble way Gus Van Sant portrays the nuts-and-bolts of political activism, etching Harvey Milk's private rise to power on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors against the larger emergence of the Gay Rights movement. The film, which won Sean Penn his second Oscar, is a fine tale of the American democratic process with an unbearable true-life dénouement: The assassination of Milk and Mayor George Moscone by city supervisor Dan White. — D.F.

Nixon (1995)

A political scandal far juicier than any screenwriter could pen, the fall of President Richard Nixon is highlighted in Oliver Stone's 1995 film Nixon . Anthony Hopkins stars as the infamous politician, looking back on the steps of the Watergate crisis as even more drama unfolds in Nixon's personal life. Adding another layer to the massive scandal, Nixon picked up four Oscar nods for its interpretation. —M.B.

The Post (2017)

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The Post centers on the true story of the publishing of the Pentagon Papers , which revealed the extent of the United States' involvement in Vietnam. With the dream combination of director Steven Spielberg and stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, the film's depiction of The Washington Post 's perilous journey to publishing the papers is riveting. — K.J.

Primary Colors (1998)

Based on Joe Klein's bestselling roman à clef, Primary Colors fictionalizes specifics and changes names, but there's no doubt that John Travolta 's gray-haired charmer is an analog of Bill Clinton . And, pursuant to real life, presidential candidate Jack Stanton's campaign dreams are haunted by the consequences of his sexual past. — K.S.

The Queen (2006)

British royals hold no real political power. Their duties are purely administrative, and their great strength lies with the public. So when the public turns against them, what purpose do they serve? That's the anxious undertone of The Queen , which focuses on the immediate aftermath of the death of Princess Diana . As the troubled Queen Elizabeth , Helen Mirren is unforgettable, winning an Oscar among dozens of other awards for her performance. The Queen is also the middle chapter of the Tony Blair trilogy in which Michael Sheen hands in a spot-on portrayal of the former British prime minister. — D.F.

Secret Honor (1984)

Philip Baker Hall 's portrayal of Richard Nixon is both subtle and absurdly over the top, not immediately identifiable yet spot-on. Refusing to parody the eminently parodiable president, Hall and director Robert Altman turn this one-man show into a slow and sad display of self-delusion, self-pity, and self-destruction. — K.S.

Selma (2014)

Atsushi Nishijima/Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Director Ava DuVernay transports us back to mid-1960s Alabama in this rousing drama, where Martin Luther King Jr. ( David Oyelowo ) and his compatriots make strides to provide equal voting rights for Black citizens. It all culminates with the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, risking their lives for the greater good. — K.J.

Spencer (2021)

The next film in Pablo Larraín's examination of high-profile women grappling with public and private struggles is this psychological drama about Princess Diana. Spencer centers on Diana ( Kristen Stewart ) unraveling during the Christmas holidays in 1991 due to her fractured relationship with Prince Charles and the royal family. While the film is upfront about being "a fable from a true tragedy," it is a compelling depiction of what Diana may have felt at her lowest. — K.J.

The third film by Oliver Stone about an American president but the only one made while that president was still in office, this take on George W. Bush is essentially a farce at heart, Buñuelian and broad. Also included is a parade of famous characters made caricatures, like Thandiwe Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Toby Jones as Karl Rove, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, and Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld. — K.S.

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Best Movies About Politics

Political intrigue at its finest.

Politics have proven to be fertile ground for storytelling on film. Whether it's true stories like All The President's Men. fictional ones like The Ides Of March, or even a mixture of both, like Primary Colors , stories about politics are ultimately among the most human of stories. We see all our aspirations and all of our flaws in them, like those on this list of great political movies. 

All The President's Men

Watergate and the investigative reporting by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for the Washington Post changed American politics forever. Not only did it lead directly to the downfall of Richard Nixon, but it changed the way journalists reported on politicians completely. All The President's Men is a fast-paced look at that investigation starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein. It's one of the best ever. 

The American President

As compared to some of the other movies on this list, The American President is pretty light fare. The Rob Reiner -directed political rom-com, written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Annette Benning and Michael Douglas as the titular president is about the two main characters falling in love, but there is plenty of politics going on in the background to satisfy any political junkie. It also Sorkin to develop The West Wing , so for that we should be forever grateful. 

Wag The Dog

Black comedy is a tough thing to pull off well, but Wag the Dog does it brilliantly. The way it makes the creation of a fake war to build support behind a political candidate is disturbing, but Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro are so great at it, and so charming, that you can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness, just as the creative team behind the movie hoped. 

Don't Look Up

Politics and science are too often at odds with each other. There are a lot of reasons why that happens, and Don't Look Up , from 2021 shows just how hard it can be for the public to focus on anything not directly affecting them at the moment. Even when that is a comet coming to wipe out the world. It also shows how some people still try to exploit even the worst potential tragedies. For a comedy, it's pretty depressing. 

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

Jimmy Stewart's performance as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is everything we want in our politicians, but so rarely get. While Mr. Smith is supposed to be a stooge appointed to the Senate to be manipulated, he turns the tides on everyone and makes us all proud to be Americans. The country needs more Mr. Smiths. 

The Darkest Hour

2017 was the year of telling stories about the Dunkirk evacuation early in World War II. While Christopher Nolan 's Dunkirk told the story of the actual evacuation, The Darkest Hour shows the political wrangling behind it and Winston Churchill's rise to power as a result. They aren't exactly twin movies , but they are great to watch together as a double feature. 

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The publishing of The Pentagon Papers by the Washington Post and the New York Times in 1971 was a landmark moment in journalism. It was also a watershed moment in the Vietnam War, as it was truly the moment that the entire public lost faith in its political leaders.  The Post tells the story from the perspective of the journalists and the Washington Post leaders and features excellent performances from two of the best ever, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks . 

Frost/Nixon

Richard Nixon is one of the most enigmatic and interesting men to ever be president. He was brilliant, to be sure, but his paranoia and ego ruined his legacy forever. Frost/Nixon , which was based on a play by the same name, tells the story of a series of interviews that British journalist David Frost conducted with Nixon a few years after the president's resignation in the wake of Watergate. It's a brilliantly written movie and features all-star performances by Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon.

Charlie Wilson's War

One thing about politics that makes it so intriguing as a storytelling device is the amount of access politicians have to glamorous high society and, on the other side of the spectrum, the world of spying. Charlie Wilson's War brings that all together and features some knockout performances by Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julia Roberts. 

The Death Of Stalin

The Death Of Stalin is a brilliant and underappreciated film. You might guess that a dark comedy based on the death of Joseph Stalin and the scramble to fill his spot at the. top of the Soviet Union wouldn't be historically accurate , but not only is it really funny, it's surprisingly accurate as well. 

Being There

Comedic legend Peter Sellers left us too soon when he died at just age 54 in 1980. Luckily, he gave us one last legendary performance as Chance the gardener - or, later "Chauncey Gardiner" in Being There. It's the perfect role for the brilliant Sellers, playing an undereducated rube who accidentally finds himself in the middle of big-time Washington DC politics. 

Primary Colors

In one of his finest performances John Travolta plays Bill Clinton...er...Jack Stanton in Primary Colors. Based on a semi-true book by Joe Klein about Bill Clinton's '92 campaign, Travolta is fantastic as the Clinton-esque Stanton. 

Believe it or not, Dave is not the first time a movie was made in the era about a lookalike taking the spot of a recently deceased president. Richard Dreyfus made a very similarly plotted movie called Moon Over Parador about five years before Kevin Kline starred in Dave. Both are great movies, but Dave is about the American president, so that gets the spot here. 

The Manchurian Candidate

Frank Sinatra starred in a lot of movies over the years, but The Manchurian Candidate is probably his best role and his best movie. The plot revolves around an army sergeant played by Laurence Harvey and an army major, played by Sinatra, who are captured by the Chinese army during the Korean War. Harvey is a changed man, but we won't spoil it for it, except to say it's worth watching. 

Warren Beatty wrote, directed, and starred in Bulworth which is a highly underrated political satire that remains scarily relevant even more than 25 years after its release. It's a commentary on money in politics and what candidates must do to raise enough to be re-elected. 

The Ides of March

The Ides of March is an old-fashion political drama, released in 2011. It's about a messy campaign in more ways the one, with a love triangle in the middle of it. It seems to fly under a lot of people's radar, but if you like written and well-acted political movies, this one deserves to be high on your list of movies to watch. 

City Hall was a big deal when it came out in 1996. Al Pacino stars as the compromised mayor of New York City with John Cusack playing his idealistic, and yet extremely realistic aide. It's a far from perfect movie, but it's a rare example of a movie looking at politics, and the corruption in politics on a local level. 

Path To War

Michael Gambon, who plays Lyndon Johnson in Path To Way is, frankly, brilliant in the role. In a movie all about the horrible decisions made in the escalation of the Vietnam War, audiences can see the pain on the president's face as he grapples with the war and the consequences on the people and his true agenda as president. 

We mostly left movies off that are more or less biopics, rather than political movies. One of the exceptions is Vice because it's really about the political maneuvering Dick Cheney did to land his role as vice president in the George W. Bush administration. It's also impossible to leave off a movie with a performance as amazing as Christian Bale's as the former VP. 

The Candidate

Robert Redford stars in The Candidate , which is kind of everything we wish politics would be, but isn't. It's like The West Wing of movies. It's idealistic and hopeful, something real-life politics rarely is. 

Harvey Milk was a trailblazer in the fight for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in America. He was one of the first openly gay men elected to public office when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978. Tragically, he wouldn't even finish out the first year of his term after being assassinated later in the year. Milk, starring Sean Penn as the titular character, brings Milk's tragic and inspiring story to life. 

Good Night, And Good Luck

Good Night, And Good Luck is really a movie about mass media's role in the public sector in America.  The "fourth estate" as it is often referred to. Edward R. Murrow's public battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare in the 1950s is at the heart of this movie and tells the story brilliantly, highlighting just how important an open and free press really is. 

All you need to know about how Network connects to politics is to watch Ned Beatty's brilliant speech in the movie. "There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today," he bellows. 50 years later, and it still feels all too familiar. 

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 is as much a courtroom drama as it is a political one, but politics are at the very heart of the trial, especially the treatment of Bobby Seale, which is a big part of the film.  

The Distinguished Gentleman

The Distinguished Gentleman comes towards the end of Eddie Murphy's golden era that launched his career. It's not as good as Beverly Hills Cop , or Trading Places , but it's not all that terrible either. It's got some very funny moments and Murphy is as charming as ever as a con man-turned congressman. 

There are quite a few historical problems with JFK , but that doesn't make it a bad movie. You just have to know what you are getting into. The all-star cast carries the far-fetched story, so while it's not an historically accurate film, it is an exciting one. 

Dark Waters

For decades, starting in the late 20th Century, Ohio attorney Robert Bilott has been suing DuPont for chemicals in the environment. In 2019 director Todd Haynes brought his story to the big screen with Mark Ruffalo playing the lawyer. It's an intense movie, filled with great performances, about how one brave man can take on one of the most powerful corporations in the world. 

The Valerie Plame scandal rocked Washington DC in 2003 when Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and others, leaked her identity as a CIA officer to the press. Libby was eventually convicted of lying to investigators but pardoned in the last days of the Bush administration. The movie highlights how she and her husband dealt with the leak and how it affected their lives. 

Thirteen Days

Another movie on the list that plays a little loose with the historical facts is Thirteen Days about John F. Kennedy's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The facts of the crisis are correct, and the decision-making process is accurate, but the main character of the movie, Kenneth O'Donnell, played by Kevin Costner, didn't play nearly a big a role in the crisis as the movie claims. 

The Front Runner

What makes The Front Runner so interesting is how innocent the Gary Hart scandal seems today. Senator Gary Hart (played by Hugh Jackman) was a Democrat running for President in 1988 and was on top of the polls when his campaign was torpedoed by the public disclosure of an affair. In the world we live in today, it would hardly even be news. 

Canadian Bacon

This one is the most fun movie on the list. The absurd comedy by director Michael Moore sets out to show how a war between the United States and Canada could happen under the most ridiculous of situations. It's hilarious, wonderful, silly, and stupid all at the same time and if you've never seen it, you should. Pronto. Or we'll level Toronto. 

The Contender

The Contender wasn't a success at the box office, but don't let that fool you. The 2000 film, starring Gary Oldman and Jeff Bridges, is a really good movie about the President's search for a new vice president after the death of the sitting VP. It gets the procedure correct and sets up some realistic issues any president in that situation would face. 

Hugh Scott is the Syndication Editor for CinemaBlend. Before CinemaBlend, he was the managing editor for Suggest.com and Gossipcop.com, covering celebrity news and debunking false gossip. He has been in the publishing industry for almost two decades, covering pop culture – movies and TV shows, especially – with a keen interest and love for Gen X culture, the older influences on it, and what it has since inspired. He graduated from Boston University with a degree in Political Science but cured himself of the desire to be a politician almost immediately after graduation.

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Entertainment News

Politics as usual: The 25 best political biopic movies

It will be interesting to see how Hollywood depicts our current political leaders, especially within the United States, as time passes. Let's take a look back at some political film biographies that have worked well over the years.

'All the President's Men' (1976)

We kick off this list with arguably the greatest political movie of all time. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, two Hollywood heavyweights, take on the roles of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, respectively. The Washington Post  reporters broke the Watergate scandal  and became celebrities in their own right. Riveting, intense, and masterfully done at every turn.

'Gandhi' (1982)

Star Ben Kingsley earned one of the eight Oscars this film took home for his role as the historic   leader of the non-cooperative Indian independence movement. It also won Best Picture honors and grossed $127.8 million. In terms of overall individual Hollywood performances, Kingsley's portrayal is still one of the greatest in film history and continues to resonate with audiences.

'JFK' (1991)

Oliver Stone takes his crack at the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Told from the standpoint of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), who digs deep into a potential conspiracy on the subject. The movie, featuring an all-star cast, was nominated for eight Academy Awards but won just two (Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing). 

'Malcolm X' (1992)

Malcolm X might not have officially been a "politician," but he was undoubtedly a political force as a civil and human rights activist. Most notably as the spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Denzel Washington starred in the titular role and was nominated for an Oscar. Under the direction of Spike Lee, the movie does a splendid job capturing the key moments  in the story of Malcolm X's life. 

'Nixon' (1995)

While not a box-office success, Oliver Stone's version of enigmatic President Richard Nixon received relatively positive reviews. With Anthony Hopkins in the starring role, Stone attempts to dig deep inside the man and show audiences his complex personality beyond the headlines. The film earned four Academy Award nominations. 

'Elizabeth' (1998)

Many believe Cate Blanchett turned into an international star for her turn as Elizabeth I. The movie focuses on the early years of Elizabeth's reign, how she got there, and all the obstacles she faced from her detractors. While the film was visually pretty spectacular, the work of Blanchett offers lasting memories of the film. She won a Golden Globe for the effort. 

'Downfall' (2004)

A truly riveting German film about the final days of Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz), the leader of the Nazi party. While the movie can sometimes be disturbing, Ganz's performance as the unhinged fuhrer is entertaining amid all the madness. The movie was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars and should be considered the quintessential film about Hitler.

'Marie Antoinette' (2006)

Sofia Coppola's directorial work has been hit-or-miss over the years, and her depiction of Queen Marie Antoinette has no clear-cut consensus. However, Kirsten Dunst provides an above-average portrayal in the starring role as we learn more about the feisty queen during the events that led up to the French Revolution. Visually, the movie is impressive and somewhat contemporary for a period piece .

'The Last King of Scotland' (2006)

While the plot is fictional, the movie's events are based on personal accounts of Ugandan military leader and president Idi Amin. Thus, it's worthy of being included on this list. It's also important to celebrate the work of star Forest Whitaker, whose performance as Amin earned him the 2007 Best Actor Oscar.

'The Queen' (2006)

The legendary Helen Mirren stars as Queen Elizabeth II , who grapples with United Kingdom prime minister Tony Blair and Prince Charles on the proper way to officially mourn the death of the immensely popular Princess Diana, who is no longer part of the royal family. Mirren was praised for her work, but Michael Sheen holds his own while taking on the complexity of Blair's personality.

'Charlie Wilson's War' (2007)

Plenty of big names were involved in director Mike Nichols' final film. Tom Hanks stars as the famed U.S. congressman , who, along with CIA operative Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), played a major role in helping Afghan jihadists during the Soviet-Afghan War. Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay, while Julia Roberts and Amy Adams co-starred.

'Milk' (2008)

Sean Penn won his second Best Actor Oscar for this role as the San Francisco gay rights activist, who was a trailblazer for openly gay people in politics. While Harvey Milk's inspirational and tragic story  is brilliantly told through the eyes of director Gus Van Sant, Penn's performance brings it all to life. It delivers perhaps the most memorable outing of his career.

'Frost/Nixon' (2008)

Another film showcased disgraced former President Richard Nixon. This time, it was telling the story of the 1977 interviews between Nixon (Frank Langella) and British journalist David Foster (Michael Sheen). Directed by Ron Howard, the film adds intrigue to the lead-up, preparation, and the behind-the-scenes look into a moment that was life-changing for both individual parties involved.  

'Recount' (2008)

The story is about the aftermath of the 2000 U.S. presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The focus was on the voting issues in Florida and the recount that ensued before the Supreme Court stepped in. Starring Kevin Spacey and Denis Leary, the movie was initially slated to be directed by Sidney Pollack. The legendary director eventually pulled out due to illness and passed away from cancer the day after the film premiered. 

'W.' (2008)

If we've learned anything from this list, Oliver Stone enjoys telling stories about U.S. presidents. This time, he takes on George W. Bush . Josh Brolin reportedly was not the first choice to play Bush, but he does more than a good job. We should also show some love for Richard Dreyfuss, who offered a strong portrayal of vice president Dıck Cheney, despite not getting along with Stone throughout the process.

'Invictus' (2009)

Under Clint Eastwood's direction, Morgan Freeman stars as South African president Nelson Mandela. He hopes star Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and his underdog Springbok rugby team can bring glory and unite a nation in this post-apartheid time amid the backdrop of the country hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup . Both Freeman and Damon earned Academy Award nominations. 

'The King’s Speech' (2010)

One of history's most inspirational films tells the story of the man who would become King George VI (Colin Firth)  and his quest to overcome his stutter while speaking. The movie was praised for its unique storyline and Firth's performance. He won the Oscar for Best Actor. The King's Speech also took home Best Picture honors.

'Game Change' (2012)

Based on the book of the same name, Julianne Moore fares well as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Woody Harrelson is also strong as Republican campaign strategist Steve Schmidt. Game Change is  an entertaining look at just how much Palin craved power and the spotlight .

'Lincoln' (2012)

Daniel Day-Lewis has won three Best Actor Oscars, including one for this role. Playing Abraham Lincoln is enticing and challenging for even the best of actors. Day-Lewis included. However, while his performance is stellar, the entire production, which focuses on the later years of his life, is Grade A — from the writing to the visuals to the execution . 

'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' (2013)

The second time we showcase Nelson Mandela. In this case, Idris Elba that's his crack at this historical figure in a film based on the South African president's autobiography of the same name. The movie spans Mandela's life and does a good job of explaining his harrowing and triumphant journey. Idris offers a more contemporary approach that takes a bit to get used to but still works.  

'LBJ' (2016)

Our second mention of Woody Harrelson, but this time in a starring role. This Rob Reiner picture follows the early days of Lyndon Johnson's presidency f ollowing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The film earned some decent reviews, but this should also be considered one of Harrelson's more underrated roles.

'Chappaquiddick' (2017)

Jason Clarke ( Brotherhood; Zero Dark Thirty ) offers a fine turn as late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy in this tale of the infamous Chappaquiddick incident, where Kennedy was responsible for an automobile accident that resulted in the death of passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. The incident haunted Kennedy throughout his life and is skillfully told in this form.

'Darkest Hour' (2017)

The movie won the exceptional Gary Oldman his lone Academy Award for Best Actor. Oldman shines as United Kingdom prime minister Winston Churchill , navigating his way through World War II. Churchill is not an easy figure of prominence to pull off when stepping into his shoes, but Oldman does it relatively easily. The authenticity of his portrayal is something to behold.  

'The Post' (2017)

Told with a rather fast but thorough pace, viewers are brought into the mix on  the reporting of the famed Pentagon Papers . Specifically from inside The Washington Post , a middling paper looking to couple with The New York Times juggernaut. Tom Hanks delivers as gritty editor Ben Bradlee, while Meryl Steep portrays the blossoming strength of Post owner Katherine Graham.

'Vice' (2018)

Yes, that's Christian Bale under all that makeup playing former vice president Dıck Cheney . It's an in-depth look into the life of the powerful Cheney, revered by some but loathed by many on both sides of the aisle. Directed by Adam McKay, this comedy-drama was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture.

A Chicago native, Jeff Mezydlo has professionally written about sports, entertainment and pop culture for parts of four decades. He was an integral member of award-winning sports sections at The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, Ind.) and Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette, where he covered the NFL, PGA, LPGA, NCAA basketball, football and golf, Olympics and high school athletics. Jeff most recently spent 12 years in the editorial department at STATSPerform, where he also oversaw coverage of the English Premier League. A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Jeff's work has also appeared on such sites at Yahoo!, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated and NBA.com. However, if Jeff could do it again, he'd attend Degrassi Junior High, Ampipe High School and Grand Lakes University

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The 12 Best Political Biopics to Watch If You Liked 'Oppenheimer'

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The 13 Best K-Dramas of All Time, Ranked

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The buzz surrounding the release of “Barbenheimer” has seen both films soar to record-breaking heights in terms of box office figures while earning widespread critical acclaim and audience approval. With its incredible ensemble cast, stunning visual display, and outstanding historical drama, Oppenheimer is set to become one of the biggest financial achievements of Christopher Nolan’s career

With a grand stage of global history and captivating stories of people who changed the world, political biographical films have always had the ability to captivate audiences. With recent trends seeing a meteoric resurgence in biopics in general – ranging from world-famous rock stars to violent gangsters – it should come as no surprise to see the political biopic return to form as well with Christopher Nolan ’s latest film, Oppenheimer .

The WWII drama is set to feature much of what makes political biopics so compelling, but it’s certainly not the first film within the genre to find such esteem. From movies that analyzed the tenure of renowned politicians to films focusing on pivotal leaders of human rights movements, all of these classics are well worth watching before seeing Oppenheimer in theaters.

Updated on August 4, 2023, by Ryan Heffernan:

12 'jfk' (1991).

Matching Oppenheimer ’s audacious three-hour runtime, JFK portrays the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, highlighting the government’s desperation to find answers. Kevin Costner stars as Jim Garrison, the New Orleans District Attorney who explores the possibility of an assassination conspiracy that stretched beyond the actions of Lee Harvey Oswald .

RELATED: The Greatest Movies of the 1990s, Ranked

The movie sometimes blurs the facts and is itself partially based on the real-life Jim Garrison ’s disputed book On the Trail of the Assassinations , but it did adequately highlight the pandemonium which plagued the entirety of America’s political landscape in the wake of the event. It also made for a compelling ride which, even with its hefty runtime, enthralled audiences with its frenetic pace and high energy.

Watch on Max

11 'Vice' (2018)

The majority of political films will have to focus on some degree of corruption, be it a total abuse of power or a morally justifiable bending of the rules for the greater good. Few films have had quite as much fun delving into said corruption as Vice .

The biographical drama blends American history with political satire, depicting Dick Cheney ’s ( Christian Bale ) unprecedented influence under George W. Bush ’s ( Sam Rockwell ) presidency, which saw him launch devastating military invasions in the wake of 9/11. With outstanding editing, gripping performances, and an infectiously fun tone, Vice went on to be nominated for eight Oscars and re-introduced Adam McKay as a savvy political satirist.

Watch on Starz

10 'Charlie Wilson’s War' (2007)

Charlie Wilson’s War boasted a truly exceptional cast, was critically praised, and grossed nearly $120 million , and yet it stands as an underrated and largely forgotten gem. Taking place in the 1980s, it focuses on Texas congressman Charlie Wilson ( Tom Hanks ) and his efforts to equip Afghan fighters against the invading Soviet forces.

In addition to Hanks’ Charlie Wilson, the film also stars Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring , a socialite friend and collaborator to Wilson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos , a CIA maverick who Wilson befriends. The film doesn’t necessarily become the scathing revisionist piece it could have been, but as a witty comedy-drama documenting historical events, it doesn’t miss its mark either.

Watch on Netflix

9 Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

If one is considering what to watch before Oppenheimer , then Good Night, and Good Lucky stands as a terrific option, meticulously displaying the anti-communist landscape of 1950s America and featuring stunning black-and-white imagery throughout the film . Following CBS news broadcaster Edward R. Murrow ( David Strathairn ), it depicts his brave endeavor to stand in defiance of Senator Joseph McCarthy ’s invasive and unconstitutional methods of rooting out communists in America.

Displayed in black and white and even using actual footage from hearings of the time, George Clooney (who wrote, directed, and co-starred) delivers a snappy, entertaining, and important historic civics lesson. It was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Strathairn’s commanding performance.

8 'Darkest Hour' (2017)

Political figures are always judged against how they respond when their country needs them most, and few have answered the call like Winston Churchill whose staunch defiance of the Nazi regime inspired a nation on the brink of collapse. Darkest Hour documents the early tenure of Churchill’s first term as Prime Minister, with Britain reeling as Germany advances towards Dunkirk.

RELATED: The Best War Movies of All Time, Ranked

With Gary Oldman turning in an Oscar-winning performance as Churchill, the film had the ability to grasp audiences and keep them invested. Its depiction of the looming threat Hitler presented to the future of the British Empire only furthered its standing as must-watch cinema, especially for people not well-versed in that chapter of English history.

7 'Malcolm X' (1992)

By no means is American political history limited to those who have inhabited the White House. As one of the most renowned figures of the Civil Rights movement, Malcolm X was as powerful and inspirational as he was polarizing, and 1992’s Malcolm X , starring Denzel Washington and directed by Spike Lee , brought the legendary leader to the screen with stunning results.

At 202 minutes long, the dramatic epic explores the entirety of X’s life, including his youth as a petty criminal, his time in prison, his work with the Nation of Islam and his activism, and, ultimately, his shocking assassination. Never shying away from X’s controversies, Lee was at his absolute best as he painted the portrait of an incredible life that forged a legacy still relevant to this very day.

6 'Downfall' (2004)

While the Americans were carrying out their invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe and experimenting with nuclear weaponry, the political landscape in Germany was getting pretty intense itself. Downfall was a phenomenal picture, focusing on the final days of WWII from Adolf Hitler’s ( Bruno Ganz ) Berlin bunker from the perspective of his young secretary, Traudl Junge ( Alexandra Maria Lara ).

With captivating performances, it dared to humanize its subjects, cautious to remind audiences that those who perpetrated such heinous evils weren't monstrous beasts but human beings. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and has gone on to become one of the best-known international films ever made .

Watch on Hoopla

5 'Frost/Nixon' (2008)

Adapted from the 2006 stage play of the same name, Frost/Nixon was deftly handled by veteran filmmaker Ron Howard to keep the intimate punch of the theater while never being confined by its source material’s limitations. Set in 1977, after the Watergate Scandal and ensuing resignation of President Nixon , it follows the story behind the scenes of the Frost/Nixon interviews.

The film was met with widespread critical acclaim with much of the praise being aimed at its penchant for human drama brought beautifully to life by powerhouse performances from Michael Sheen and Frank Langella . It was nominated for five Academy Awards and five Golden Globes and has come to be viewed as one of the greatest political biopics from this century .

Watch on Prime Video

4 'Gandhi' (1982)

Telling the story of Mahatma Gandhi ’s peaceful resistance against British rule in India, Gandhi may not have much of a link to an American wartime film like Oppenheimer , but as a political biopic, there are few that are its equal. Starring Sir Ben Kingsley as the Indian lawyer, it delves into Gandhi’s commitment to using non-violent methods to pressure Britain into liberating his country.

The film is profoundly powerful and Kingsley’s starring performance is one of the greatest cinema has ever seen. The Academy Award he won for his performance was just one of eight the film received from 11 nominations. It remains one of the most definitive and celebrated movies of the 1980s .

3 'Lincoln' (2012)

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most renowned political figures in human history and is frequently cited as the greatest President America has ever had. As such, compiling his life and astonishing career into 150 minutes of film might be an impossible task, but with the indelible combination of Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis , Lincoln certainly didn’t do a bad job.

RELATED: Iconic War Movies That Focus on Civilians and Leaders

With great dignity, the film displays the desperate and undying lengths Lincoln went to in order to abolish slavery in the United States as the Civil War rages on. Unsurprisingly, it was a major awards season hit, winning two Oscars from its 12 nominations.

2 'All the President’s Men' (1976)

The Watergate scandal still stands as one of the most alarming chapters in America’s political history, resulting in President Nixon ’s resignation. All the President’s Men tells the story of Carl Bernstein ( Dustin Hoffman ) and Bob Woodward ( Robert Redford ), the two investigative journalists for The Washington Post who uncovered the truth and broke the news of the scandal to the public.

With the two journalists facing dead-ends, red herrings, and even death threats as they get close to the truth, the film excels as a political thriller loaded with hidden secrets and pulsating drama. It went on to win four Academy Awards from eight nominations, had a steadfast dedication to historical accuracy, and remains one of the definitive films of '70s cinema .

1 'Patton' (1970)

As far as political/military biopics go, few can rival the impact of 1970's Patton , and even fewer boast performances capable of matching the all-encompassing magnetism of George C. Scott ’s. The film focuses on the eponymous and highly controversial General during his command of U.S. troops during WWII.

An effective though blunt force throughout America’s involvement in the war, Patton excelled in military affairs but was a loose cannon politically. Scott brought the nature of the man to the screen with an enormity and presence that defined the film, making it one of the greatest war movies and most astute biopics ever made.

NEXT: The Best Biopics of All Time, According To Reddit

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Hollywood’s 20 Best Political Movies, Ranked

As the U.S. presidential election gets into full swing, THR’s chief film critic ranks 20 indelible films — from thrillers to biopics to satires to issue-driven dramas — that grapple, either explicitly or implicitly, with themes of power, governance, civic engagement and what it means to be American.



By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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With the Democratic National Convention getting underway Monday, and election season kicking into high gear, what better time to dig into the best Hollywood narrative treatments of American politics, past and present?

Conversations with my enterprising editor encouraged me to think not just in terms of the workings of government, but also of issues that promise to figure significantly as we crawl toward voting day in November and the different ways films can embody a desire to create change.

Some of the choices listed below make no explicit nods toward politics per se, but they grapple with subjects that are inherently political, whether the topic is abortion, race, marriage equality, immigration or surveillance.

Thinking along those lines, I was sad not to find a spot for John Ford’s timeless Steinbeck adaptation The Grapes of Wrath , about a family who lose their Oklahoma farmland and join the Great Depression migration to California, an outstanding screen depiction of poverty, wealth inequality and the labor union movement. My affection for another Ford film starring Henry Fonda,  Young Mr. Lincoln , about the formation of a future political leader, made that a regretful omission, too. Rather than replicate countless other lists of important political films, we decided to skip some of the classics, including A Face in the Crowd , All the King’s Men and  The Manchurian Candidate , the latter of which now seems both prescient and dated, standing the test of time largely thanks to Angela Lansbury’s ferocious performance as a diabolical mother/manipulator. 

The Candidate  was edged out by two other Robert Redford films;  Do the Right Thing  got bumped by another Spike Lee; and while Sidney Lumet’s gripping  Fail Safe , about the alarming threat of an unsanctioned nuclear strike on Russia, didn’t make it, a satirical treatment of that same scenario, also released in 1964, did. 

Among more recent films, I was sorry not to find a place for George Clooney’s punchy  Good Night, and Good Luck , about journalist Edward R. Murrow’s role in bringing down Joseph McCarthy. Debra Granik’s  Winter’s Bone , a searing depiction of drug addiction in poor rural communities, also narrowly missed being included, as did Oliver Stone’s probing investigative epic  JFK , and two by Steven Spielberg, the fine-grained portrait Lincoln and  The Post , chronicling the D.C. broadsheet’s push to publish the Pentagon Papers. Likewise Michael Mann’s pulse-pounding corporate thriller  The Insider , based on a real-life tobacco-industry whistleblower. Many political movies considered standouts when first released, including Warren Beatty’s  Bulworth , Barry Levinson’s  Wag the Dog  and Hal Ashby’s  Being There , remain entertaining even if some of their sting has been diluted by time.

It kills me, however, not to include  In the Loop , Armando Iannucci’s scabrous pre- Veep  satire of British-American political relations, a hyper-articulate mock doc with some of the most gloriously vivid profanities ever uttered on film. Two powerhouse movies that tackle American interventionism in more serious terms, Kathryn Bigelow’s  The Hurt Locker  and  Zero Dark Thirty , also narrowly missed making the cut. 

But hey, 20 films is 20 films, meaning not every deserving entry gets a spot.

'Night Moves' (2013)

The most dialogue- and plot-driven of minimalist poet Kelly Reichardt’s work, this tense thriller about environmental activists executing a plan to blow up a hydroelectric dam in Oregon has its roots in the 1970s political paranoia wave. Unlike most climate-crisis films, it’s a clear-eyed contemplation of the urgency for action weighed against the costs of a radicalized response, its complex ideological dialectic giving it a kinship with last year’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline . The nerve-shredding sequence in which eco-warriors played by Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard carry out the mission at night builds Hitchcockian suspense before pivoting to reflective distance by registering the explosion only as far-off noise. Reichardt’s customary appreciation for the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest gives elegant expression to all that’s at stake.

'City of Hope' (1991)

One of America’s most essential political filmmakers, John Sayles poses the problem of which of two personal favorites to choose. I could happily have gone with his panoramic 1996 neo-Western,  Lone Star , about an investigation that unearths a history of racial violence in a Texas border town. But this similarly epic-canvas drama about a fictional New Jersey city where idealism is dead or dying, leaving only corruption, greed, moral decay and despair, is perhaps more in need of rediscovery. With supple rhythms and unerring control and clarity, the director tracks some 36 significant interconnected characters, among them fat cats and disenfranchised minorities, a shady mayor, property developers, a drug dealer, a volatile cop, his abused former wife and a reformist Black councilman whose every effort to help his community hits a wall. Sayles takes on a choice role himself, playing a sleazy auto shop owner with a sideline organizing small-time crimes. It’s a granular portrait of urban America pulsing with anger, where an ethical existence constantly loses out to financial and political power.

'The Kids Are All Right' (2010)

Five years before marriage equality was signed into federal law, as debate continued to simmer around the subject and political resistance in many states remained staunch, Lisa Cholodenko did something quietly radical. She normalized same-sex marriage and parenthood by casting Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as lesbian spouses dealing with issues eminently relatable for any heterosexual couple — in their own often tetchy relationship and in their adjustment to the growing independence of their teenage children, played with aching realness by Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson. A funny, horny movie bathed in warm Southern California sunshine, its conflict stems from the siblings’ curiosity to meet their sperm-donor father, portrayed by a hilarious Mark Ruffalo as a farm-to-table neo-bohemian a tad too high on his own considerable charms. Cholodenko makes the politics of representation entirely personal in this gorgeous depiction of familial love and its attendant embarrassments, of parenting and its missteps, of marriage and its challenges. Moore’s Jules trying to explain to her son why his moms watch gay male porn to get turned on is one of many priceless moments.

'Primary Colors' (1998)

Few directors could more reliably get the best out of their actors than Mike Nichols. The flavorful work of a superlative ensemble is among the chief pleasures of this highly entertaining adaptation of the roman à clef about Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. That and a script by Elaine May crammed with acerbic wit and sharp insights. John Travolta nails the folksy sincerity of a candidate both principled and deeply flawed, in whom decency and dishonesty coexist, while Emma Thompson finds compassion for his wife, a ruthless pragmatist whose dignity is battered by the repeated exposure of her husband’s infidelities. The movie is about the incompatibility of politics and idealism, shown through the increasingly disillusioned eyes of Adrian Lester’s Henry, the grandson of a civil rights hero, eager to be part of history in the making. But the more devastating illustration of that point is Libby, an old friend hired by the campaign to block smear tactics. Kathy Bates gives a shattering performance as a tough woman who comes in with guns blazing and exits with a crushing emptiness in her belly where the fire once was.

'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' (1939)

The juiciest political movies are invariably those depicting abuse of power, but every roundup needs at least one entry that predates the age of pervasive cynicism. Not that this Frank Capra comedy is short on dubious morality — D.C. is rife with corruption and graft, freedom of the press is throttled, truth is distorted and a Senate powerbroker revealed to be in the pocket of a wealthy tycoon. (Unsurprisingly, the movie was met with controversy upon its release, denounced in Washington as anti-American.) What lingers most is the idealism of James Stewart’s title character, a rube from an unnamed Western state who lands an unlikely Senate seat. Watching him gaze in awe at the Lincoln Memorial is an indelible image of untarnished patriotism, and even when he’s sucked under by a swamp that drowns whistleblowers, Mr. Smith never gives up the fight. 

'Three Days of the Condor' (1975)

It’s probably frivolous in a roundup of great political movies to acknowledge the blinding power of movie-star chemistry, but the pairing of Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway in Sydney Pollack’s pacy thriller more than compensates for any plot convolutions. In the canon of “trust no one” films about the dirty tricks of U.S. intelligence agencies, the startling sequence in which a team of hitmen, led with scary detachment by Max von Sydow, enters a clandestine New York CIA office and murders the entire staff is a classic. Redford’s easygoing analyst Joe Turner owes his life to being out picking up lunch at the time. But when he contacts headquarters asking to be brought in safely, he gradually learns that a report he filed put a target on his office and it’s the CIA that wants him dead. Desperate to gain time, Joe kidnaps Dunaway’s random stranger Kathy, holing up in her Brooklyn apartment. Faster than you can say “Stockholm syndrome,” a sexually charged romance develops, which stretches credibility but adds to the undimmed appeal of this relentlessly involving A-grade B movie.

'Selma' (2014)

It took Hollywood almost half a century to grapple with Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, making the underrepresentation of Ava DuVernay’s impassioned historical drama at the Oscars even more egregious. In a performance both towering and restrained, David Oyelowo imbues the revered civil rights leader with a stirring sense of purpose but also a humble humanity, continually interrogating himself as to whether his efforts to stop the institutional violence perpetrated against Black Americans are the best way forward. The 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches to demand voting rights are inspiring but equally horrifying as the vicious attacks of Alabama law enforcement and the white citizenry attempt to make a mockery of King and his supporters’ commitment to nonviolence. While the protests ultimately bring victory, prompting President Lyndon B. Johnson (the late great Tom Wilkinson) to push for quick passage of a bill to eliminate voting restrictions, the film suggests how far from true equality the country remains.

'Maria Full of Grace' (2004)

The demonization of undocumented immigration across the southern border has become a dominant GOP narrative in the age of Trump, with rally attendees shrieking for mass deportation, driven by a Norman Rockwell fantasy of white America nonexistent in their lifetime or those of multiple generations before them. I initially planned to include Gregory Nava’s 1983 indie El Norte on this list, but the epic about Guatemalan siblings forced to flee certain death at the hands of a government militia remains a landmark primarily because it was the first major film to make U.S. audiences engage with the Central American immigrant experience. Joshua Marston’s unflinching drama about a 17-year-old woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno) from rural Colombia coaxed into traveling to the U.S. as a drug mule now speaks much more forcefully. It’s a risky move asking us to invest in someone transporting heroin, but the harrowing ordeal that cements the title character’s resolve not to return home humanizes and arguably even purifies her. The film is a haunting reflection on decent people being pulled in to serve a global economy in which the poor are a disposable part of the machinery.

'The Parallax View' (1974)

This Alan J. Pakula classic is another quintessential example of the crackling ’70s paranoia thrillers that tapped into widespread feelings of dread and disillusionment fueled by the Kennedy assassinations and that of Martin Luther King Jr. Warren Beatty is terrific as Joe Frady, a reporter investigating the murder three years earlier at the Seattle Space Needle of a prominent senator and presidential hopeful. Joe’s attention is drawn by the mysterious deaths of every eyewitness, including his fellow-journalist girlfriend, played by Paula Prentiss. His research leads him to the Parallax Corporation, a covert operation recruiting “security” personnel to serve as trained assassins. After infiltrating the organization, Joe finds himself at a rally for another aspiring presidential candidate in a final act that builds to a shockingly bleak outcome, its intricate plotting intensified by the precision-tooled cinematography of Gordon Willis.

'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' (2020)

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, women’s reproductive freedom has become the most contentious battleground in American politics, with voices on the right calling for the criminalization of abortion, the suppression of abortion pills and even a ban on contraception. The beauty of Eliza Hittman’s transfixing drama is that it examines the hot-button issue in purely humanistic terms, as a story of female friendship, solidarity and bravery. The quasi-road movie, in which teenage cousins from rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to terminate an unplanned pregnancy, is a dreamy, darkly intimate experience , graced by exquisitely unaffected performances from newcomers Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder. The pool of sadness, shame, regret and humiliation in Flanigan’s eyes as her character responds to a medical professional, answering the multiple-choice questionnaire that gives the film its title, in a just world would silence anyone who challenges a woman’s right to choose.

'Get Out' (2017)

Anyone who believes race is no longer a factor in national politics has not been paying attention, particularly since rancor over Barack Obama’s presidency exposed the myth of a post-racial America — not to mention protest movements like Black Lives Matter and the increasing emboldening of the country’s white supremacist strain. Several great movies explore those fissures in provocative ways, but for sheer originality and escalating terror, I can’t go past Jordan Peele’s supremely confident debut . Elevated by fine performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams, with the genius casting of Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener as welcoming neoliberal WASP parents who harbor an evil agenda, this is a trenchant depiction of elite entitlement, with Black bodies being commodified as a remedy for white decrepitude. Peele devilishly balances dark humor with grotesque horror and biting social critique.

'Election' (1999)

Along with Elle Woods in Legally Blonde , Reese Witherspoon’s signature role remains Tracy Flick, a perky monster bristling with laser-focused ambition as she launches an aggressive campaign for student body president. Matthew Broderick is in fine form as the social studies teacher manipulated by Tracy, whose personal and professional lives unravel as he tries to cut her down to size, while Chris Klein and the sadly departed Jessica Campbell are perfection as chalk-and-cheese siblings Paul and Tammy Metzler. Adapting a then-unpublished novel by Tom Perrotta, director Alexander Payne and screenwriter Jim Taylor deftly mined the satire’s spoiler candidates and underhanded tricks for political parallels on a larger scale. 

'Dick' (1999)

Sure, there’s All the President’s Men , Nixon , Frost/Nixon and even Forrest Gump . There’s also Robert Altman’s largely forgotten speculative fiction Secret Honor , a virtuoso monologue with Philip Baker Hall as the soon-to-be-disgraced president. But there’s nothing quite like Andrew Fleming’s giddy satire, which posits that the Watergate scandal was uncovered not by super-sleuth reporters but by two ditzy teenagers bearing hash cookies. One of the jewels of Kirsten Dunst’s transitional period between child and adult roles, and a key stepping stone for Michelle Williams from Dawson’s Creek to big-screen work, the cheekily titled comedy’s deep-bench supporting cast includes Will Ferrell and Kids in the Hall’s Bruce McCulloch as a bumbling Woodward and Bernstein, the latter constantly flicking a hilarious Dustin Hoffman wig; Dan Hedaya as a comically shifty Nixon; and a young Ryan Reynolds as a horny teen who’s no match for the girls.

'Malcolm X' (1992)

Spike Lee is too inventive a director to make a conventional biopic, and this sprawling portrait of the revolutionary Black human rights activist is an operatic epic that burrows into the psychologically complex divide between his public and private lives. In the title role, Denzel Washington brings unquestionable authority to what’s essentially a story of iron-willed self-reinvention, his Malcolm overcoming sorrow, discrimination, crime and imprisonment to become a controversial political leader who angrily questioned the effectiveness of legislation to correct racial inequity. Angela Bassett as Malcolm’s supportive wife, Betty Shabazz, is one of many incisive supporting turns bringing texture to an illuminating drama that lets us walk in the shoes of both the man and the myth.

'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'

“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!” snaps U.S. President Merkin Muffley, one of three roles played by Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick’s great Cold War satire, which puts a farcical spin on our fears of the wrong person having access to the nuclear codes. The crisis happens when Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, played by Sterling Hayden with a cigar clamped between his teeth, goes rogue, ordering a fleet of B-52s carrying hydrogen bombs to strike Russian targets. (His QAnon-worthy theory is that the commies are responsible for fluoridation of America’s water supply in a plot to pollute “our precious bodily fluids.”) It’s a preposterous parody of dueling superpowers played sufficiently straight to maintain suspense. Sellers also appears as Ripper’s British executive officer, Lionel Mandrake, alarmed to be trapped with a nutjob; and the title character, a German weapons developer whose Nazi past keeps awkwardly resurfacing in the Sieg heil! salute spasms of his paralyzed arm. Meanwhile, Slim Pickens, as Texan Major T.J. “King” Kong, gets the movie’s most iconic moment, riding an airborne H-bomb like a bucking bronco.

'Fruitvale Station' (2013)

Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd. These are just some of the names of Black Americans killed by police in the years since the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III on New Year’s Eve 2008 at a Bay Area transit station. As in the Floyd case, cellphone footage shot by onlookers sparked demonstrations, but similar incidents have continued, and police reforms remain slow. This powerful, deeply distressing movie accelerated the careers of director Ryan Coogler and his star, Michael B. Jordan. The empathetic drama doesn’t make Oscar a saint; he’s done prison time, failed to hold down a job and been unfaithful to the mother of his child. But it does what protesters have sought to do for victims of police violence: insist that we see them as people, not statistics. Jordan’s performance — raw, visceral and tender — is among his best, while Octavia Spencer leaves you gutted, embodying the pain of every Black mother who’s feared for her son’s safety whenever he stepped outside. Starting with cell footage of the incident, then rewinding to cover the day leading up to it, the film plants a pit of dread in our stomachs that builds throughout.

'Milk' (2008)

Gus Van Sant blends documentary-style archival elements with delicate moments of poetry in this intensely moving account of the personal evolution and eventual assassination of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay American man elected to public office and a key crusader for LGBTQ rights. Played with as much joy as combative spirit by Sean Penn, Milk emerges as a pragmatic idealist, taking on the kind of bigotry and intolerance — under the self-righteous shield of morality, family and religion — that still galvanize the evangelical far right today. A film of remarkable vitality, compassion and searing anger, it’s also a heartfelt tribute to the power of grassroots activism. Milk helped build a queer community in San Francisco’s Castro District, but he united people beyond that niche, taking the fight to City Hall and in 1978 successfully blocking the proposed ban of gays and lesbians from work in California public schools. Penn is surrounded by a top ensemble, including Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Alison Pill and, as opposites many of us recognize from experience, James Franco and Diego Luna, playing the ideal boyfriend and the neurotic mess.

'Blow Out' (1981)

Argue away over whether this counts as a film about dirty politics. Of course that wasn’t Brian De Palma’s chief intention, but any neo-noir that starts with the assassination of a presidential hopeful, alludes to both the Chappaquiddick incident and the Zapruder film and climaxes with a lethal cover-up as emotionally shattering as it is chilling belongs on this list. Influenced as much by The Conversation as Antonioni’s Blow-Up , it’s a stone-cold masterpiece in which the director’s gifts were at maximum effectiveness, not to mention a visually stylish and darkly humorous salute to filmmaking craft. Performances by John Travolta, Nancy Allen and an icy John Lithgow are first-rate. After four decades and countless viewings, I’m still destroyed watching the “Liberty Day” fireworks scene. 

'All the President’s Men' (1976)

Political thrillers of the 1960s and ’70s could easily flesh out this entire roundup, particularly the work of John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet and Alan J. Pakula. The latter’s trilogy of films about paranoia, surveillance and conspiracies that began with Klute and The Parallax View (also included here) culminated in this definitive retelling of how the crimes that eventually forced Nixon out of office were uncovered by a pair of diligent Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively. This one really holds up; it’s taut, propulsive and engrossingly detailed, a study not just in government misdeeds at the highest level but also in the workings of a newsroom back before the agonizing erosion of print media began. The standout of an impeccable supporting cast is Jason Robards, who won an Oscar for his performance as Post managing editor Ben Bradlee.

'The Conversation' (1974)

Francis Ford Coppola owes his legendary status primarily to big-canvas epics like the Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now . But this tight, unsettling thriller , which casts a seldom-better Gene Hackman as a reclusive techie who lends his surveillance expertise to both private and government contractors, sits among the director’s canonical works and is unique in his filmography. One of the great films to come out of the rise in establishment mistrust fed by the Vietnam War and Watergate, it steadily dials up knife-edge tension while masterfully charting one man’s crisis of conscience when cracks form in his complacent belief that he merely provides the tapes and what happens afterward is not his business. Rialto Pictures’ pristine new 4K restoration preserves the gritty look and feel of the best ’70s auteur cinema, with crucial attention to Walter Murch’s meticulously layered sound design. The film assembles a tasty supporting cast, many of them relatively early in their careers, including John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Teri Garr, Robert Duvall and a young, decidedly sinister Harrison Ford. A knockout that hasn’t lost an ounce of its power in 50 years.

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The 100 Most Significant Political Films of All Time

Not “best.” not “favorite.” not “most likable.” most significant. some are obvious. some obscure. a few will be controversial. let the debate begin..

We wanted to do something special for this double July-August issue of The New Republic , but we weren’t sure what; then it hit us that summer is movie season, so why not combine that fact with this magazine’s great passion and come up with a list of history’s best political movies? ( TNR , by the way, is no stranger to motion pictures. For decades, the magazine published the work of famed twentieth-century critic Stanley Kauffmann, and we continue to run trenchant film analysis today.)

It was that germ of an idea that led us to reach out to J. Hoberman, one of the leading film critics of the last half-century, to curate this project. Hoberman changed it from “best” to “most significant” and led us in assembling a list of around 130 critics to whom we wrote, asking them to participate. We were pleased that 79 wrote back with their lists. On the following pages, see what they came up with, as well as Hoberman’s overview essay , and some movies that we at TNR thought deserved a mention. Discuss away—and cast your own votes at our readers’ poll here . Summaries 100-11 written by Julian Epp, 10-1 by J. Hoberman.

100. One Sings, the Other Doesn’t

(1977) Dir: Agnès Varda Two French women—an aspiring singer and a young mother—leading parallel lives in the 1970s reunite as they search for meaning against the backdrop of the women’s liberation movement. 99. Fail Safe (1964) Dir: Sidney Lumet The president attempts to contact the Soviet prime minister and prevent a nuclear catastrophe after a fleet of bombers is accidentally sent to destroy Moscow. A classic Cold War thriller. 98. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Dir: John Ford This black-and-white Western starring Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne tells the story—almost entirely through flashback—of a young lawyer traveling to a frontier town terrorized by an outlaw. Probably Ford’s most morally complex film. 97. Germany Year Zero (1948) Dir: Roberto Rossellini In Allied-occupied Berlin, a German boy and former Hitler Youth struggles to provide for his family in the war-torn city. The third entry in Rossellini’s War Trilogy. 96. A Grin Without a Cat (1977) Dir: Chris Marker A remarkable documentary and essay on radical movements worldwide, exploring the success of the global left in the 1960s and its decline in the 1970s. 95. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932) Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Unable to find work, a returning veteran is forced at gunpoint to participate in a robbery and sentenced to hard labor.

94. Weekend (1967) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard

A bourgeois married couple take a weekend road trip to collect their inheritance in this black comedy satirizing the 1960s and French society. 93. The World (2004) Dir: Jia Zhangke Following the lives of the young employees at Beijing World Park, this gloomy drama examines globalization’s influence on China’s working class. 92. The Tin Drum (1979) Dir: Volker Schlöndorff A three-year-old child in Danzig during the rise of the Nazi Party is disgusted by the adult world and decides to stop growing. Based on the novel by Günter Grass. 91. Syriana (2005) Dir: Stephen Gaghan Using multiple interlocking narratives, this slick thriller, starring George Clooney as CIA agent Bob Barnes, highlights the conspiracy and corruption of the global oil industry.

90. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) Dir: Elio Petri A high-ranking police detective cuts the throat of his mistress and intentionally leaves behind evidence to see if he is immune to prosecution. 89. Salvador (1986) Dir: Oliver Stone Photojournalist Richard Boyle travels to El Salvador to document the country’s civil war in this fictionalized biographical drama. Try to forget what’s become of James Woods, who is excellent. 88. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer This timeless silent film based on actual historical records tells the story of the trial, conviction, and execution of Joan of Arc in 1431. Dreyer was one of the world’s most important early filmmakers.

87. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Dir: Kathryn Bigelow

A dramatized account of a CIA agent’s search for Osama bin Laden and the slaying of the Al Qaeda leader by Navy SEALs. Jessica Chastain’s performance won a Golden Globe. 86. Olympia (1938) Dir: Leni Riefenstahl The controversial documentary follows the 1936 games held in Nazi Germany, using multiple cameras and a range of innovative and distinctive techniques. 85. Ivan the Terrible, Part Two (1958) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein A follow-up on Russia’s infamous and violent first czar. Stalin liked part one. This one, featuring secret police and summary executions, not so much . 84. High and Low (1963) Dir: Akira Kurosawa An anonymous caller has mistakenly kidnapped the son of a wealthy executive’s chauffeur and holds him for 30 million yen in ransom. The Washington Post said this was Macbeth “if Macbeth had married better.” 83. Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) Dir: Kôji Wakamatsu In this experimental Japanese drama, two sexually traumatized teenagers meet on an apartment rooftop and open up about their troubled lives. A controversial entry in Japan’s “ pink film ” genre. 82. American Sniper (2014) Dir: Clint Eastwood Based on the memoir by Chris Kyle, the story follows the famed Navy SEAL sniper during his four tours in Iraq and how the war altered his life after. Its history of U.S. involvement in Iraq is … odd. 81. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) Dir: Rob Epstein The story of the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, Harvey Milk, from his time as an activist with the Gay Rights Movement to his assassination. Murderer Dan White killed himself the year after this film was released.

80. City Hall (1996) Dir: Harold Becker A deputy mayor, played by John Cusack (to Al Pacino’s mayor), investigates the killing of a six-year-old during a shootout between a cop and a mobster in New York City. 79. No (2012) Dir: Pablo Larraín A semi-fictional account of Chile’s 1988 referendum to decide whether dictator Augusto Pinochet would stay in power. It stars Gael García Bernal as the adman who leads the opposition campaign. 78. Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (1972) Dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Broadcast in five episodes, this miniseries depicted contemporary working-class German life through the eyes of a young factory employee who falls in love and organizes with his co-workers.

77. A Short Film About Killing (1988) Dir: Krzysztof Kieslowski When a man murders a taxi driver in the Polish countryside, a young criminal defense lawyer tries to keep him from receiving the death penalty. 76. They Live (1988) Dir: John Carpenter A drifter in Los Angeles finds a pair of sunglasses that reveal the world’s ruling class as skull-faced aliens controlling humanity with subliminal messages: “Stay Asleep,” “Submit to Authority.” Sound like anyone you know? 75. Starship Troopers (1997) Dir: Paul Verhoeven In the twenty-third century, the human United Citizen Federation is at war with a race of alien insects from the planet Klendathu in this initially misunderstood satire of militarism and fascism. 74. Platform (2000) Dir: Jia Zhangke Following the death of Mao Zedong and in the shadow of the Cultural Revolution, an amateur theater troupe abandons state-approved performances and starts playing rock and roll. 73. Dogville (2003) Dir: Lars von Trier In this avant-garde film shot on a single soundstage, a woman on the run from gangsters takes shelter in a small Colorado town. It looks like no other film you’ve ever seen. 72. Three Days of the Condor (1975) Dir: Sydney Pollack When a paper-pushing analyst for the CIA discovers that his co-workers have been brutally murdered, he goes undercover to find the perpetrators. Redford and Dunaway: It didn’t get much better in the ’70s. 71. Being There (1979) Dir: Hal Ashby A naïve gardener in Washington, D.C., leaves his secluded life to explore the outside world, becoming a political adviser and celebrity. Based on the novel by Jerzy Kosiński.

70. The Death of Stalin (2017) Dir: Armando Iannucci

After Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin unexpectedly dies from a stroke (well, most likely),members of the Central Committee fight for power in this satirical black comedy banned by the Russian Culture Ministry. 69. The Best Man (1964) Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner Written by Gore Vidal and based on his 1960 play, this drama follows two leading presidential candidates vying for their party’s nomination. Of its time, but a great cast keeps it moving. 68. Arsenal (1929) Dir: Aleksandr Dovzhenko A frontline Ukrainian soldier returns home to Kyiv after World War I to organize a workers’ uprising at the town’s arsenal. Number two in the trilogy (see number 61). 67. Point of Order! (1964) Dir: Emile de Antonio Using only television footage from the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings , this documentary is a stunning insight into the downfall of the corrupt, anti-Communist senator. “Have you no sense of decency?” will live forever. 66. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) Dir: Marcel Ophüls This stunning two-part documentary examines the French people’s collaboration and resistance during Nazi occupation in World War II. The witness-interview format, now well-worn, was still new in 1969. 65. The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987) Dir: Kazuo Hara After the end of World War II, Kenzō Okuzaki, a former Imperial Japanese private, searches for and interrogates the officers involved in the execution of two of his fellow soldiers. Forty-two years after the war’s end, but worth the wait . 64. The American President (1995) Dir: Rob Reiner Written by Aaron Sorkin, this romance stars Michael Douglas as a widowed president running for reelection who falls in love with an environmental lobbyist—despite his staffers’ objections. That rare genre : a political rom-com. 63. Lumumba: Death of a Prophet (1991) Dir: Raoul Peck A bracing documentary on the life and mysterious death of Lumumba, the prime minister of the Congo and a monumental figure in the fight for African independence before his assassination in 1961. 62. Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998) Dir: Aleksey German This hallucinatory black-and-white Russian comedy-drama is set in the winter of 1953, guiding us through the horrifying final days of Joseph Stalin’s reign. 61. Earth (1930) Dir: Aleksandr Dovzhenko In a Ukrainian village, peasant farmers begin collectivizing with the help of a tractor in the final film of Dovzhenko’s “ Ukraine Trilogy .” Certainly relevant right now. 60. Love and Anarchy (1973) Dir: Lina Wertmüller In the 1930s, an anarchist farmer in Italy begins living in a brothel while preparing to assassinate Benito Mussolini after his friend is killed by the fascist police.

59. All the King’s Men (1949) Dir: Robert Rossen

An ambitious populist politician is corrupted by power after being elected governor. Based on the Pulitzer-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren. Huey Long remains the only prominent social democratic fascist America has ever produced. 58. I Am Not Your Negro (2016) Dir: Raoul Peck Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript , this astonishing documentary reflects on the lives of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Baldwin himself. 57. The Last Hurrah (1958) Dir: John Ford An old-school Irish American mayor in New England tries to run for a fifth—and final—term. Ford gets mawkish here; Spencer Tracy keeps it real. 56. The Fog of War (2003) Dir: Errol Morris Robert McNamara, former secretary of defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, discusses his life and lessons learned in this confessional documentary. His reputation—already hurting—took a big hit here.

55. Grand Illusion (1937) Dir: Jean Renoir When their plane is shot down during a reconnaissance mission, two French soldiers are sent to a World War I German prison camp, but the pair work with their fellow inmates to plot an escape. Goebbels ordered the destruction of every print of the film.

54. Wag the Dog (1997) Dir: Barry Levinson As the president prepares for reelection, a political spin doctor and a famous Hollywood producer manufacture a fake war with Albania to distract the public from an impending sex scandal. A poorly timed release from the perspective of Bill Clinton, who was accused—wrongly—of doing the same in Iraq. 53. Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps (shown at the Nuremberg trials) (1945) Dir: George Stevens After the end of World War II, this footage was presented at the war crime trials of Nazi leaders. The evidence included film from Germans as well as the Allied troops who liberated the concentration camps. Stevens, known for comedies in the 1930s, shifted to drama after seeing what happened in Dachau.

52. Bicycle Thieves (1948) Dir: Vittorio De Sica A working-class man and his eight-year-old son search the streets of Rome for a stolen bicycle in this neorealist Italian drama. A searing depiction of the state in which Mussolini and his fascists left their country. 51. The Act of Killing (2012) Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer In this documentary, decades after the mass murders of civilians by the Indonesian military, the leaders of the death squads reenact the killings—often with a bone-chilling casualness —using their favorite movie genres. 50. Punishment Park (1971) Dir: Peter Watkins In this pseudo-documentary, President Nixon declares a state of emergency and has political radicals arrested. Put before a tribunal, the rebels are given two options: prison or their participation in a brutal military training exercise. 49. Come and See (1985) Dir: Elem Klimov An adolescent Belarusian boy finds a rifle and joins the Soviet resistance during World War II to fight against the occupying Nazi forces. Things get even worse when he returns home.

48. Bulworth (1998) Dir: Warren Beatty An incumbent California senator facing a tough primary battle takes out a $10 million life insurance policy before putting a contract out on himself. With days left to live, he finally starts to speak his mind . Seen at the time as a dark commentary on Clintonian triangulation. 47. The Parallax View (1974) Dir: Alan J. Pakula After a senator and presidential candidate is assassinated, the witnesses are quickly killed off, leading a journalist to go undercover and investigate the conspiracy. Part of Pakula’s famous Paranoia Trilogy from the 1970s.

46. Medium Cool (1969) Dir: Haskell Wexler Using real footage from the 1968 riots in Chicago, the famed cinematographer’s directorial debut depicts an unfeeling television cameraman amid the social upheaval surrounding the Democratic National Convention. 45. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Dir: Lewis Milestone Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, this film follows a group of naïve German recruits fighting in the bloody and horrific front lines of World War I. A bold antiwar statement for 1930. 44. Duck Soup (1933) Dir: Leo McCarey The dictator of the fictional nation of Freedonia declares war on a neighboring country in this slapstick comedy starring the Marx Brothers. Featuring Groucho’s unforgettable couplet : “If you think this country’s bad off now, just wait ’til I get through with it!”

43. Born in Flames (1983) Dir: Lizzie Borden Set in a dystopian New York City a decade after a peaceful socialist revolution, this film follows a group of feminist organizers after an activist is killed in police custody. 42. Man of Marble (1977) Dir: Andrzej Wajda In what is considered one of Poland’s greatest movies, a film student attempts to track down Mateusz Birkut, a bricklayer turned Communist hero, for her university thesis.

41. Reds (1981) Dir: Warren Beatty Beatty’s masterwork, a historical drama about the life of the idealistic journalist John Reed, who documented the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. And Jack Nicholson as Eugene O’Neill? It works. 40. The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) Dir: Ivan Dixon A Black man joins the CIA to learn guerrilla warfare techniques, then resigns to train freedom fighters in Chicago. Based on the novel by Sam Greenlee. 39. Hearts and Minds (1974) Dir: Peter Davis Released shortly after American withdrawal, this groundbreaking documentary examined the U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War over the course of five presidential administrations. 38. Primary (1960) Dir: Robert Drew Presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey are followed behind the scenes in Wisconsin as they compete for the Democratic Party primary nomination. One of the first of its kind. 37. The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) Dir: Howard Alk A documentary about the life of the 21-year-old leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party and his murder by the Chicago Police Department. The film vigorously challenged the official police testimony. 36. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Dir: Chantal Akerman A widowed mother living in a small Brussels apartment has a mundane life—cooking, cleaning, shopping, and having sex to pay the bills—until she slowly starts to stray from her routine. A feminist tour de force. 35. Night of the Living Dead (1968) Dir: George A. Romero In what is considered the first modern zombie film, a group barricades themselves in a rural western Pennsylvania farmhouse as the dead are reanimated to hunt for human flesh, with a real-life Pittsburgh TV personality doing on-the-scene reporting. Political? Call it allegorical . 34. JFK (1991) Dir: Oliver Stone A highly sensationalized but absorbing retelling of the investigation of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, exploring—nay, endorsing —the conspiracy theories and an alleged government cover-up.

33. Citizen Kane (1941) Dir: Orson Welles

Frequently cited as one of the best films ever made—and Welles’s first—the fictional biography centers on the life of wealthy newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane and the mystery of his last word before dying. Still hard to think of a better American film. 32. The Hour of the Furnaces (1968) Dir: Octavio Getino & Fernando E. Solanas A polemical three-part documentary exploring the history of colonialism, class struggle, and liberation in Argentina and the rest of Latin America. Perhaps the paradigmatic “Third World” leftist film. 31. Salt of the Earth (1954) Dir: Herbert Biberman Created after the director, producer, and screenwriter were all blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, the film is a dramatization of the Empire Zinc mine workers strike in New Mexico. The film, too, was blacklisted. 30. Gabriel Over the White House (1933) Dir: Gregory La Cava Walter Huston is an uninterested president who pledges to solve the issues of the Great Depression after a near-fatal car accident and divine intervention inspire him to become a populist dictator. William Randolph Hearst helped finance this fantasy. 29. The Great McGinty (1940) Dir: Preston Sturges Dan McGinty escapes a life of poverty to become a henchman for a crooked political boss (Akim Tamiroff, one of the great cinematic sidemen of the golden age). But his meteoric rise is threatened once he develops a conscience.

28. Selma (2014) Dir: Ava DuVernay A poignant portrayal of the 1965 Selma Marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the nonviolent campaign to grant Black Americans their right to vote. David Oyelowo is a spellbinding King.

27. Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) Dir: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea After his wife and family flee to Miami following the Bay of Pigs invasion, a wealthy Cuban writer stays behind to reflect on the history and transformation of both his country and himself. The most celebrated work in the history of Cuban cinema. 26. The Great Dictator (1940) Dir: Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin, in a dual role, plays both a fascist modeled after Adolf Hitler and a Jewish barber suffering from amnesia in this biting satire of autocracy. His first full-blown talkie. 25. Strike (1924) Dir: Sergei Eisenstein An early and emblematic work of Soviet cinema, this silent film depicts the ultimately unsuccessful revolt by factory workers in prerevolutionary Russia. 24. Lincoln (2012) Dir: Steven Spielberg The sixteenth president attempts to formally abolish slavery while facing opposition from his own party and increased pressure to end the Civil War. Daniel Day-Lewis is captivating, as is the dark, dusty Washington that Spielberg creates. 23. Advise & Consent (1962) Dir: Otto Preminger

When the president nominates a man with a reddish background to be secretary of state, the Senate … does what the Senate does. Amazingly frank for 1962, right down to the Greenwich Village gay bar scene .

22. Malcolm X (1992) Dir: Spike Lee A tribute to the life and legacy of the civil rights leader, stretching from his teenage years in Boston to his spiritual journey and fight for Black liberation. Probably Denzel’s best performance.

21. Night and Fog (1955) Dir: Alain Resnais Filmed a decade after World War II, this haunting documentary uses footage of the abandoned Auschwitz and Maj­danek concentration camps alongside archival documents to force viewers to confront the horrific atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. 20. The Candidate (1972) Dir: Michael Ritchie Left-wing lawyer Bill McKay runs a long-shot campaign for the U.S. Senate against the popular Republican incumbent—trying not to lose his ideals and integrity in the process. One of the great last lines of any movie. 19. The Lives of Others (2006) Dir: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Set in the 1980s, this German drama tells the story of a morally conflicted Stasi agent spying on two East German residents, a playwright and an actress. 18. The Battle of Chile (1975-1979) Dir: Patricio Guzmán A documentary series released in three parts from 1975 to 1979, chronicling the political repression and counterrevolution after the military coup d’état against the Allende government. 17. La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000) Dir: Peter Watkins At over five hours long, this historical reenactment—filmed in the style of a documentary—depicts the events of the Paris Commune in 1871 as if modern-day television were there to capture them.

16. Election (1999) Dir: Alexander Payne

A high school teacher meddles in a student body presidential election in order to stop a particularly cunning student from winning. Tracy Flick will endure forever as one of the great names in cinema. 15. Z (1969) Dir: Costa-Gavras A riveting, fictionalized account of the 1963 assassination of a left-wing Greek politician—and the conspiracy behind it—when he is killed in what seems like a traffic accident. Costa-Gavras wrote the screenplay with Jorge Semprún. 14. The Conformist (1970) Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci An Italian fascist becomes a g overnment agent and is sent to assassinate his former professor, his onetime leftist mentor. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia.

13. La Chinoise (1967) Dir: Jean-Luc Godard In a loose adaptation of Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the film follows a group of young Maoist student activists in Paris organizing a revolution. Visually stunning; politically … of its time. 12. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) Dir: Barbara Kopple This gripping documentary covered the 1973 Brookside Strike by a coal mining community in rural Kentucky against a subsidiary of the Duke Power Company. Way back before places like this became Trump Country. 11. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Dir: Frank Capra Capra was just the right director—and Jimmy Stewart just the right hero—for this fantasy about good actually triumphing over corruption on Capitol Hill. This one never gets old.

10. A Face in the Crowd

(United States, 1957) DIR: Elia Kazan

In the midst of the Cold War, Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg collaborated on a warning—not about alien invaders or the threat of nuclear war, but about the dangers posed by the American media. The rise and fall of the down-home demagogue Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes (part Huey Long, part Elvis, part Madison Avenue huckster) has long since ceased to be a cautionary warning and become a fact of American life: the specter of entertainment come to power.

(France, 1985) DIR: Claude Lanzmann At nine-and-a-half hours, Lanzmann’s monument to the murdered Jews of Europe refuses to reconstruct the past. The movie is notable for its rigor—eschewing archival footage and narration in favor of contemporary landscapes and long interviews (shown mainly in real time) with those who in one form or another experienced the Holocaust. As ethical as Shoah is, I hadn’t thought of it as a political film, but then again, a well-known critic once told me it was Israeli propaganda.

8. Do the Right Thing

(United States, 1989) DIR: Spike Lee Set in the heart of Brooklyn on the hottest Saturday of the summer, Lee’s daring mixture of naturalism and allegory, agitprop and psychodrama, broke ground with its outspoken discussion of race and urban tension. Everyone in the large cast of characters has their individual perspective, and everyone mixes it up with everyone else. No one watching can avoid having a point of view. Do the Right Thing is uniquely confrontational in addressing racism and racial violence while refusing to take an unambiguous stance for (white) civil order.

7. Battleship Potemkin

(USSR, 1925) DIR: Sergei Eisenstein Commissioned to mark the twentieth anniversary of the failed 1905 revolution against the czar, Eisenstein’s second feature film—dramatizing a mutiny on a Black Sea battleship—is the fullest example of what, in opposition to Dziga Vertov’s “ kino-eye ,” Eisenstein called his “kino-fist.” Time and space are pulverized and reassembled. The notorious “ Odessa Steps ” sequence has never been surpassed for dynamic montage, nor has the film been bettered as a political rabble-rouser. Everybody, including Nazis, wanted one. (They got Triumph of the Will .)

6. Triumph of the Will

(Germany, 1935) DIR: Leni Riefenstahl The Birth of a Nation uses drama to contaminate, personalize, and rewrite history. No less accomplished, formally innovative, or intermittently exciting than Birth and even more steeped in the magic of the movies, Riefenstahl’s staged documentary of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress demonstrates how cinema can be used to frame an event and fabricate an idol—in this case the twentieth century’s foremost homicidal psychopath. Griffith was a sincere revanchist; Riefenstahl, more sophisticated , took refuge in her opportunism.

5. The Birth of a Nation

(United States, 1915) DIR: D.W. Griffith American cinema was born in sin, founded on an unprecedented three-hour historical spectacle with an unscrupulous political agenda. “The task I’m trying to achieve, above all, is to make you see,” Griffith announced, by which he meant to overwhelm the spectator into recognizing the nobility of the white supremacist antebellum South—not to mention appreciate the horror of Reconstruction and root for the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan. A groundbreaking film in many ways, The Birth of a Nation is also the most inflammatory and dangerous movie ever made in the United States. It rewrote history but cannot itself be written out or wished away.

4. All the President’s Men

(United States, 1976) DIR: Alan J. Pakula Two Washington Post reporters, helped by a mysterious source, single-handedly break the Watergate story and oust Richard Nixon from the White House. More a celebration of investigative journalism than of American democracy, All the President’s Men was released to coincide with the Bicentennial and supplanted Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the most positive of American political movies. Like the Capra film, however, Pakula’s stirring thriller is a relic of a less cynical time. A contemporary equivalent would be that perennial favorite of politicians from Rudy Giuliani to Fidel Castro, The Godfather .

3. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

(United States, 1964) DIR: Stanley Kubrick Contemporary commentators considered The Manchurian Candidate irresponsible. Strangelove took desecration to another level. Kubrick’s outrageous dark comedy of nuclear obliteration was a liberating exorcism. In 1933, the Marx Brothers mocked dictatorship with Duck Soup ; three decades later, Kubrick and writer Terry Southern travestied the Bomb. Was a hard rain about to fall? Released less than two weeks before the Beatles made their U.S. debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, Strangelove ushered in the ’60s.

2. The Manchurian Candidate

(United States, 1962) DIR: John Frankenheimer The consummate political entertainment (and quintessential Kennedy-era thriller) is a baroque tale of mind control, assassination, and conspiracy, originally released at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although the most fantastic elements of American politics were acknowledged, just as the nation—even the planet—seemed headed toward total destruction, the movie came into its own as prophesy after JFK was murdered a year later. That it was withdrawn from circulation (albeit over a contract dispute rather than regret) only burnishes its cult reputation.

1. The Battle of Algiers

(Algeria-Italy, 1966) DIR: Gillo Pontecorvo Commissioned by the Algerian government, influenced by Frantz Fanon, shot like a newsreel, cast with nonactors, paced (and scored) like a thriller, Pontecorvo’s account of a bloody, anti-colonialist insurrection projected Italian neorealism into a new arena. The Third World spoke. That The Battle of Algiers had its U.S. premiere months after Newark and Detroit erupted insured its local relevance. The film was introduced as evidence during the trial of 13 Black Panthers charged with a conspiracy to bomb public places and murder police. After their acquittal, a juror wrote that The Battle of Algiers “did more to help me see things from the defense point of view than the DA suspected.”

What did we get right—and wrong? Vote now in our readers’ poll !

Methodology.

The New Republic asked each critic to submit a list of at least 10 films, ranked from most to least significant. For each list, the highest-rated film received 10 points, the second highest received nine points, etc., with the lowest rated receiving one point. For lists that contained more than 10 films, each additional film received just one point. Because 10 ranked films received a total of 55 points, films listed by critics who submitted their choices “unranked” and in no particular order received 5.5 points each. The points for each film were then added together. Films that tied—that is, when two or more received the same number of total points—were ordered by the number of individual votes.

THE CRITICS

Sam Adams, Slate ; Siddhant Adlakha; David Ansen, Palm Springs International Film Festival; Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice ; Jami Bernard; Manuel Betancourt; Peter Biskind; Charles Bramesco; Richard Brody, The New Yorker ; Dwight Brown, nnpa News Wire; Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times ; Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times ; Karen Cooper, Film Forum; Jordan Cronk, Film Comment ; Gary Crowdus, Cineaste ; Gary Dauphin; Peter Debruge, Variety ; David Denby, The New Yorker ; Thomas Doherty, Brandeis University; Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict ; Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine /Vulture; David Edelstein; Steve Erickson, UC Riverside; David Fear, Rolling Stone ; Kathy Fennessy, Video Librarian; Kenji Fujishima, Slant Magazine & TheaterMania; Chris Fujiwara; Graham Fuller, Cineaste ; Devika Girish, Film Comment ; Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum; Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine ; A.S. Hamrah, The Baffler & n+1 ; Odie Henderson, Boston Globe ; J. Hoberman; Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics; Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post ; Peter Howell, Toronto Star ; Dave Kehr, Museum of Modern Art; Ben Kenigsberg; Lisa Kennedy; Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com; Stuart Klawans; Eric Kohn, Indiewire; Nguyên Lê; Emanuel Levy; Stuart Liebman, CUNY Graduate Center; Dennis Lim, New York Film Festival; Violet Lucca; Leonard Maltin, LeonardMaltin.com; Ben Mankiewicz, Turner Classic Movies; Mia Mask, Vassar College; Wilson Morales, Black Film and TV; Vikram Murthi, The Nation ; Adam Nayman, Cinema Scope ; Farran Smith Nehme, Self-Styled Siren; Darragh O’Donoghue, Cineaste ; Michał Oleszczyk, University of Warsaw; Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune ; Nick Pinkerton; Claudia Puig; Leonard Quart, Cineaste ; Jed Rapfogel, Anthology Film Archives; Rex Reed, Observer; Carrie Rickey; Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.TV; Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times ; Jonathan Rosenbaum, JonathanRosenbaum.net; A.O. Scott, The New York Times ; Gene Seymour, CNN Opinion & The Nation ; Jose Solís; José Teodoro, Film Comment ; David Thomson; Scott Tobias; Kenneth Turan; Dennis West, Cineaste ; Armond White, National Review ; Alissa Wilkinson, Vox; Deborah Young, The Film Verdict ; Stephanie Zacharek, Time

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• What Is Cinema?

The 25 Best Movies About American Politics

Unlike movies about Hollywood, which almost always poke holes in the industry that created them, movies about politics come in all stripes. They can house our greatest ideals about our leaders, or our worst cynicism, or our most out-there ideas about how the people in power really operate. Above, we’ve picked the classic satires, searing dramas, and riveting historical accounts that are the 27 best movies about politics. (Technically it's supposed to be 25, but there were two ties too irresistible to leave out) From 1933’s Gabriel Over the White House to 2012’s Lincoln , these films—selected by newly minted Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Kinsley, alongside longtime contributor Todd Purdum and esteemed film critics Glenn Kenny and Jordan Hoffman, represent Hollywood’s finest examinations of the only American institution more powerful than itself.

Jordan Hoffman

Contributing editor, hollywood daily.

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15 Best Political Movies of All Time

Politics is a very clever game and wreaks havoc if not played carefully. It is our misfortune that we spend our lives in the labyrinth of lies and manipulations. However it is fun sometimes to see the players play this game with their best efforts. And to capture it all are our brilliant directors, who never fail to spurn an opportunity to document the events going on around the globe, however obscure they might seem. We, at the Cinemaholic , present to you the list of top political movies of all time. You can watch some of these best political movies on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime. The list includes some really good political drama movies and political thriller movies.

15. American History X (1999)

The reason why ‘American History X’ is ranked so low on the list is because it gets extremely preachy towards the end, which is a shame considering the film is, for the most part, well-written and directed. Nevertheless, it’s still a very good film that is made with noble intentions, which is why I thought it deserves a place on the list. The movie tells the story of Derek Vinyard, who serves three years in prison for a hate crime. Derek was part of a Neo-Nazi movement before being imprisoned and now, years later, he returns from prison as a changed man, but he must stop his brother from following the same path.

‘American History X’ is best remembered for Edward Norton ‘s stunning performance in the lead role. He carries the film on his own and his transition from a cold-blooded white supremacist to a much more mature man with changed beliefs and ideals is unbelievably brilliant. It is, in my opinion, one of the greatest screen performances of all time.

14. In the Name of the Father (1993)

Starring the great Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role, ‘In the Name of the Father’ tells the devastating story of an innocent man who spent 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Day-Lewis portrays Gerry Conlon, who was accused and later convicted of being a provisional IRA bomber. The film depicts his struggle to prove his innocence for the next 15 years as he along with his father are imprisoned, after Gerry was forced to sign a confession. The film is well directed by Jim Sheridan who respects the viewers’ intelligence and delivers a neatly crafted drama without choosing the path of sentimentality. The film attempts to provide a complete picture of the case and it achieves what it set out to do.

Day-Lewis is expectedly brilliant in the lead role, delivering a performance of such heartbreaking honesty that tears you apart. The scene where his character is threatened by one of the cops to kill his father if he doesn’t sign the confession is without a doubt the most intense scene in the film. Day-Lewis understands the raw emotional intensity of the scene and he elevates it to a whole new level onscreen. It is a truly outstanding performance by an actor who would later go on to be regarded as one of the greats of his time.

13. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is easily one of the best movies of this decade . Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film chronicles the efforts of the CIA and the US government to track down and murder one of the most feared names in history, Osama Bin Laden. The CIA team is led by a young woman named Maya, who is determined to go to any lengths to capture the dreaded terrorist. Mark Boal’s tight screenplay is one of the highlights of the film — it’s incredibly nuanced and never loses focus at any point. It’s hard to comprehend the numerous political intricacies surrounding the mission and the film does a fantastic job at covering all aspects of it.

Bigelow’s distinctive style and command as a director is evident right from the first scene. There is authority and conviction in her approach, and each and every scene is crafted in a very realistic manner. Jessica Chastain provides complete justice to her role as she delivers the performance of a lifetime. She is enthralling in every single scene and brilliantly compliments Bigelow’s impeccable style and Boal’s nuanced script.

12. Election (1999)

Alexander Payne went creative with his political satire and chose a suburban high school student election to showcase the manipulations and the dirty game that is in play. Humorously written, it not only shows an obnoxious student with her head full of ambition, but also portrays a teacher who is manipulative and shrewd and never surrenders his ego. It is a classic play on the real life politics and the seemingly innocent backdrop of the plot robs it of the grisliness. Instead the audience gets to see cleverly disguised metaphor on the banalities of the real world politics. Resse Witherspoon ’s performance earned plaudits and earned the right to be taken seriously by the critics.

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11. Milk (2009)

Widely remembered for Sean Penn ’s endearing performance as the California politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, Gus Van Sant ’s epic film was brutally honest about the prevalent social stigma and its vile encroachment in the straight politics. Beautifully made, ‘Milk’ takes the audience on an emotional journey, exploring the avenues of injustice and hypocrisy in the modern, open-minded society. The death of Harvey Milk in the final scene is a piece of art, both cinematically and performance-wise. ‘Milk’ is honest and remains true throughout the length of the reel. Hope and hope, he says.

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10. Downfall (2004)

‘Downfall’ is best known for the famous Hitler Rants that still remains popular on the Internet. And it’s kind of sad that it has kind of overshadowed the greatness of the film. ‘Downfall’ is, in my opinion, one of the greatest war/political dramas of the century. Featuring an unforgettable performance by the great Bruno Ganz in the lead role of Adolf Hitler , the film offers humane insights into the mind of the most evil man to have born on the planet. Ganz effortlessly gets into the skin of his character in a performance that is physically and mentally draining. It must have been extremely difficult to feel compassion and empathy for someone like Hitler, but Ganz manages to do so for the role, which is what makes it one of the great acting performances of all time.

‘Downfall’ is brilliantly directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, whose attention to detail is one of the highlights of the film. His command over the medium is astonishing and never does he lose track of the story. The attention to detail here is commendable and the film attempts to provide an objective look at the events that unfolded days before Hitler’s death. ‘Downfall’ is a film that must be seen for its vision, honest approach and the performances, which further elevate the film to a different level altogether. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest films of that decade.

9. The Battle of Algiers (1966)

Every event has two sides of the story to it. Man concocts a version of this truth according to his own philosophies and narrates his story to his subsequent generations. The truth becomes divided and so does history. So we cannot really blame the films for taking sides while narrating its story. In 1966 came a film on the Algerian Revolution against the French Colonialism, called ‘The Battle of Algiers’ and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and it set a benchmark on how history has to be told.

Apart from being well-directed and well filmed, the essence of this black and white masterpiece lay in its unique storytelling, never giving impetus to one part and never admitting the moral superiority of either one. It shows their reasons and flaws in the same note, telling history like it should be told. The audience sympathizes with the revolutionaries as they fight for their freedom but that sympathy is divided when the Algerians openly bombard public French spots, killing dozens of innocent bystanders. The French act of counter- terrorism thus had its reasons but the way they followed raised several questions on ethics. This duality conundrum was ever prevalent in this biopic making the film realistic. ‘The Battle of Algiers’ is one of the best war dramas and most certainly one of the the best movies based on politics ever made.

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8. Malcolm X (1992)

Spike Lee ’s 1992 political biography chronicles the life of Afro-American criminal turned social activist Malcolm X who was brutally assassinated for his work against the prejudices of Islam, his adoptive religion. ‘Malcolm X’ tells us the horrible consequences when one attempts to break the stigma prevalent in society. The cruel retaliation to protect certain individual interests is shown clearly in this film. This is certainly one of the most powerful films in recent history, hitting the nail right on the head. Crisp, accurate and spot on, ‘Malcom X’ is also responsible for giving us a wonderful actor in Denzel Washington who was astonishingly believable as the enigmatic leader.

Read More: Best Conversational Movies of All Time

7. Z (1969)

Costa-Garvas in his third film, brought to the screen a satire on the military dictatorship in Greece and the assassination of democratic politician Grigoris Lambrakis. In his patented style, he spoke about the eternal political struggle and how a seemingly moral victory may also be corrupted in a style fit for a thriller. He delivered his opinion on the political hypocrisy without making the film seem like a propaganda. He struck a sensitive chord among many of the morally corrupted hypocrites who live in the illusion that their acts are actually right. ‘Z’ is a maze of alibis, facts and official corruption and is one of the most honest political movies ever made.

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6. Munich (2005)

One of Steven Spielberg ‘s greatest works, ‘Munich’ is a film that to this day remains hugely underrated. The film chronicles the efforts of five men who are assigned the task of finding and killing members of the terrorist organization that was responsible for the devastating Munich massacre. The team of five men is headed by Avner Kaufman (played brilliantly by Eric Bana). Their mission, however, involves serious risks and Avner, a Mossad agent, is asked to resign in order to provide plausible deniability to the Israeli government. These men begin their mission but they soon realize that things are far more complicated and struggle to deal with the moral dilemma the mission often poses. They set off for the mission as naive, idealistic men who are hell bent on doing the ”right” thing, but they eventually realize that a world filled with secrets, lies and conspiracies is beyond comprehension.

I never thought Spielberg could make a film that would keep me awake at nights. ‘Munich’ was just that kind of a film. There are several disturbing moments in that film that will haunt you for the rest of you life. The one that shook me the most was the lovemaking scene between Avner and his wife. While they have sex, Avner is haunted by visions of the Munich massacre, leading to a mental breakdown. ‘Munich’ is a film that must be seen for its unflinching honesty and for its sheer craft.

5. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

One of the best political thrillers ever made, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ revolves around the brainwashing of a right-wing party candidate into becoming an unwitting assassin for a communist conspiracy. Aptly released during the Cuban Missile Crisis, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ became a cult classic over the years for the ingenuity of the plot and the uniqueness of execution. Political play was shown tensely as the heroes attempt to thwart the conspiracy. It was a silent nod to the actual brainwashing done to the innocents by the top players in order to fulfill their cause. Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey gave stellar performances in the lead in this evergreen movie. The godfather of neo-noir movies, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ is a gem in the history of Hollywood.

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4. Citizen Kane (1941)

Arguably, the greatest film ever made needs no introduction. Orson Welles’ debut feature broke barriers and revolutionized filmmaking in many ways. Amongst others, it gave the insight of the life of a newspaper magnet who began his journey as an idealist but became consumed by the power in his pursuit of greatness. Sheer political play proved to be the boon and the bane for the protagonist as he was reduced to a mental wreck in the end. Powerfully narrated with flashbacks, ‘Citizen Kane’ trod on the lines of a Shakespearean tragedy whilst staying true to its own origin story. It was visually enhancing and took the audience to a whole new level of realization through the life of the protagonist. Rosebud?

Read More: Best Movies About Movies of All Time

3. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Frank Capra was much, much ahead of his time, evident by his 1939 political comedy-drama about a common man who enters the complex maze of national politics and immediately becomes a pawn of a much bigger game. This film showed the common man’s gullibility when it came to the nuances of the political game and his urge to clean up the vat of selfishness for society’s benefit. Unsurprisingly, it touched quite a few sore spots with the higher officials who dictate the wheels of the society and generated a fair amount of controversy upon its release. The audience were never deterred though and turned up in throngs to make the film a box office success. James Stewart stepped into the spotlight after this film’s release and the rest is history. ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ is perhaps Capra’s best work till date and one of the best political-comedies in history.

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2. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Trust Stanley Kubrick to come up with something so ingenious. Loosely based on Peter George’s thriller, Red Alert, Stanley’s satire on cold war fears about a nuclear holocaust is one of the best comedies ever made. The sheer genius of his screenplay coupled by his magical touch of direction set ‘Dr. Strangelove’ apart from other comedies. It touched man’s selfishness and vulnerability through its funny narrative. It showed clearly how man, blinded by political superiority, can make choices which would make the entire world suffer. This film brought down the power players to their knees and showed them what the world looked like from the ground itself. ‘Dr. Strangelove’ gave a powerful message to the world through a comic verse and shook the very foundations of foul politics at play.

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1. All the President’s Men (1976)

It takes great courage to dip your hand in the political dirt and Alan J. Paluka showed great courage when he decided to adapt the 1974 book by journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward for the big screen. The effect was magnanimous, becoming an audience and a critical hit overnight. Alan’s narration of the infamous Watergate Scandal of the U.S. Senate in an investigative journalism pattern stewed the heat away from the mainstream politics, yet never failed to capture the dark side of the manipulations and coercions in the national level politics. Solid performances by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford aided in the success of the movie, making the story believable to the audience and exposing the horror behind the political games at play. Political Movies don’t come in better form or shape than this.

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The 20 Best Political Drama Movies of All Time, Ranked

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Whistleblowers, journalists, presidential campaigns, and court proceedings—political dramas love digging into the nittiest and grittiest aspects of politics and keeping us on the edges of our seats.

The political movie genre has a lot to offer, whether it's the microcosmic metaphor of high school hierarchy in Mean Girls (2004) to the leaking of confidential information to the press by British Intelligence in Official Secrets (2019).

Here are our picks for the best political drama movies that exemplify the different ways this genre can compellingly mix politics with intriguing plots and fascinating characters.

20. Suffragette (2015)

Directed by Sarah Gavron

Starring Carey Mulligan, Annie-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter

Drama, History (1h 46m)

6.9 on IMDb — 73% on RT

The story of the suffragette women is undoubtedly the most important feminist event in UK history. In 1928, (white) women were finally granted the right to vote, giving them as much say in local politics as men.

Well... almost. It didn't come without a fight, and director Sarah Gavron shows us the grueling, violent, and deadly run up to female suffrage in Suffragette , starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw, and Meryl Streep.

19. Vice (2018)

Directed by Adam McKay

Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell

Biography, Comedy, Drama (2h 12m)

7.2 on IMDb — 65% on RT

No other actor is as prepared to change their appearance as much as Christian Bale is, who's basically the chameleon of A-list actors.

He slims down and fattens up at the drop of a hat, and in 2018, he turned himself into the heavyset, former Vice President Dick Cheney for Vice —by indulging in pie after pie.

Bale's portrayal of the widely-loathed war-loving politician was hailed as the saving grace of Adam McKay's somewhat scatterbrained biopic (that tries to be a satire), alongside Amy Adams as Mrs. Cheney.

18. Bridge of Spies (2015)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda

Drama, History, Thriller (2h 22m)

7.6 on IMDb — 91% on RT

The director/actor duo of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks never fails to capture the feeling of spirit, courage, and adventure in a film.

In Bridge of Spies , it's bravery and kindness that Spielberg inspires, motivating us to rise above any obstacle and remain a "standing man," just like Hanks as James B. Donovan.

Spielberg even manages to make this Cold War thriller emit a little warmth from its true story of a lawyer negotiating the release of a US Air Force pilot in exchange for a KGB spy.

17. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Directed by Aaron Sorkin

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen

Drama, History, Thriller (2h 9m)

7.7 on IMDb — 89% on RT

A whole string of movies have been made about the Vietnam War, in which numerous young men were sent to fight on foreign soil while students and hippies protested back home.

Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 is one such film, a historical drama that takes us away from the frontlines and into the courthouse for one of the most unprecedented cases ever recorded.

Eight anti-war protestors were arrested for conspiracy, and the government barely even tried to cover their tampering with the jury to keep them quiet in their chains.

16. Frost/Nixon (2008)

Directed by Ron Howard

Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon

Biography, Drama, History (2h 2m)

7.7 on IMDb — 93% on RT

Based on Peter Morgan's 2006 play, Frost/Nixon has a self-explanatory title that basically gives away what it's about: the Richard Nixon interviews by British journalist Robert Frost in 1977.

Richard Nixon was put under scrutiny across four radio and television programs, in which he tries to exonerate himself from everything he was part of, from the Vietnam War to Watergate.

Frank Langella and Michael Sheen star as the word-dueling men from similar backgrounds, knowing that these interviews could make or break both their careers.

15. Malcolm X (1992)

Directed by Spike Lee

Starring Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo

Biography, Drama, History (3h 22m)

Malcolm X is one of the most prominent political figures in black American history, who helped to propel the Civil Rights Movement alongside notable spokespeople like Martin Luther King, Jr.

The voice of Islam in 1960s America, Malcolm X advocated for black power, pride, and self-defense, which Denzel Washington embodied in Spike Lee's epic on-screen biography Malcolm X .

Spike Lee—and many others—believed that Denzel Washington was "robbed" of his Oscar win for the role, but nonetheless Malcolm X was still a successful retelling of a legend worthy of it.

14. State of Play (2009)

Directed by Kevin Macdonald

Starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck

Crime, Drama, Mystery (2h 7m)

7.1 on IMDb — 84% on RT

State of Play (as in the 2003 British TV series) was Paul Abbott's first attempt at writing a political thriller, and he has since admitted to making most of it up as he went!

He did a pretty good job of it, though, as Hollywood eventually got their hands on it for a cinematic reboot six years later.

Starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and Jason Bateman, Kevin Macdonald's State of Play follows the investigations of a dead Congressman's mistress via journalists and police.

13. The Ides of March (2011)

Directed by George Clooney

Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Drama, Thriller (1h 41m)

7.1 on IMDb — 83% on RT

Beau Willimon's debut 2008 play Farragut North formed the basis of The Ides of March , directed by and starring George Clooney.

In it, George Clooney plays the Governor of Pennsylvania and presidential candidate Mike Morris, who hires Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) as his junior manager. Bad move!

Stephen ends up (accidentally) roping Mike into a seedy deal that could blow his chances at election.

It might sound a little boring on paper, but The Ides of March was considered a top-ten film of 2011 and was nominated for an Oscar!

12. The Candidate (1972)

Directed by Michael Ritchie

Starring Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas

Comedy, Drama (1h 50m)

7.0 on IMDb — 89% on RT

Jeremy Larner was the principal speechwriter for Eugene McCarthy's presidential campaign in 1968, which gave him tons of experience to draw from when penning The Candidate .

Larner wrote an early, documentary-style script in 1971, which Michael Ritchie directed into a taut, Oscar-winning movie.

But don't let the synopsis ("man campaigns for President") fool you! The Candidate is actually smart, cynical, and funny. Just try not to find Robert Redford's Kennedy-esque performance insulting.

11. Lincoln (2012)

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn

Biography, Drama, History (2h 30m)

7.3 on IMDb — 89% on RT

"Honest Abe," "The Ancient One," "Great Emancipator"—these were all nicknames for the 16th President of the United States.

In Lincoln , Steven Spielberg focuses on the final four months of his Presidency, up to when Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865.

There's no one more fit to play the elderly, soft-spoken, wise Abraham Lincoln than Daniel Day-Lewis, who delivered a humble and compelling performance. A ton of other famous faces also stud Spielberg's biopic that gives history a glossy sheen of hope.

10. JFK (1991)

Directed by Oliver Stone

Starring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones

Drama, History, Thriller (3h 9m)

8.0 on IMDb — 84% on RT

The circumstances of John F. Kennedy's assassination continue to inspire all kinds of debates and conspiracy theories. Who was that guy on the grassy knoll? What about the magic bullet?

Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is here to inspect as he interviews witnesses and probes various theories throughout the 1960s.

Oliver Stone's political epic JFK: The Story That Won't Go Away is based on a real investigation, which was taken to court in 1969.

9. All the President's Men (1976)

Directed by Alan J. Pakula

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden

Drama, History, Thriller (2h 18m)

7.9 on IMDb — 94% on RT

When the Watergate scandal broke, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were there to cover it. In fact, they were the only ones to cover it, working on behalf of The Washington Post in 1972.

Played by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, the two reporters rely on the anonymous government source "Deep Throat" to access secret information and bring President Nixon's actions to public light.

Like most of my picks on this list, Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men is based on true events.

8. The Report (2019)

Directed by Scott Z. Burns

Starring Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm

Biography, Crime, Drama (1h 59m)

7.2 on IMDb — 82% on RT

The fact that this movie is stylized as The Torture Report tells you most of what you need to know. (If you didn't already know, the CIA is known to use torture methods to question suspected terrorists.)

The Report centers specifically on interrogations following the September 11 attacks, which were detailed in a 6,700-page report by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

Most of this work was done by Daniel Jones, played by Adam Driver. Written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, The Report was likened to All the President's Men by critics.

7. Argo (2012)

Directed by Ben Affleck

Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman

Biography, Drama, Thriller (2h)

7.7 on IMDb — 96% on RT

Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Islamic students took over the American Embassy and held everyone hostage in Tehran, save for a handful of people who escaped and needed evacuation.

The "Canadian Caper" plan involved turning six Americans into a pretend Canadian film crew, who went in under the pretense of a production company scouting for their fake sci-fi film titled "Argo."

Wired published an article about the events in 2007, which Ben Affleck used to create the award-winning historical drama Argo .

6. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Directed by John Frankenheimer

Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh

Drama, Thriller (2h 6m)

7.9 on IMDb — 97% on RT

The Manchurian Candidate was first adapted from Richard Condon's novel in 1962 by John Frankenheimer, and again in 2004 by Jonathan Demme.

I'm picking John Frankenheimer's original black-and-white version for this list, starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, and Angela Lansbury. (The 2004 version starring Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber is okay but far from the original's greatness.)

The neo-noir psychological thriller praises Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw for his bravery in the Korean War, but buried beneath all of that glory is the fact that he actually killed two other soldiers.

5. Hunger (2008)

Directed by Steve McQueen

Starring Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham

Biography, Crime, Drama (1h 36m)

7.5 on IMDb — 90% on RT

Hunger is one of those films that's hard to watch entirely. When Michael Fassbender is peeled from his bed as a sore-covered skeleton, it's difficult to comprehend that this could really happen in real life.

But, tragically, it did. Back in 1981, Bobby Sands led the IRA hunger strike while serving time in prison as a "non-conforming prisoner."

We don't really see many other people in the movie, aside from Liam Cunningham as a priest in the impressive 28-minute long take.

4. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

Comedy, War (1h 35m)

8.4 on IMDb — 98% on RT

Dr. Strangelove is a former Nazi and war expert with alien hand syndrome, a condition where he has no control over one of his hands—not ideal given that he's at an Air Force base with nuclear bombs.

Stanley Kubrick's dark satire mocks the Cold War fears found in Peter George's 1958 novel Red Alert , on which the film is loosely based.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is considered by many to be the greatest comedy ever made, full of unhinged generals and Peter Sellers taking on various roles.

3. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Directed by Frank Capra

Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains

Comedy, Drama (2h 9m)

8.1 on IMDb — 97% on RT

Jimmy Stewart was America's sweetheart, always giving us a pep talk at the end of heartwarming family flicks.

Although he was cast in a few anti-heroic roles here and there, Stewart was usually the do-gooder everyman who fought against the greedy elite, the most prominent example being Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life .

In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , he goes up against Washington itself. Directed by Frank Capra, the film was condemned by the US government for being "anti-American," which lended even more weight to its depiction of government corruption.

2. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

Directed by Shaka King

Starring LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons

Biography, Drama, History (2h 6m)

7.4 on IMDb — 97% on RT

Judas and the Black Messiah is a story of betrayal amidst the Black Panther Party during the Civil Rights Movement.

Fred Hampton—the chairman of the Panthers in Illinois—formed gang alliances while feeding poor children, which stirred up all kinds of noise that the FBI just didn't like.

In response, the FBI offered petty criminal William O'Neal a get-out-of-jail-free card for being an informant.

The stunning tale of Judas and the Black Messiah earned Oscar nominations for both Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield in the same category (Best Supporting Actor), which Kaluuya ultimately won.

1. Citizen Kane (1941)

Directed by Orson Welles

Starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore

Drama, Mystery (1h 59m)

8.3 on IMDb — 99% on RT

Considering Citizen Kane was Orson Welles's first feature-length film, you might say he did fairly well. After all, Sight and Sound consistently ranked it the greatest movie ever made for 50 consecutive years!

The dialogue, the cinematography, the blocking, the narrative, the pacing, the characters... everything comes together in Welles's black-and-white masterpiece to pitch-perfect results.

But wait! Isn't Citizen Kane about a newspaper tycoon? It sure is, but if you look deeper beneath the surface, you'll find it an obvious attack on the political beliefs of real-life media baron William Randolph Hearst.

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‘Orlando, My Political Biography’ Review: A Collective Approach to Joy

The filmmaker Paul B. Preciado shares the title role with 20 trans and nonbinary performers to make a point about the cage of identity.

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By Manohla Dargis

Few movies this year have lived in my head as long and as happily as “Orlando: My Political Biography,” which I’ve been thinking about since I first saw it in September. Written and directed by the Spanish-born philosopher and activist Paul B. Preciado — a trans man making his feature directing debut — the movie is, at its simplest, an essayistic documentary about transgender and nonbinary identity that draws inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s novel “Orlando: A Biography.” Yet trying to squeeze “My Political Biography” into a tidy categorical box is fundamentally at odds with Preciado’s expansive project, which is at once an argument, a confession, a celebration and a road map.

It’s also a sharp, witty low-budget experimental work of great political and personal conviction, one that breathes life into Woolf’s novel about a 16-year-old boy in Elizabethan England who, after centuries of trippy adventures, enigmatically ends up as a 36-year-old woman in 1928, the year the novel was published. Woolf dedicated the book to her lover Vita Sackville-West, whose son Nigel Nicolson described it as “the longest and most charming love letter in literature,” one in which Woolf weaves Vita “in and out of the centuries, tosses her from one sex to the other, plays with her, dresses her in furs, lace and emeralds.”

Don’t expect luxurious trappings here; this isn’t the usual screen waxworks with meticulous details but few ideas. It is instead a pointed, spirited, up-to-the-minute exploration of sex, gender and sexual difference through the character of Orlando, who serves as Preciado’s mirror and avatar. In the novel, Orlando (long story short!) awakes one day to trumpets blaring “Truth!” and finds that he’s become a woman — a development that is, well, complicated.

“The change of sex,” the book’s narrator asserts, “did nothing whatever to alter their identity.” As Preciado explains, his own transformation was more complex. “You didn’t know, perhaps,” he says, gently addressing Woolf, “this was not how one became trans.”

From the very start Preciado expresses love and admiration for Woolf and her novel, but he also critiques some of her choices; he’s enraged, for one, that Orlando is an aristocratic colonialist. Even so, for the most part he expresses palpable tenderness toward Woolf, a quality that suffuses “My Political Biography” as he loosely re-creates Orlando’s narrative trajectory and plucks characters, episodes and sentences from the book. Along the way, Preciado draws attention to the construction of identity and that of the movie itself, fusing form and subject. While he’s peering behind the scenes (and as crew members drop in and out), he also introduces a chorus of other voices, including that of trans pioneers like the American actress-singer Christine Jorgensen and those of his trans performers.

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Orlando, My Political Biography

Transgender philosopher-filmmaker Paul B. Preciado’s “Orlando, My Political Biography” starts with footage of the filmmaker on a city street at night, wheatpasting posters with slogans, questions, and cryptic statements, and only becomes more playfully abstruse from there. The film is “political” in that politics are personal, and less of a biography than a work of literary criticism in cinematic form and an essay on art, society, and sexual identity that roams wherever it wants or needs to. 

It’s framed as a reply to Virginia Woolf ‘s novel Orlando , whose protagonist goes to sleep one night as a man and awakes as a woman, then moves through time that way. (Thirty years ago, Sally Potter directed a now-beloved film adaptation starring Tilda Swinton .) Preciado is fascinated by the Woolf book and respectful of its impact but also irked by how it glossed over the details of the process by which Orlando was transformed. 

The film takes an “I am Spartacus” approach to the text, casting an assortment of trans and nonbinary performers as a gallery of incarnations of Orlando or as people who give their first name as Orlando (including Oscar S Miller and Janis Sahraoui), plus one who plays the actual Woolf character. Then it puts them in dramatic or comedic sketches (and in some cases, tableaus that feel almost like art installations, sometimes with visible lighting rigs) and lets them muse on the process of transitioning and the obstacles placed in the paths of individuals trying to do it. 

One sequence shows a group of Orlandos waiting in a doctor’s office who can prescribe hormones. Back in the doctor’s office, one of the Orlandos is asked intrusive and leading questions about their feelings about their genitalia, and a subsequent conversation between Orlandos reveals that one has to lie to the doctor and say that you hate your genitals to get the prescription—one of many examples of how people’s right to determine their own identity and presentation is held hostage by the rest of society, including the appointed gatekeepers of the medical establishment.

“Orlando, My Political Biography” is an example of the kind of movie that rarely gets made or released today, and that wasn’t all that common even during the heyday of quasi-experimental arthouse cinema. Appropriately, considering the subject matter, it refuses to get pinned down to prescribed labels or meanings or even genres, leaping freely between different storytelling modes, sometimes without much of a segue to smooth over the jump. It doesn’t hang together in any conventional way, and sometimes it seems to wander into a cul-de-sac and get stuck. But you always appreciate the refusal to be bound by any preexisting playbook of how cinema is supposed to do, well, anything. It’s a work of fertile imagination that takes every step confidently, even if it isn’t certain where it will lead.

Preciado, a Spaniard from a modest background, has an outsider’s posturing energy and a low, scratchy voice that evokes the narrated essay films of the older  Jean-Luc Godard . The movie’s use of text is also Godardian (the font is similar to the ones Godard used in some of his pre-80s movies). So is the willingness to throw the audience into the deep end of the pool and expect them to swim.

Introducing himself as the first of many Orlandos, Preciado tells us that somebody once asked him why he never wrote a book about his own experience. “Because f**king Virginia Woolf wrote my biography in 1928,” he replied, a statement that is both true and not true and which the film proceeds to illustrate at its own pace and on its own terms. Woolf, Preciado tells us, found a way to hint at the story of trans and genderqueer people before there were words to describe them. “You have never been as alive as now,” he says.

In limited release today.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor-at-Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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The Best Movies About Politics from the 20th Century, Ranked

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Hollywood has always loved a good story about politics. Whether it's based on real events or fictional ones, if it speaks to the political spirit of the times, there's a good chance that it will do well at the box office. The appeal of political films lies in their relevance. They often touch on universal themes like greed , the corrupting influence of power, and the dangers of blind ambition. The wars and global political upheavals of the 20th century certainly gave filmmakers a lot of real world material to work with.

While the classics endure, certain voices and trends characterized the American political cinema of the 20th century. The Vietnam and Watergate scandals of the '70s generated tense, paranoid thrillers about politics and corruption, like All the President's Men. Later, the massive popularity of Aaron Sorkin 's hit TV show, The West Wing , brought with it a new tide of idealism, helping spawn the sincere political dramas of the 1990s.

Despite the trends, a great political film can come from anytime, anywhere. It can draw from Ancient Greece or shogunate Japan. It can even be set in the most stratified, savage society of all: the high school cafeteria. To earn a place on the list of all-time greats , a film must do more than respond to fleeting current events and speak to deep political truths. Let's rank some of the greatest 20th century movies to tackle politics.

10 The American President (1995)

The Platonic ideal of an Aaron Sorkin movie, the feel-good romantic comedy The American President captures the wit and political optimism of the prolific screenwriter. It follows the story of widowed president Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), who falls in love with lobbyist Sydney (Annette Bening). As Shepherd faces attacks on his integrity and struggles to get a bill passed, he undercuts Sydney's professional agenda. It all feels like a cinematic extension of The West Wing , as Sorkin aligns the idealism of American politics with the romance of his central characters. Shepherd's triumph comes when he forgoes sly maneuverings in favor of a new bill enacting sweeping change. This wins him back his love (and his presidency). Yes, its optimism seems far-fetched these days, but it remains a poignant metaphor for America's love for its president , even as this becomes increasingly scarce.

9 Election (1999)

The central conflict of Alexander Payne's satirical high school farce Election is between teacher and student. Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is a conniving student willing to stop at nothing to win the election for student body president; Jim McCallister (Matthew Broderick) is the vengeful teacher trying to stop her. Based on a novel by Tom Perrotta , the film gets a lot of comedic mileage from its somewhat dated setup, but it still makes a compelling statement about the way greed and lust can infect politics, even when the politics in question mostly involves picking the theme for the school dance. It's a dark, brilliant little comedy.

8 JFK (1991)

Part sprawling historical tragedy, part political thriller, part courtroom drama, 100% iconic. This epic career-defining film from Oliver Stone follows the investigation of John F. Kennedy's assassination. While fictionalized and teetering frequently into conspiracy, JFK draws effectively on real events to show why the death remains shrouded in mystery. At over three hours long it's far from a quick watch, but it's relentlessly entertaining, using its incredible cast to perfectly capture the obsession with the beloved political figure and the puzzling circumstances of his death. It has remained a cultural touchstone and has even spawned parodies like Seinfeld's re-imagining of the infamous "Magic Bullet" scene.

7 Malcolm X (1992)

A singular political mind is born out of a difficult life in this biopic from Spike Lee , the story of one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. Malcolm X ( Denzel Washington ) went from bright student to convicted felon to figurehead of the Black nationalism movement to devout Muslim genius, known for advocating for complete emancipation of black people from white society. The film brings tremendous empathy to the life of the much maligned figure, as his beliefs continue to evolve long after he has already been deemed a violent danger by the media. Lee's ability to shatter preconceptions about his controversial central figure makes this one of the greatest political movies of all time.

Related: These Are the Best Biopics Ever Made, Ranked

6 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

If you haven't already seen it, Frank Capra's 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington should be mandatory viewing. It follows Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), an idealistic local hero who's appointed by chance to fill a senator's seat. These days, the film seems like a quaint relic from an alternate dimension, where Washington D.C. still symbolizes liberty. Jefferson's moral integrity is tested against cynicism and a corrupt political apparatus to pass a bill for creating a national boy's camp. Besides its touching statement about the infectious power of hope, the film is also credited with launching Stewart to stardom—what a gift that was. Its happy ending may ring false in the currently acidic political climate, but it still doesn't hurt to dream.

5 All the President's Men (1976)

It's hard to think of a more comprehensive endorsement of the free press than All The President's Men , a perfect blend of intrigue, historical accuracy and real world drama. Released only two years after Nixon resigned, it was the first of many movies to be made about Watergate. Even so, it still stands out as the strongest of the pack , full of classic scenes like those parking garage meetings with "Deep Throat" and heroic newsroom revelations. It's also anchored by performances from Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford as Woodward and Bernstein, the reporters who exposed the scandal that would bring down Nixon.

4 All the King's Men (1949)

This 1949 Best Picture winner tracks the career of fictional politician Willie Stark as he rises from rural obscurity asa self-proclaimed "hick," riding a wave of populism which votes him in as governor. Once in office, Stark is corrupted by power and his personal life begins to unravel. Besides its familiar themes of the toxic effects of power, the story draws heavily from the biography of real-life politician Huey Long —an ambitious and controversial Louisiana governor (and US Senator) who ran on the slogan "Every Man a King" and was later assassinated. The populism and complex failings of Willie Stark remain relevant to this day, and All the King's Men is still a riveting example of how politics and ambition can subsume our humanity.

3 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Stanley Kubrick was known for many things as a master director, but his political commentary wasn't really one of them. Even so, his revolutionary 1964 film Dr. Strangelove critiqued Cold War politics and paranoia better than most, and was deemed by Roger Ebert as "arguably the best political satire of the century." It centers on the Pentagon War Room, where all hell breaks loose after a deranged general decides to unleash a nuclear attack on the USSR. Despite the specificity of its '60s anxieties around mutually assured destruction, it remains relevant and funny today. Like the best of satire, it proved to be disturbingly close to the truth. Peter Sellers plays three roles, including doofus US president and Nazi pseudo-scientist "Dr. Strangelove." His famous lines (like "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!") have some of the best deliveries in cinematic history.

Related: Here Are Some of the Best Dark Comedies Ever Made

2 Ran (1985)

Ran is Japanese for "chaos," and Akira Kurosawa's monumental film encapsulates that word on nearly every level. While it may seem to be a "war movie" first, politics are at the core of this beautifully shot masterpiece. Kurosawa adapts Shakespeare's King Lear to the blood reds of 16th-century Japan, following a warlord named Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakedai) who divides his kingdom amongst his three sons. After exiling the son who criticizes him, he goes mad when he's betrayed by his seemingly faithful children. The classic story works perfectly in Kurosawa's hands. Like in Throne of Blood, Kurosawa's adaptation of Macbeth, the action on screen is more than just violence, it is a manifestation of political themes. This film has a painful question at its heart: what happens when politics, and power, collide with family? The answer is not pretty, even if the film is.

1 Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane may be considered the greatest film ever made , but it's not usually seen as an overtly political one. What could "Rosebud" have to do with politics? The familiar imagery of Kane's opulent seaside mansion Xanadu aside ( Citizen Kane was Donald Trump's favorite film , after all), Orson Welles' masterpiece is first and foremost an epic character study. It charts Charles Foster Kane's meteoric rise from childhood poverty to wealthy media magnate. After a bitter career attacking his own benefactor, Kane makes a run for governor of New York that ends in scandal. Welles' expert focus on Kane's character and his ruined relationships provides sharp insight into the nature of politics. As he lies on his deathbed, we learn Kane's hunger for power and control stems from a childhood rejection. Beneath his greed lies a deeply human need to be loved, a need that is perhaps at the core (and is the catalyst) of all human politics.

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The 60+ Best Political Drama Movies, Ranked

Netflix is a treasure trove for cinema aficionados, offering a myriad of genres to explore. Among these, political thriller movies on Netflix have carved a niche for themselves, captivating audiences with their intricate plots, suspenseful narratives, and profound socio-political commentaries. These films serve as an engaging amalgamation of drama, suspense, and real-world politics that not only entertain but also educate their viewers. A superb example of this is the best political thrillers on Netflix , which intricately weave stories, providing both riveting entertainment and engaging discourse about global politics. 

Diving deeper into the realm of good political thrillers on Netflix, films such as The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Patriots Day epitomize the genre's ability to enthrall and entertain. The Trial of The Chicago 7 , for instance, captures the political and social turmoil of an era through its balanced depiction of establishment tensions and public disillusionment, setting a high bar for Netflix political movies. Patriots Day , on the other hand, offers a gripping account of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, reflecting the palpable tension and chaos in the aftermath of such events. These films successfully encapsulate the essence of the thriller genre, drawing the audience into unchartered territories. 

In addition to these cinematic gems, there are numerous other noteworthy political drama movies on Netflix worth mentioning. The Iron Lady , for instance, provides an insightful look into the life of Britain's first female Prime Minister , Margaret Thatcher, magnificently portrayed by Meryl Streep. Beasts of No Nation is another powerful film, shedding light on the tragic world of child soldiers. Each of these films boasts streaming buttons for various platforms such as Disney+, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Max, Paramount+, and Netflix, ensuring a seamless viewing experience for the audience. 

If you're in the mood for an enthralling binge-watch session, the best political thrillers on Netflix have much to offer. These films will not only satisfy your craving for suspense but will also provide a lens through which to view and understand global politics. They are the epitome of what makes a great Netflix psychological thriller - gripping narratives, compelling performances, and thought-provoking themes - offering an immersive experience that is simultaneously entertaining and enlightening.

All the President's Men

For Fans Of : Spotlight, The Post, Frost/Nixon, The Insider, Good Night, and Good Luck Why Should I Watch All the President's Men: This classic political drama delves into the Watergate scandal that shook America to its core, featuring standout performances by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as journalists Woodward and Bernstein on a relentless quest for truth. Immerse yourself in the thrilling world of investigative journalism and witness a story that uncovers a web of deceit and corruption at the highest levels of power.

• Released : 1976
• Directed by : Alan J. Pakula

Thirteen Days

For Fans Of : JFK, War Games, The Day After Tomorrow, Apollo 13, Bridge of Spies Why Should I Watch Thirteen Days: Thirteen Days is an enthralling account of the Cuban Missile Crisis, showcasing the tense struggle between President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and his advisors as they race against time to prevent nuclear war. As a gripping portrayal of one of history's most dangerous moments, this film offers viewers an intimate look at global politics during an era when humanity was teetering on the edge of destruction.

• Released : 2000
• Directed by : Roger Donaldson

In the Line of Fire

For Fans Of : Die Hard, Three Days of the Condor, Air Force One, The Fugitive, Clear and Present Danger Why Should I Watch In the Line of Fire: Clint Eastwood plays a Secret Service agent haunted by his past failures who must confront a deadly assassin targeting the president in this high-stakes thriller. Beyond its adrenaline-pumping action sequences, In the Line of Fire delves into themes such as duty, sacrifice, and redemption within a politically charged environment.

• Released : 1993
• Directed by : Wolfgang Petersen

The Contender

For Fans Of : JFK, Good Night, and Good Luck, All the President's Men, Miss Sloane, Frost/Nixon Why Should I Watch The Contender: In this riveting political drama, Joan Allen stars as Laine Hanson, a vice-presidential nominee whose confirmation process is mired in scandal and personal attacks. Exploring themes of gender, ethics, and power dynamics in politics, The Contender challenges societal preconceptions about women's roles and capabilities within government.

• Directed by : Rod Lurie

For Fans Of : Amistad, The Butler, A Civil Action, The Contender, 12 Years a Slave Why Should I Watch Lincoln: Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an Oscar-winning performance as President Abraham Lincoln in this historical drama that focuses on his efforts to pass the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Lincoln provides an insightful examination of political maneuvering and strategic decision-making during a tumultuous time in US history.

• Released : 2012
• Directed by : Steven Spielberg

Miss Sloane

For Fans Of : The Ides of March, Michael Clayton, Zero Dark Thirty, Erin Brockovich, The Insider Why Should I Watch Miss Sloane: Jessica Chastain delivers a tour-de-force performance as a ruthless lobbyist who takes on the powerful gun lobby in this nail-biting political thriller. Spotlighting the inner workings of Washington's lobbying industry, Miss Sloane raises questions about ethics, loyalty, and personal integrity within an often-corrupt system of power.

• Released : 2016
• Directed by : John Madden

James Earl Jones, legendary actor known for unmistakable baritone voice, dies at 93

One of the most famous voices of all time has gone silent.

James Earl Jones, whose prodigious acting talent was often overshadowed by his distinctive baritone over a seven-decade career both onstage and on the screen, died Monday, his representative said. He was 93.

A contemporary of Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, Jones didn’t land the same coveted leading roles at a time when there were few to go around for Black actors in Hollywood, but he earned unmatched longevity as a character actor, from his first movie credit in 1964’s “Dr. Strangelove” to his reprisal of his role as King Joffer in the 2021 sequel to “Coming to America.”

“James Earl Jones doesn’t get enough credit for being a path-blazer for actors like Denzel Washington who came after him,” said Rae Dawn Chong, his co-star in the 1986 comedy “Soul Man.”

It was treading the boards of Broadway and beyond where Jones forged his place at the top of the marquee. Of his turn as the title character in the 1964 production of “Othello” in Central Park,  The New York Times gushed : “Mr. Jones commands a full, resonant voice and a supple body, and his jealous rages and frothing frenzy have not only size but also emotional credibility.”

It was, of course, that resonant voice that would eventually become his trademark.

While he earned two Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, an honorary Academy Award and a Grammy over his long career, he may be best remembered for an uncredited role in “Star Wars” — supplying the voice for Darth Vader, which has reverberated far beyond that galaxy far, far away.

“I’m a journeyman,” Jones told “TODAY’s” Al Roker in a 2017 interview. “I wandered into some interesting situations.”

Making his journey all the more remarkable is that one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood history had to overcome a severe stutter during his childhood in Mississippi and Michigan before he could take the first step.

Jones, born Jan. 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi, said he grew up as a shy and quiet child, wary of speaking and drawing attention to his speech impediment. With his father, Robert, a boxer turned actor, having left home to establish a theater career in Chicago, Jones was shipped to his maternal grandparents’ farm in rural Michigan at age 5.

There, the trajectory of his life changed in high school, when an English teacher taught him how to sound out each word carefully. “I [could] now say things that great writers wrote. I would never have thought of it myself,” Jones told “TODAY” years later.

Jones discovered a love of acting at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1955 after a two-year tour of duty in the Army.

That’s when he moved to New York City, as his father had years earlier, to break into acting. He worked as a janitor part time to pay the bills while he studied at the American Theatre Wing,  according to Biography.

With his booming baritone and stage presence, Jones didn’t have to wait long to get noticed, making his Broadway debut in the late 1950s in the play “Sunrise at Campobello.”

In 1961, he gained acclaim for the U.S. premiere of Jean Genet’s  “The Blacks” at the St. Mark’s Playhouse , which co-starred a cast of then-unknowns, including Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou and Louis Gossett Jr.

Having reconnected with his father, the younger Jones appeared in several stage productions with him in New York, including “Infidel Caesar” and “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” in 1962 and “Of Mice and Men” five years later.

The younger Jones became a regular in the Shakespeare in the Park program in 1962, with his lauded performance in “Othello” two years later catapulting him to stardom in the New York theater scene.

The production earned him more than critical accolades: Jones would ultimately marry his Desdemona, co-star Julienne Marie. The marriage, which lasted from 1968 through 1972, caused a mild stir at the time given the era’s racist taboos surrounding interracial marriage.

Being in New York, then also the center of the TV universe, had advantages for a working actor. Jones scored his first Emmy nomination in 1964 for a guest-starring turn in the drama “East Side/West Side.”

But national audiences would get their first exposure to him the same year in a small role in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

Jones hit the pinnacle of any Broadway veteran’s career with the play “The Great White Hope,” in which he starred as a fictionalized version of the real-life boxer Jack Johnson. His performance earned him the Tony for best actor in a play in 1969, breaking the color barrier of the most important acting awards in theater.

“When he was ‘The Great White Hope,’ it was shortly after [Martin Luther] King’s assassination, and there were riots in the streets of the United States,” said Dominic Taylor, a professor of African American theater at UCLA. “And here is this Black man who wins for this role in which he’s Jack Johnson, basically. I don’t think people today are aware of how earthshaking that was.”

Jones would go on to star in the 1970 cinematic adaptation of the play, a turn that would earn him a Golden Globe and his only Academy Award nomination. Jones would lose the best actor Oscar to George C. Scott (“Patton”).

That early success, however, didn’t seem to translate into many more high-profile film roles in the 1970s, although he did star opposite Diahann Carroll in the 1974 dramedy “Claudine.”

“Hollywood back then only had room for a certain number of Black actors,” said Wilson Morales, the founder and editor of blackfilmandtv.com. “He never really got the big roles compared to Sidney Poitier.

“Almost all the roles that he had over the years, they were largely supporting roles,” Morales said of Jones.

Jones would win a Grammy for best spoken word recording in 1977, an early sign of the recognition for his voice.

His most visible on-screen role may have been playing author Alex Haley in the landmark 1977 television miniseries “Roots,” based on Haley’s family history.

Despite  the estimated 130 million viewers  who tuned in for “Roots,” it would turn out to be just the second-highest-profile gig he booked that year.

Director George Lucas tapped Jones to do some voiceover work for a quirky space opera called “Star Wars” to dub over Darth Vader actor David Prowse’s heavy British accent, made worse by the muffle effect of the mask.

Jones later said he asked to keep his name out of the credits because Prowse did all the work, but such humility wouldn’t keep him from being enshrined as part of the biggest pop culture phenomenon in modern history.

Jones married the actor Cecilia Hart in 1982, the same year he starred opposite budding action star Arnold Schwarzenegger as an evil sorcerer in “Conan the Barbarian.” The marriage would produce a son, Flynn, the same year, and it would last until Hart’s death of ovarian cancer in 2016.

Now a father, Jones continued to work steadily through the 1980s.

Chong remembered the first day she met Jones on the set of “Soul Man,” then intimidated as a girl who grew up with “Star Wars.”

“All the cast was a little afraid of him, not just because he was this towering great of an actor who was Othello in New York and his history,” Chong said. “But in fact, he [turned out to be[ a gentle giant, extremely generous. He’s very kind and soft-spoken.”

Settling into his 50s and past the expiration date for the leading man parts of the era, Jones piled together an impressive run of supporting parts, including roles in “Field of Dreams” (1987), “Matewan” (1987) and “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), a role he would reprise for two sequels.

Perhaps his most famous role of the decade — not counting “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” (1983), of course — was as Eddie Murphy’s father in the 1988 comedy “Coming to America.”

“You have to remember ‘Coming to America’ was the biggest Black film of its time,” Morales said. “It was the ‘Black Panther’ of the era.”

He also kept one foot on the boards, earning his second Tony award in 1987 for August Wilson’s “Fences” — a role that Denzel Washington would play in a movie version 29 years later.

In 1990, Jones was cast as the lead in the TV drama “Gabriel’s Fire,” the type of signature role that might have been better appreciated had the series run on a premium cable network two decades later. At the time, however, TV execs considered the material too dark and canceled the show after one season.

Show co-creator Jacqueline Zambrano remembered being called to meet with Jones about a script during a break in shooting. In most cases, that meant the star would have diva-like demands for rewrites. “I sat down and immediately opened my notebook and I had my pen poised,” Zambrano said. “He started talking about a particular scene and asking me questions. Then we went on to another scene, and, you know, we talked as long as we could until they were ready for him on set.

“We both left, and I looked down at my notebook, and I had nothing written down. He didn’t have any notes. He didn’t want to tell me, ‘I want to fix this.’ He just wanted to understand the text. He just wanted to understand the character better.”

Jones shined enough in that limited time to earn his first prime-time Emmy for outstanding lead actor. (He won a second Emmy that night for his supporting turn in the TV movie “Heat Wave,” about the 1965 Watts race riots.)

In 1994, Jones lent his voice as Mufasa in Disney’s animated blockbuster “The Lion King.” He would return to the role in the live-action version 25 years later, the only actor from the original voice cast to return.

Over the ensuing three decades, Jones continued to work continuously — even after he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1995. He racked up Emmy nominations with guest-starring appearances on “Picket Fences,” “Under One Roof,” “Frasier” and “Everwood.” On Broadway, he notched two more Tony nominations — for a 2005 production of “On Golden Pond” and for a revival of Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” seven years later.

In 2011, Jones was awarded an honorary Academy Award for his career as a whole. That he never won an Oscar for a specific movie role, denying him the coveted EGOT, is a lingering symbol of just how much he was underappreciated over a prolific and profound career.

Taylor, the UCLA professor, always includes a clip of Jones in the 1987 production of “Fences” in his master class on acting.

“He was a gargantuan presence but such a fine, precise, attuned actor onstage,” Taylor said. “It was beautiful to watch him work.”

CORRECTION (Sept. 10, 2024, 10:25 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of “The Lion King” character. It was Mufasa, not Mustafa.

Ethan Sacks writes for NBCNews.com.