Political filmshave long been a watermark of plausibility when it comes to political actions that take place behind closed doors — or out on the world’s stage. For a fictional political film to suspend disbelief, it requires a script that the audience could deem credible, were it to happen in real life.Themost-stirring political fictions in cinemamay deviate from actual historical events, but the precedent set by documented historical turning points — say, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (whose death was the most immediate cause of World War I) — create a believability for politically-attuned screenwriters like Aaron Sorkin and David Mamet to spitball about global potentialities in screenplay format.Such fateful historical moments have provided plenty of fodder for biopics and historical dramas, but have also wedged the door open forfictionalpolitical films to reach greater extremes. Events like the Cuban Missile Crisis, theassassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are stories rife with conspiracy, espionage, and skullduggery that rival any of fiction’s most grandiose political plots.Those real-life stories have inspired their own cadre of films, but here we’ll examine fictional thrillers, satires, and courtroom dramas that have used political scandal as their foundation, in every case foreboding because of their potential real-life implications — maybe even probability.While not all of these scenarios have an analogous historical event from America’s past, it doesn’t take a leap of faith to know and fear that these plots could one day become reality — and to know that some already have. The following are 11 films about politics that are scary because they could happen in real life.
11Bulworth (1998)
One of the mostfamous leading men of the ’60s and ’70s, Warren Beatty began to try his hand at directing films mid-career. That included the stirring Cold War dramaReds, then a zany, satirical look at politics withBulworth.Beatty also stars in the film, as Senator Jay Billington Bulworth. The movie’s conceit is that of a politician who, during a Presidential primary run, begins to freely speak his mind as he knows he’ll soon be assassinated and has nothing to lose.
Similar to Bulworth, Donald Trump Revealed Personal Truths Few Else Would Dare
The fact that a politician speaking his mind freely was an inspiration for satire shows what a shrewd and deceptive landscape American politics was in the ’90s. Nowadays, the thin veil of secrecy has been removed for conservatives and liberals alike, thanks to real-time platforms like the Twitterverse.Say what you want about former President Donald J. Trump— he has never shied away from shooting from the hip in ways unthinkable by previous politicians.Political figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene have followed suit, creating a landscape where once-taboo ideas like White Nationalism and Islamophobia have become regular election talking points for conservatives — or at the very least dog whistles for their voting base.For Beatty’s Senator Bulworth, honesty was liberating. For Republican and Democratic leaders today, it may expose some backward-leaning ideas about race and policy.
10Irresistible (2020)
Irresistible
Sometimes, bipartisan agendas are fought not at the senatorial or gubernatorial level, but in small mayoral races that can sway the ideologies of American citizens — thanks to their viral media coverage.In the filmIrresistible, Steve Carell plays Gary Zimmer, a political strategist tasked to run a mayoral election in a small Wisconsin town, thanks to the election’s larger national implications. The hot-button issueat the film’s core is illegal immigration, when a Democratic candidate for mayor controversially shows support for the town’s local migrant population.
How Immigration Policies in Individual Cities May Help Sway 2024 Elections
Texas governor Greg Abbott has brought the issue of illegal immigration to the fore of late, by sending illegal immigrants by the busload to so-called “sanctuary cities” in other states.Related:10 Underrated Political ThrillersSuddenly, local governments in cities like Chicago and New York City are scrambling to house these migrants, and the resultant use of budget resources to address immigration has become a major talking point leading up to the 2024 election.Also similar toIrresistible’s immigration-centered focus, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had, in 2022, shipped migrants from San Antonio to theidyllic shores of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachussets— a tiny island that’s a hotbed of Northeast liberalism where the Kennedy’s own homes — subsequently becoming fodder for political warfare often-addressed in congressional debates.With President Joe Biden struggling to solve the border crisis today, events like this may come to dominate the subsequent Presidential debates in the lead up to the 2024 general election.
9Wag the Dog (1997)
InWag the Dog, Dustin Hoffman won a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of a Hollywood producer tasked with creating a fake war in Albania to distract from a presidential sex scandal. The film was one of many that capitalized on theBill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair, which provided enough political theater to makeDr. Strangelove-director Stanley Kubrick blush.
How AI Could Mimic the Film’s Plot in Real Life Elections
If recent congressional hearings and the Hollywood WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are any indication,AI’s ability to make believable deep fakescould have major political implications in the near future.Given Russia’s involvement in helping sway the 2016 Presidential election to Donald Trump by flooding American social media with fake news about his opponents, it seems likely that deep-faking is similarly about to be harnessed to nefarious ends in the Fall of 2024.Imagine a scenario where a deep fake that created a negative perception of a Presidential candidate was dropped the day before an election, swaying votes before the video could be debunked. Or you don’t have to imagine a deep-fake AI video about a modern political leader surrendering during a war —it already happened.
8Dave (1993)
The 1993 comedyDavecreated a not-so-far-fetched scenario of a Presidential body double, who is pressed into service after the real President suffers a stroke. Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) is a dead ringer for President William Harris Mitchell, impersonating the Prez part-time at sideshows, before President Mitchell suffers a stroke during a sexual encounter with a staffer.Dave the doppelgänger is pressed into service as the Leader of the Free World — as the government opts to deceive the populace by using Dave as the perfect double, rather than expose the truth of the president’s death.
Body Doubles Have Been, and Continue to Be Used By World Leaders
Heads-of-State Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, and Manuel Noriega have all used body doubles for purposes ranging from security to logistics — even towards ends likemilitary strategy and political deception. Saddam Hussein had such convincing body doubles that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld required that the Iraqi despot be publicly identified upon his capture by American troops.A scenario where the use of a Presidential body double would impact major global politics is only enhanced by the contemporary use of doubles by leaders as influential as Vladamir Putin.Similar toDave, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the American government obfuscating our 81-year-old President falling gravely ill if it meant saving an election. Some have even suggestedPresident Ronald Reagan had advanced Alzheimer’s while still in officein the ’80s.
7The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
The year beforeDaveused a political sex scandal involving a staffer to launch its plot,The Distinguished Gentlemanused the same device to create a fictional vacuum in Congress for the con artist Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy).Johnson jumps into a race for a seat in the House using his penchant for deception, and by banking on the general public simply voting for the “name you know.” That leads to his House election victory, and a move to Washington, D.C., where his clever plan to use politics to make a fortune is set in motion.
How George Santos Similarly Conned His Way Into the House of Representatives
George Santos rose to prominence during the gunslingin' Pandemic Era of political fraudsters. Santos was caught lying about being a college graduate, working for Goldman Sachs — and even allegedlyswindled a disabled vet whose dog was dyingto raise funds for his own means.Considering how deep into a political career Santos made it before being outed as a fraud and booted from Congress, Murphy’s role as Thomas Jefferson Johnson isevidently something that has happened in real life— and will likely continue to happen in the future.
6The Contender (2000)
InThe Contender, Joan Allen gave a stirring portrayal as Ohio Senator Laine Hanson, who is nominated by President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) to take over as Vice President — after his previous Vice’s death.The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that both houses of America’s bicameral legislature must approve such an appointment, requiring hearings that become political theater at its most-ruthless. Congressional hearings make for great movie material, as they essentially cross political plots withthe art of the courtroom drama.
How Female Candidates Have Been Attacked in Ways Similar to the Film
InThe Contender, Sen. Laine Hanson’s character is attacked when judiciary committee member Sheldon Runyon (Gary Oldman) calls attention to a photograph of Hanson involved in a sexual orgy during her wild college years.If that seems like a far-flung scenario, consider the misogynist and sex-shaming attacks on female leaders throughout history, from Catherine the Great’s controversial “taking of many lovers” as the Empress of Russia, to Iris Robinson, a member of British Parliament from Northern Ireland,whose story may be the origin of the termcougar.In a male-dominated political landscape, expect this sort of sexual branding to continue being used against female politicians in the future — especially those running for executive office.
5The Candidate
Michael Ritchie was a lesser-known name fromthe ranks of ’70s New Hollywoodauteurs, but he’s made groundbreaking films likeThe Bad News Bears, and his two collaborations with Robert Redford,Downhill RacerandThe Candidaterank among his best work.In the latter, Redford plays Bill McKay, who, similarly to the filmBulworth,campaigns on a platform of total intellectual transparency, as he’s entered an unwinnable race anyway. When his election prospects go from bad to worse, McKay is suddenly forced to walk back his ambition for truth — leading to an unlikely political outcome.
How Current Politicians May Be Walking Back Their True Colors to Win Elections
The one constant in American politics is change, with term limits and legal checks and balances creating a revolving door of Senators and Congressional Representatives whose political fortunes are made or lost with every success or misstep that goes viral.During a recent Republican primary debate, Governor Nikki Haley failed to mention slavery when asked about the causes of the American Civil War. Haley received immediate rebuke from left-wing political pundits, and exposed the racial politics of many talking heads on the right for downplaying the incident. Haley has since scrambled to leave the gaffe behind and get back into the primary race.
4The American President (1995)
A somewhat-forgotten ’90s political romance/drama that has become more critically-appreciated with time,The American Presidentcast the always-stately Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shephard, a widower whose somewhat-innocent romance with a lobbyist turns into a game of political chess with his opponents.Aaron Sorkin wrote the script, as his two collaborations with director Rob Reiner, this andA Few Good Men, established him as Hollywood’s preeminent political scribe. This White House drama laid the groundwork forThe West Wing, a series thatproved to be Sorkin’s most ambitious effortin the realm of fictional political content.
How The American President Could Become a Reality
In the U.S.A.’s first century (an era of ‘consumption’, frequent deaths during childbirth, and generally arcane medical practices), early U.S. Presidents were often widowed while still in office. Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and Chester Arthur all lost their wives while in the Office of the Presidency.Projecting such a scenario into today’s social media and cable news landscape is enough to make your head spin, and Sorkin’s screenplay reflected a portion of that potential media scrutiny with this 1995 film. Nearly 30 years later, a widowed President could, quite easily, become a major national talking point primed for television debates — were such an outcome to occur today.
3The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
When Ol' Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra, crossed over into film roles in the 1960s, he chose several heroic military characters to elevate his stardom. Primary among them was the crooner’s role as Major Bennett Marco inThe Manchurian Candidate, a role that would later be renewed by Denzel Washington in the 2004 remake. As Major Marco, Sinatracharacterized an ex-military pawnwho is brainwashed by Communists.
How Philosophical Ethos Can Sway Political Figures Towards Extreme Ideologies
During the George W. Bush-era rise of Evangelical Christians, the notion of a strict religious sect and special-interest groups guiding the principles of lawmakers became ever-apparent. Since the Cold War, America’s wariness of the relationship between church and state, and non-Western political philosophies (Communism, in particular) has created an opportunity for filmmakers to tap into the fears of the average American audience.The Manchurian Candidatedid so at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and stories like those of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg have shown how forces acting locally can be indoctrinated by ideals born abroad — like the words of Karl Marx.
2The Interpreter (2005)
Sydney Pollack’s most politically-speculative film in a career full of them,The Interpreterposited a scenario where a United Nations language interpreter, played by Nicole Kidman, becomes embroiled in a game of diplomatic cat-and-mouse after losing her brother to a political conflict in Africa.The first movie to film inside the U.N.’s headquarters, Pollack assuaged the multinational diplomatic body by centering the plot around a fictional nation, allowing for the film’s authentic locations. It wouldn’t be a reach to see this type of diplomatic conflict happen in the real world, with massacres like those in Benghazi and Beirut providing real-world models.Related:The Greatest Movie and TV Performances as The President of the United States of America
Historical Moments that Suggest Average Citizens Can Have Global Impact as in The Interpreter
InThe Interpreter, Kidman plays Silvia Broome, a white African who, despite working in the lower ranks of the intergovernmental organization, takes measures that affect global politics thanks to her proximity to sensitive international intelligence.As in the film,average citizens like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manninghave greatly impacted our perceptions of the American government through their risky acts as whistleblowers.In conflict zones such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, average folks are often conscripted into larger conflicts by circumstance, an eventuality that can (and has) happened in the U.S., as well. As long as political corruption exists, so too will brave souls willing to confront those in power.
