For When You Can’t Get Enough Politics

For all its sins, the United States is in a permanent election cycle, interrupted only briefly by the occasional vote. As the November midterms^[1] loom, Americans are once again subjected to a barrage of campaign ads, stump speeches, and performative outrage. This state of perpetual campaigning is a uniquely American affliction. In most parliamentary democracies, elections are mercifully brief affairs.^[2] The American system, on the other hand, is run by a billion-dollar election-industrial complex that generates two to four years of primary and general election theatrics for each national election.

It was not supposed to be this way, primarily because the Founders did not initially plan for political parties at all. George Washington devoted a significant portion of his 1796 Farewell Address to warning the young nation about the "baneful effects of the spirit of party," predicting that partisan factions would lead to vindictive, despotic governance. (Who knew?) Naturally, his cabinet immediately ignored him, fracturing into Alexander Hamilton’s Federalists and Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans before Washington’s carriage had even left the driveway.

Over the ensuing centuries, the US devolved into an entrenched two-party duopoly. This contrasts sharply with systems like the United Kingdom, which, while dominated by two major parties, maintains a plethora of viable third parties and a rich tradition of deeply unserious candidates.^[3]

Representative democracy^[4] comes with distinct pros and cons. On the upside, it allows for the peaceful transfer of power,^[5] provides a mechanism for civic participation, and generally prevents absolute autocracy.^[6] On the downside, it requires the electorate to actually pay attention,^[7] frequently elevates the most charismatic rather than the most competent, and ensures that the legislative process moves at the speed of tectonic drift.^[8]

Wherever you live, and however long your elections are, movies can still provide some needed diversion – even when the movies are about politics. The inherent drama, absurdity, and cynicism of the electoral process make for excellent storytelling. To capture the full spectrum of this political theater, we set out to build a definitive master list of politics-focused films. We scoured the Interwebs and found six thoughtfully curated lists of political cinema, from the British Film Institute’s 10 Great American Election Films to IndieWire’s The 25 Best Election Movies of All Time.^[9] We then ranked the movies from these lists based on the frequency of their appearances and their original list placements to create our master list of 41 must-watch political films.

The list includes an eclectic mix of undisputed cinema classics and bizarre anomalies. It is no surprise to see All the President's Men (1976) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) taking the top two spots, given their enduring influence on the political thriller genre. But the list also includes the dark-horse candidate The Purge: Election Year (2016),^[10] proving that nothing quite captures the modern American political mood like a dystopian horror film about legally sanctioned murder. Election (1999) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004) serve as stark reminders that the ruthless dynamics of campaigning begin in high school student council races, while Welcome to Mooseport (2004) asks the perennial question of how an ex-president should spend his time and if that should include running for mayor in his hometown.^[11]

Below is our definitive list of the best political cinema, each with a hyperlink to the Emmy Award-winning EIDR Content ID registry where you will find more information about each film, including links to other information resources and streaming providers.

^[1] US federal elections take place on the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year. Presidential elections happen every 4 years, so the even numbered years that don’t include a presidential are the “midterms”.

^[2] Parliamentary countries manage this because campaign periods are strictly regulated by law. For example, in the UK, parliamentary elections are limited to just 25 working days.

^[3] The UK famously tolerates the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, a registered political faction whose candidates frequently appear on live television on election night dressed in oversized rosettes and top hats, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Prime Minister while the votes are tallied. This cultural quirk was immortalized in the Monty Python's Flying Circus "Election Night Special" sketch, where the electorate is asked to choose between the Sensible Party, the Silly Party, and the Slightly Silly Party.

^[4] It is worth noting that the mid-20th-century obsession with the "Cold War" frequently suffered from a persistent category error. The conflict was endlessly framed as a battle between "Democracy" and "Communism," but it really wasn’t. Democracy is a political system governing how leaders are chosen; communism is an economic system governing the ownership of capital. The actual ideological battles were between capitalism and communism (economic), or between democracy and authoritarianism (political).

^[5] Allows for, but does not guarantee.

^[6] Ibid.

^[7] In his novel, The Warlock in Spite of Himself (1969), Christopher Stasheff argued that democracy requires universal education and literacy. Only an informed populace can make rational decisions.

^[8] I might have said that the pace was “glacial,” but given how fast glaciers are melting these day, they’re positively hasty compared to most political progress.

^[9] The other source lists include The Montclarion, Raindance, Reel Life With Jane (from media critic Jane Boursaw), and Time Out.

^[10] And not in the last slot!

^[11] Per the Bible, “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.”

Best Movies About Politics