Political thrillers/dramas
by richardcb | created - 15 Sep 2014 | updated - 29 Dec 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Ides of March (2011)
R | 101 min | Drama, Thriller
An idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.
Director: George Clooney | Stars: Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling
Votes: 230,681 | Gross: $40.96M
2. Murder at 1600 (1997)
R | 107 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A young woman is murdered in the White House. Homicide detective Regis investigates while Secret Service works against him. He's assigned agent Chance. She eventually cooperates after a man's framed.
Director: Dwight H. Little | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Daniel Benzali, Dennis Miller
Votes: 32,900 | Gross: $25.83M
3. Nothing But the Truth (I) (2008)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In Washington, D.C., a reporter faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to reveal her source.
Director: Rod Lurie | Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga, Angela Bassett
Votes: 39,845 | Gross: $0.00M
4. Air Force One (1997)
R | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Communist radicals hijack Air Force One with the U.S. President and his family on board. The Vice President negotiates from Washington D.C., while the President, a veteran, fights to rescue the hostages on board.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 210,065 | Gross: $172.96M
5. In the Line of Fire (1993)
R | 128 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan couldn't save Kennedy, but he's determined not to let a clever assassin take out this president.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott
Votes: 113,658 | Gross: $102.31M
6. Absolute Power (1997)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Career thief Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood) witnesses a horrific crime involving U.S. President Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman).
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney
Votes: 60,131 | Gross: $50.01M
7. JFK (1991)
R | 189 min | Drama, History, Thriller
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau
Votes: 169,865 | Gross: $70.41M
8. Thirteen Days (2000)
PG-13 | 145 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Shawn Driscoll, Drake Cook
Votes: 62,680 | Gross: $34.59M
9. No Way Out (1987)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A coverup and witchhunt occur after a politician accidentally kills his mistress.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton
Votes: 45,923 | Gross: $35.51M
10. Wag the Dog (1997)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 88,456 | Gross: $43.02M
11. The Parallax View (1974)
R | 102 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn
Votes: 21,764 | Gross: $2.15M
12. The Conspirator (2010)
PG-13 | 122 min | Crime, Drama, History
Mary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline
Votes: 29,992 | Gross: $11.54M
13. Frost/Nixon (2008)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell
Votes: 112,456 | Gross: $18.59M
14. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 79,780
15. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,357 | Gross: $9.60M
16. The Candidate (1972)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Don Porter
Votes: 11,915 | Gross: $0.12M
17. Advise & Consent (1962)
Not Rated | 139 min | Drama, Thriller
The polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon
Votes: 7,509
18. Primary Colors (1998)
R | 143 min | Comedy, Drama
A man joins the political campaign of a smooth-operator candidate for President of the United States of America.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Larry Hagman
Votes: 30,101 | Gross: $38.97M
19. Bob Roberts (1992)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A conservative folk singer turns his hand to politics, running for the US Senate. He is not above dirty tricks and smear campaigns to gain an advantage over his opponent.
Director: Tim Robbins | Stars: Tim Robbins, Giancarlo Esposito, Alan Rickman, Ray Wise
Votes: 15,633 | Gross: $4.48M
20. Fail Safe (1964)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller
A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 24,401
21. State of the Union (1948)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Drama
An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 4,169
22. The Contender (2000)
R | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
Senator Laine Hanson is a contender for U.S. Vice President, but information and disinformation about her past surfaces that threatens to derail her confirmation.
Director: Rod Lurie | Stars: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater
Votes: 25,006 | Gross: $17.87M
23. House of Cards (2013–2018)
TV-MA | 50 min | Drama
A Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Michel Gill, Robin Wright, Kate Mara
Votes: 530,767
24. Bridge of Spies (2015)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, History, Thriller
During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan
Votes: 327,655 | Gross: $72.31M
25. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Kimberly Elise
Votes: 116,591 | Gross: $65.96M
26. The Runner (I) (2015)
R | 90 min | Drama
In the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill, an idealistic but flawed politician is forced to confront his dysfunctional life after his career is destroyed in a sex scandal.
Director: Austin Stark | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Sarah Paulson, Peter Fonda, Connie Nielsen
Votes: 5,877
27. Truth (I) (2015)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, History
Newsroom drama detailing the 2004 CBS "60 Minutes" report investigating then-President George W. Bush's military service, and the subsequent firestorm of criticism that cost anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes their careers.
Director: James Vanderbilt | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Dennis Quaid, Elisabeth Moss
Votes: 21,229 | Gross: $2.54M
28. White House Down (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
While on a tour of the White House with his young daughter, a Capitol policeman springs into action to save his child and protect the president from a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke
Votes: 236,153 | Gross: $73.10M
29. The Post (2017)
PG-13 | 116 min | Biography, Drama, History
A cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushes the country's first female newspaper publisher and her editor to join an unprecedented battle between press and government.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk
Votes: 162,186 | Gross: $81.90M
30. The West Wing (1999–2006)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama
Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
Stars: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, John Spencer
Votes: 85,528
31. Designated Survivor (2016–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A low-level Cabinet member becomes President of the United States after a catastrophic attack kills everyone above him in the line of succession.
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Adan Canto, Italia Ricci, Kal Penn
Votes: 104,370
32. The Good Shepherd (2006)
R | 167 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.
Director: Robert De Niro | Stars: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin
Votes: 108,553 | Gross: $59.95M
33. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 125,997 | Gross: $70.60M
34. Seven Days in May (1964)
Approved | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
United States military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner
Votes: 17,324 | Gross: $7.96M
35. Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977)
750 min | Drama
The story of a power-hungry U.S. President, and the men, with whom he surrounds himself, in order to keep his hold on power. Based on John Ehrlichman's book about the Nixon administration.
Stars: Cliff Robertson, Jason Robards, Stefanie Powers, Robert Vaughn
Votes: 237
36. Chappaquiddick (2017)
PG-13 | 106 min | Biography, Drama, History
Depicting Ted Kennedy's involvement in the fatal 1969 car accident that claims the life of a young campaign strategist, Mary Jo Kopechne.
Director: John Curran | Stars: Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Bruce Dern
Votes: 14,598 | Gross: $17.40M
37. The Loudest Voice (2019)
TV-MA | 50 min | Biography, Drama
The past decade on the life of Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News, in which Ailes arguably became the Republican party's de facto leader and was accused of sexual harassment, which brought his Fox News reign to an end.
Stars: Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane, Annabelle Wallis
Votes: 14,513
38. Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017)
PG-13 | 103 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Mark Felt, who under the name "Deep Throat" helped journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate scandal in 1972.
Director: Peter Landesman | Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Lane, Marton Csokas, Tony Goldwyn
Votes: 14,701 | Gross: $0.77M
39. Shock and Awe (2017)
R | 90 min | Biography, Drama, History
A group of journalists of the Knight-Ridder news service covering President George W. Bush's planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the President's claim that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction."
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Rob Reiner, Tommy Lee Jones
Votes: 8,669 | Gross: $0.08M
40. Scandal (2012–2018)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Thriller
A former White House Communications Director starts her own crisis management firm only to realize her clients are not the only ones with secrets.
Stars: Kerry Washington, Darby Stanchfield, Katie Lowes, Guillermo Diaz
Votes: 79,683
41. Madam Secretary (2014–2019)
TV-PG | 45 min | Drama, Thriller
A political drama which looks into the life of the Secretary of State as she tries to balance work with family.
Stars: Téa Leoni, Tim Daly, Erich Bergen, Zeljko Ivanek
Votes: 26,520
42. Nixon (1995)
R | 192 min | Biography, Drama, History
A biographical story of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, from his days as a young boy, to his eventual Presidency, which ended in shame.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Ed Harris
Votes: 32,717 | Gross: $13.56M
43. The Report (I) (2019)
R | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Idealistic Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones, tasked by his boss to lead an investigation into the CIA's post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program, uncovers shocking secrets.
Director: Scott Z. Burns | Stars: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine
Votes: 50,803
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