The best political movies
The top 3 according to 2,005 votes from people: All the President's Men (1976) · Dr. Strangelove (1964) · Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). (Updated Nov 12, 2024.)
Campaigns, scandals and back rooms: from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and All the President's Men to Election and In the Loop, the political films picked by Rolling Stone and The Movie Blog.
Top 15
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1
All the President's Men (1976)
Alan J. Pakula. Woodward, Bernstein and Watergate.
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2
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Stanley Kubrick. The Cold War as black comedy.
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3
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Frank Capra. James Stewart against corruption in the Senate.
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4
Lincoln (2012)
Steven Spielberg. Passing the Thirteenth Amendment.
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5
The Candidate (1972)
Michael Ritchie. Robert Redford runs for the Senate in California.
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6
Election (1999)
Alexander Payne. A high school student council race.
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7
Being There (1979)
Hal Ashby. A gardener taken for a political sage.
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8
Wag the Dog (1997)
Barry Levinson. A fake war to cover a scandal.
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9
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
John Frankenheimer. A brainwashed war hero.
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10
Milk (2008)
Gus Van Sant. Harvey Milk in San Francisco.
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11
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Elia Kazan. A drifter turned media demagogue.
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12
Advise and Consent (1962)
Otto Preminger. A Senate fight over a nominee.
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13
In the Loop (2009)
Armando Iannucci. Spin doctors on the road to war.
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14
Bob Roberts (1992)
Tim Robbins. A folk-singing right-wing candidate.
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15
All the King's Men (1949)
Robert Rossen. The rise of a populist governor.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (13)
Being There ending still makes me think about it years later
All the President's Men at #1 is right. Best journalism movie too, honestly
A Face in the Crowd should be required viewing. Andy Griffith is terrifying
Milk made me cry. Sean Penn deserved that Oscar
Dr. Strangelove is the funniest movie ever made about the end of the world
'Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!' never gets old
In the Loop is the most realistic political movie on this list and it's a comedy lol
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington feels more idealistic every year
Lincoln is a great movie but it's more history than politics imo
How is it not politics? The whole film is about counting votes in Congress
Wag the Dog came out right before a real scandal and it's eerie how close it was
Election is so underrated. Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick is iconic
Where is The Ides of March? Gosling and Clooney were great in it