Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "political-thriller"
- Movies or TV
- Genres
- Keywords
- IMDb Rating
- Instant Watch Options
- In Theaters
- On TV
- Release Year
1. Homeland (2011–2020)
TV-MA | 55 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.
Stars: Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Damian Lewis, Rupert Friend
Votes: 335,285
2. 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 Díaz
Votes: 72,526
3. Shooter (I) (2007)
R | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the President. After being double crossed for the attempt and on the run, he sets out for the real killer and the truth.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, Rhona Mitra, Danny Glover
Votes: 329,605 | Gross: $47.00M
4. 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: 294,145 | Gross: $95.72M
5. 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: 88,155
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Adventure, Family
With their warning about Lord Voldemort's return scoffed at, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power at Hogwarts.
Director: David Yates | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 564,464 | Gross: $292.00M
7. V for Vendetta (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea
Votes: 1,099,469 | Gross: $70.51M
8. The China Syndrome (1979)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady
Votes: 29,947 | Gross: $51.72M
9. Angel Has Fallen (2019)
R | 121 min | Action, Thriller
Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat.
Director: Ric Roman Waugh | Stars: Gerard Butler, Frederick Schmidt, Danny Huston, Rocci Williams
Votes: 94,778 | Gross: $69.03M
10. A Few Good Men (1992)
R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller
Military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon
Votes: 256,764 | Gross: $141.34M
11. Medici (2016–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Biography, Drama, History
A political family drama set in Florence in the early fifteenth century. Cosimo de Medici finds himself at the helm of his banking dynasty when his father, Giovanni, dies suddenly.
Stars: Daniel Sharman, Alessandra Mastronardi, Synnove Karlsen, Sebastian De Souza
Votes: 18,608
12. The Lives of Others (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 383,403 | Gross: $11.29M
13. The Bourne Identity (2002)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen
Votes: 538,576 | Gross: $121.66M
14. Enemy of the State (1998)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet
Votes: 241,128 | Gross: $111.55M
15. The Hunt for Red October (1990)
PG | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain, in a new undetectable sub, violates orders and heads for the U.S. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill
Votes: 195,640 | Gross: $122.01M
16. Valkyrie (2008)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, Kenneth Branagh
Votes: 240,883 | Gross: $83.08M
17. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Lisa Thoreson, Florence Kastriner
Votes: 255,170 | Gross: $62.50M
18. 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: 153,544 | Gross: $70.41M
19. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 171,611 | Gross: $1.24M
20. London Has Fallen (2016)
R | 99 min | Action, Thriller
In London for the Prime Minister's funeral, Mike Banning is caught up in a plot to assassinate all the attending world leaders.
Director: Babak Najafi | Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett
Votes: 156,223 | Gross: $62.68M
21. 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: 54,565 | Gross: $50.01M
22. Body of Lies (2008)
R | 128 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani
Votes: 226,801 | Gross: $39.39M
23. Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
R | 119 min | Action, Thriller
Secret Service agent Mike Banning finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack and works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett
Votes: 272,509 | Gross: $98.93M
24. The Crying Game (1992)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A British soldier kidnapped by IRA terrorists soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 55,061 | Gross: $62.55M
25. Salt (2010)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Thriller
A CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski
Votes: 311,077 | Gross: $118.31M
26. 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: 113,435 | Gross: $70.60M
27. 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: 218,999 | Gross: $73.10M
28. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
R | 117 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow
Votes: 54,778 | Gross: $41.51M
29. Nick of Time (1995)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An unimpressive, everyday man is forced into a situation where he is told to kill a politician to save his kidnapped daughter.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Courtney Chase, Charles S. Dutton
Votes: 42,010 | Gross: $8.17M
30. The Interpreter (2005)
PG-13 | 128 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a U.S. Secret Service agent is assigned to investigate an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen
Votes: 106,218 | Gross: $72.71M
31. 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: 193,204 | Gross: $172.96M
32. Executive Decision (1996)
R | 133 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
When terrorists seize control of an airliner, an intelligence analyst accompanies a commando unit for a midair boarding operation.
Director: Stuart Baird | Stars: Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt
Votes: 56,621 | Gross: $56.57M
33. The Constant Gardener (2005)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business, and corporate corruption.
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Hubert Koundé
Votes: 139,946 | Gross: $33.58M
34. Z (1969)
M/PG | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The public murder of a prominent politician and doctor amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials. A tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant, François Périer
Votes: 28,230 | Gross: $0.08M
35. Clear and Present Danger (1994)
PG-13 | 141 min | Action, Crime, Drama
CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, Joaquim de Almeida
Votes: 98,115 | Gross: $122.19M
36. Patriot Games (1992)
R | 117 min | Action, Thriller
When CIA analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin
Votes: 110,928 | Gross: $83.29M
37. Colonia (2015)
R | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A young woman's desperate search for her abducted boyfriend draws her into the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a sect nobody has ever escaped from.
Director: Florian Gallenberger | Stars: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist, Richenda Carey
Votes: 53,095
38. The Sum of All Fears (2002)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
CIA analyst Jack Ryan must stop the plans of a Neo-Nazi faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia's President by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore, Maryland.
Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ian Mongrain, Russell Bobbitt
Votes: 114,566 | Gross: $118.91M
39. In the Line of Fire (1993)
R | 128 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) 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: 102,143 | Gross: $102.31M
40. State of Play (2009)
PG-13 | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When a congressional aide is killed, a Washington, D.C. journalist starts investigating the case involving the Representative, his old college friend.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren
Votes: 151,218 | Gross: $37.02M
41. 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: 102,594 | Gross: $59.95M
42. The General's Daughter (1999)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When the daughter of a well-known and well-respected base commander is murdered, an undercover detective is summoned to look into the matter and finds a slew of cover-ups at West Point.
Director: Simon West | Stars: John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 58,831 | Gross: $102.71M
43. The Jackal (1997)
R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An imprisoned I.R.A. fighter is freed to help stop a brutal, seemingly "faceless" assassin from completing his next job.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier, Diane Venora
Votes: 115,671 | Gross: $54.93M
44. 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: 39,893 | Gross: $35.51M
45. 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: 221,590 | Gross: $40.96M
46. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
PG | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel
Votes: 40,531 | Gross: $16.06M
47. Snake Eyes (1998)
R | 98 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A shady police detective finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy at an important boxing match in an Atlantic City casino.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino
Votes: 80,882 | Gross: $55.59M
48. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 51,512 | Gross: $13.75M
49. 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: 110,144 | Gross: $65.96M
50. The Ghost Writer (2010)
PG-13 | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A ghost writer, hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Jon Bernthal
Votes: 162,410 | Gross: $15.54M