Political Satire
Satire is the delicate art of critique through humor, and politics can make for a particularly juicy subject. Political satire exposes and ridicules the failings of our institutions and ideologies — as well as some individuals — inviting laughter and also maybe more serious reflection.
The Count
(El Conde)
A black comedy reimagining Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a vampire.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Chile • 2023
- Director Pablo Larraín
- Cast Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger
- Genre Comedy, History, Horror
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Death of Stalin
In the Kremlin, no one can hear you scheme.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Belgium • 2017
- Director Armando Iannucci
- Cast Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Olga Kurylenko
- Genre Comedy, History
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Shin Godzilla
(シン・ゴジラ)
A god incarnate. A city doomed.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2016
- Director Hideaki Anno
- Cast Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Kengo Kora, Satoru Matsuo, Mikako Ichikawa
- Genre Action, Science Fiction
- Available on Fandango At Home, AMC on Demand
The Perfect Dictatorship
(La dictadura perfecta)
A corrupt politician hires the TV network who preciously smeared him to spin his image into that of a model Mexican president.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 2014
- Director Luis Estrada
- Cast Damián Alcázar, Alfonso Herrera, Joaquín Cosío, Osvaldo Benavides, Silvia Navarro, Flavio Medina
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
District 9
You are not welcome here.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- South Africa, United States, New Zealand • 2009
- Director Neill Blomkamp
- Cast Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, Elizabeth Mkandawie, John Sumner
- Genre Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
In the Loop
A British bureaucrat’s bumbling comments on television lead to a series of political maneuverings in the days leading up to a potential war.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2009
- Director Armando Iannucci
- Cast Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky
- Genre Comedy
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Thank You for Smoking
Tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor tries to balance his job of marketing smoking to the public with the responsibility of raising a son.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2005
- Director Jason Reitman
- Cast Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
The Thick of It
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2005
- Creator Armando Iannucci
- Cast Chris Addison, Peter Capaldi, Rebecca Front, Joanna Scanlan, Roger Allam
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, BritBox, BritBox Amazon Channel, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Britbox Apple TV Channel
Battle Royale
(バトル・ロワイアル)
Could you kill your best friend?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2000
- Director Kinji Fukasaku
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Tsuyako Kinoshita, Eri Ishikawa, Sayaka Ikeda, Tomomi Shimaki, Tamaki Mihara
- Genre Drama, Thriller, Adventure
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Brazil
It's only a state of mind.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 1985
- Director Terry Gilliam
- Cast Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin
- Genre Comedy, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
The Marquis of Grillo
(Il marchese del Grillo)
Marquis Onofrio del Grillo prances around 19th-century Rome, making a mockery of The Church, the government, and the people.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1981
- Director Mario Monicelli
- Cast Alberto Sordi, Paolo Stoppa, Caroline Berg, Riccardo Billi, Flavio Bucci, Camillo Milli
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Amazon Video
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
(Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie)
An upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1972
- Director Luis Buñuel
- Cast Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur, Bulle Ogier, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
La Chinoise
(La chinoise)
In this dark political comedy, a group of French university students are studying Mao and decide to start a revolution.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1967
- Director Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast Anne Wiazemsky, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Michel Semeniako, Lex De Bruijn, Omar Diop
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Metrograph, Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Nuclear war breaks out when a rogue general orders a strike on the U.S.S.R., and it's up to the government to try to avert the end of the world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 1964
- Director Stanley Kubrick
- Cast Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull
- Genre Comedy, War
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand