political / historical
by katharinaroitzheim | created - 6 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Jackie (V) (2016)
R | 100 min | Biography, Drama
Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.
Director: Pablo Larraín | Stars: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup
Votes: 83,453 | Gross: $13.96M
2. The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes (2022)
TV-14 | 101 min | Documentary, Biography
Explores the mystery surrounding the death of movie icon Marilyn Monroe through previously unheard interviews with her inner circle.
Director: Emma Cooper | Stars: Lauren Bacall, Gladys Baker, Ray Bull, James Croft
Votes: 5,640
3. Suffragette (2015)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, History
In 1912 London, a young working mother is galvanized into radical political activism supporting the right for women to vote, and is willing to meet violence with violence to achieve this end.
Director: Sarah Gavron | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep
Votes: 44,764 | Gross: $4.69M
4. 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: 112,495 | Gross: $18.59M
5. Spotlight (I) (2015)
R | 129 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 502,339 | Gross: $45.06M
6. 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: 14,725 | Gross: $0.77M
7. Till (I) (2022)
PG-13 | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1955, after Emmett Till is murdered in a brutal lynching, his mother vows to expose the racism behind the attack while working to have those involved brought to justice.
Director: Chinonye Chukwu | Stars: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett
Votes: 15,235
8. Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama, Western
About the legendary lawman Bass Reeves, one of the greatest frontier heroes and one of the first Black deputy U.S. marshals west of the Mississippi River.
Stars: David Oyelowo, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck
Votes: 11,253
9. Chernobyl (2019)
TV-MA | 41 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Adam Nagaitis
Votes: 866,250
10. The Plot Against America (2020)
TV-MA | 62 min | Drama, Thriller
Characters live in an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt was defeated in the U.S. presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh.
Stars: Winona Ryder, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector
Votes: 11,254
11. Margin Call (2011)
R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
Follows the key people at an investment bank over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis.
Director: J.C. Chandor | Stars: Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany
Votes: 144,411 | Gross: $5.35M
12. Vice (I) (2018)
R | 132 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that are still felt today.
Director: Adam McKay | Stars: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell
Votes: 162,464 | Gross: $47.84M
13. The Civil War (1990)
TV-14 | 76 min | Documentary, History, War
A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.
Stars: David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards
Votes: 18,568
14. O.J.: Made in America (2016)
TV-MA | 467 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
Director: Ezra Edelman | Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Albanese, Muhammad Ali, Marcus Allen
Votes: 21,921
15. 1917 (2019)
R | 119 min | Action, Drama, History
April 6th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays, Colin Firth
Votes: 676,170 | Gross: $159.23M
16. Mary Shelley (2017)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Life and facts of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who at 16 met 21 year old poet Percy Shelley, resulting in the writing of Frankenstein.
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour | Stars: Elle Fanning, Bel Powley, Owen Richards, Joanne Froggatt
Votes: 17,784 | Gross: $0.11M
17. Colette (I) (2018)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
Colette is pushed by her husband to write novels under his name. Upon their success, she fights to make her talents known, challenging gender norms.
Director: Wash Westmoreland | Stars: Keira Knightley, Fiona Shaw, Dominic West, Robert Pugh
Votes: 26,440 | Gross: $5.14M
18. Malcolm X (1992)
PG-13 | 202 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Votes: 102,076 | Gross: $48.17M
19. King Richard (2021)
PG-13 | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A look at how tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams became who they are after the coaching from their father Richard.
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green | Stars: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Saniyya Sidney
Votes: 136,672
20. Munich (2005)
R | 164 min | Action, Drama, History
After the Black September capture and massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, five men are chosen to eliminate the people responsible for that fateful day.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Marie-Josée Croze, Ciarán Hinds
Votes: 238,361 | Gross: $47.40M
21. Frida (2002)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro
Votes: 95,358 | Gross: $25.89M
22. Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)
103 min | Documentary
Based on Thomas Piketty's No. 1 New York Times Bestseller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century explores one of the most important and controversial subjects of our time: wealth, and who gets a share of the dividends.
Director: Justin Pemberton | Stars: Michael Douglas, Vanessa Redgrave, Ronald Reagan, Daniel Huttlestone
Votes: 3,032
23. Selma (2014)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 95,514 | Gross: $52.08M
24. MLK/FBI (2020)
TV-PG | 104 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Based on newly declassified files, Sam Pollard's resonant film explores the US government's surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Director: Sam Pollard | Stars: Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover, David Garrow, Clarence B. Jones
Votes: 1,756
25. The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes (2022)
TV-14 | 101 min | Documentary, Biography
Explores the mystery surrounding the death of movie icon Marilyn Monroe through previously unheard interviews with her inner circle.
Director: Emma Cooper | Stars: Lauren Bacall, Gladys Baker, Ray Bull, James Croft
Votes: 5,640
26. Elvis (2022)
PG-13 | 159 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life of American music icon Elvis Presley, from his childhood to becoming a rock and movie star in the 1950s while maintaining a complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson
Votes: 234,839 | Gross: $151.04M
27. Elizabeth (1998)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
The early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Liz Giles, Rod Culbertson, Paul Fox
Votes: 105,152 | Gross: $30.08M
28. Great Expectations (2011–2012)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama
The orphan Pip becomes a gentleman when his life is transformed by a mystery benefactor.
Stars: Douglas Booth, Jack Roth, Ray Winstone, David Suchet
Votes: 8,243
29. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
Mary Stuart's (Saoirse Ronan's) attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.
Director: Josie Rourke | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn
Votes: 55,363 | Gross: $16.47M
30. Emily (2022)
R | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
"Emily" imagines the transformative, exhilarating, and uplifting journey to womanhood of a rebel and a misfit, one of the world's most famous, enigmatic, and provocative writers, who died, too soon, at age 30.
Director: Frances O'Connor | Stars: Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling
Votes: 8,141
31. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
R | 157 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong
Votes: 319,016 | Gross: $95.72M
32. Ray (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell
Votes: 157,437 | Gross: $75.33M
33. 8 Mile (2002)
R | 110 min | Drama, Music
Follows a young rapper in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of his life; he wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer
Votes: 321,055 | Gross: $116.72M
34. The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
R | 150 min | Action, Biography, Crime
A look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz
Votes: 40,136 | Gross: $0.48M
35. Barry (2018–2023)
TV-MA | 30 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city's theatre arts scene.
Stars: Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Anthony Carrigan
Votes: 122,603
36. The Great Hack (2019)
TV-MA | 114 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is examined through the roles of several affected persons.
Directors: Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim | Stars: Brittany Kaiser, David Carroll, Paul-Olivier Dehaye, Ravi Naik
Votes: 25,028
37. Rome (2005–2007)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Kerry Condon
Votes: 185,481
38. Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)
94 min | Documentary, Biography
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
Director: Griffin Dunne | Stars: Joan Didion, Griffin Dunne, Anna Wintour, Phyllis Rifield
Votes: 3,075
39. Judy (II) (2019)
PG-13 | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Legendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
Director: Rupert Goold | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell
Votes: 54,856
40. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (2018– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Talk-Show
Comedian David Letterman interviews people he finds fascinating.
Stars: David Letterman, Kim Kardashian, George Clooney, Tina Fey
Votes: 6,185
41. Outlaw King (2018)
R | 121 min | Action, Biography, Drama
A true David vs. Goliath story of how the 14th century Scottish 'Outlaw King' Robert the Bruce used cunning and bravery to defeat the much larger and better equipped occupying English army.
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Chris Pine, Stephen Dillane, Rebecca Robin, Billy Howle
Votes: 81,003
42. When They See Us (2019)
TV-MA | 75 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.
Stars: Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez
Votes: 137,922
43. Chevalier (2022)
PG-13 | 108 min | Biography, Drama, History
Son of an African slave and a French farmer, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, achieves an unthinkable position in society as a famous violinist, composer and fencer, in addition to experiencing an ill-fated love affair.
Director: Stephen Williams | Stars: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Ronke Adekoluejo
Votes: 6,844
44. Walk the Line (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick
Votes: 265,914 | Gross: $119.52M
45. Snowden (2016)
R | 134 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto
Votes: 163,014 | Gross: $21.59M
46. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,371 | Gross: $5.51M
47. Merkel (2020 TV Movie)
118 min | Drama, History
Angela Merkel's decision in autumn 2015 to open the borders for refugees split the country: some praised the moral stance, others criticized the surrender of sovereignty. Yet what would ... See full summary »
Director: Stephan Wagner | Stars: Imogen Kogge, Josef Bierbichler, Wolfgang Pregler, Tristan Seith
Votes: 410
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