Top 5 Hollywood political thriller films to watch
From the incidents that took place in and around the time of JFK's assassination to the Vietnam War, the genre of political thriller saw its peak in the 1970s in Hollywood. With gripping narratives that keep audiences on the edge of their seats, the below-listed movies are a fine blend of politics, suspense, drama, and true events.
'The Manchurian Candidate' (1962)
Based on the 1959 Richard Condon novel of the same name, the neo-noir psychological political thriller film The Manchurian Candidate is directed by John Frankenheimer. It follows an American POW from the Korean War who is brainwashed to serve as an unintentional killer for a global Communist conspiracy. "The Manchurian Candidate" is often referred to as someone who is manipulated for political purposes.
'Three Days of the Condor' (1975)
Directed by Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack, the 1975 political thriller film Three Days of Condor stars Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. Set in Manhattan, the film follows a bookish CIA researcher who returns from lunch one day to find his coworkers dead. The Oscar-nominated film unfolds how he seeks to outwit and kill those responsible.
'All the President's Men' (1976)
Starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, the 1976 biographical political thriller film All the President's Men is about the Watergate Scandal that brought down the presidency of Richard Milhous Nixon. It is based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by two journalists investigating the scandal for The Washington Post - Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, played by Hoffman and Redford respectively.
'Argo' (2012)
Ben Affleck's 2012 political thriller film Argo is adapted from US CIA operative Tony Mendez's memoir. Based on the 2007 Wired article The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran by Joshuah Bearman, it follows a CIA who disguised as a Hollywood filmmaker to rescue six American hostages from Tehran, Iran in 1979-1981.
'Reality' (2023)
The latest HBO political thriller crime drama film Reality is based on Reality Winner's FBI interview transcript, which Tina Satter previously dramatized as the play Is This a Room. Winner is a US Air Force veteran who was given the longest prison sentence for leaking intelligence reports related to Russian interference in the 2016 US elections to the media.
