Political repression movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant political repression movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out captivating, suspense, serious, disturbing, realistic and tense films and TV shows about / with political repression, murder, runaway, friendship, violence, communist, politics, betrayal, survival and communism plots mostly in Drama, History and Thriller genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
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TOP 10 movies tagged as political repression: Salvador (1986), Ashes in the Snow (2018), The Butcher of Prague (2011), Lenin's Testament (2007), The Killing Fields (1984), The Gate (2014), Death and the Maiden (1994), A March to Remember (2018), Within the Whirlwind (2009), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).
Best films
New films
List of political repression movies
25K
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Mexico, UK
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
A second rated journalist from the US tries his luck in El Salvador during the military dictatorship in the 1980s.
Style:
suspense, political, thought provoking, factual, harsh ...
Plot:
civil war, photojournalist, revolution, dictator, war correspondent, politics, journalism, war, dictatorship, reporter, assassination, cold war ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, year 1986, 70s
Place:
latin america, central america, san francisco, south america
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Lithuania
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Style:
atmospheric, costume drama, emotional, suspense, serious ...
Plot:
political repression, world war two, military camp, survival, violent man, hopes, saving a life, hostage, teenage girl, rescue, murder, destiny ...
Time:
year 1941, 1940s
Place:
siberia, soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
With the Nazi takeover of Europe underway, the Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich arrives in Prague and his underlings begin enforcing his authority in the towns and villages across the occupied country. In Lidice, the film's main protagonist, ...
Style:
disturbing, realistic, emotional, serious, bleak ...
Plot:
nazi occupation, political repression, world war two, mass murder, genocide, holocaust, life is a bitch, heroic mission, wartime life, social relations, against humanity, haunted by the past ...
Time:
1940s, year 1942, 20th century
Place:
prague, czech republic, czechoslovakia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story:
The author of The Kolyma Stories and many other works spent 17 years in the terrible GULAG camps on Kolyma. The term that Varlam Tikhonovich received in 1929 was for distributing Lenin's letter to the congress, in which he criticized Stalin. ...
Plot:
gulag, political repression, labor camp, memory, coercion, slave labor, prisoner of war camp, communist, bolshevik, communism, industrialization, russian revolution ...
Time:
1940s, 1920s
Place:
soviet union, russia
Is relevant?
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Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
The Killing Fields tells the real-life story of a friendship between two journalists, an American and a Cambodian, during the bloody Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in 1975, which led to the death of 2-3 million Cambodians during the next four ...
Style:
disturbing, tense, rough, political, heartbreaking ...
Plot:
genocide, journalism, vietnam war, civil war, photographer, war, violence, reporter, photograph, brutality, khmer rouge, mass murder ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, year 1973, 80s, year 1984 ...
Place:
cambodia, vietnam, east asia, asia, new york ...
Is relevant?
402
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Cambodia, Belgium
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Two decades after forging an unlikely alliance in Pol Pot's Cambodia, a French ethnologist and a former Khmer Rouge official meet again after the latter is arrested for crimes against humanity.
Style:
disturbing, serious, captivating, rough, bleak ...
Plot:
political repression, khmer rouge, survival, confined, against humanity, captivity, cambodian civil war, ideology, mass murder, communist, international law, crime against humanity ...
Time:
year 2014, 70s, 20th century
Place:
cambodia, asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.
Style:
psychological, suspense, sexy, disturbing, cerebral ...
Plot:
revenge, torture, politics, haunted by the past, brutality, dictatorship, doctor, humiliation, lawyer, justice, storytelling, attempted murder ...
Time:
year 1994, 90s, 20th century
Place:
chile, latin america, south america, eastern europe, barcelona ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Vitoria, Basque Country, Spain, March 3rd, 1976. After several months of protests demanding decent working conditions, representatives of struggling workers call for a general strike. In the church of San Francisco, in the working class neighborhood ...
Style:
captivating, suspense, suspenseful, tense, touching ...
Plot:
political repression, working class, labor strike, labor union, francisco franco, capitalist society, police, journalist, love triangle, police violence, catholic church, housewife ...
Time:
70s
Place:
spain, basque country
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Germany, Poland, Belgium
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
During Stalin's reign of terror, Evgenia Ginzburg, a literature professor, was sent to 10 years hard labor in a gulag in Siberia. Having lost everything, and no longer wishing to live, she meets the camp doctor and begins to come back to life.
Style:
psychological, disturbing, captivating, suspense, historical drama
Plot:
political repression, jailed, male female relationship, gulag, political persecution, political prisoner, couple relations, love affair, wartime, relationships, love story, wartime life ...
Time:
year 1934
Place:
siberia, soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, India, UK
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
What was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard. The organizers of the protest — including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale ...
Style:
political, factual, suspense, period piece, historical drama ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
courtroom drama, activist, political repression, courtroom, hippie, injustice, riot, jury, lawyer, political protest, political persecution, court ...
Time:
year 1969, 60s, 2020s, year 1968, 20th century ...
Place:
chicago, oakland california, washington d.c., mississippi, ohio ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 49 min.
TV show
Story:
The year is 1930. In a small Tartar village, a woman named Zuleikha watches as her husband is murdered by communists. Zuleikha herself is sent into exile, enduring a horrendous train journey to a remote spot on the Angara River in Siberia. ...
Style:
heartbreaking, disturbing, period piece, historical drama, poignant ...
Plot:
peasant, political repression, female protagonist, loss, propaganda, russophobia, political violence, oppression, survival, exile, power, threat ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
siberia, soviet union
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, West Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
Style:
disturbing, thought provoking, psychological, cult classic, political ...
Plot:
distopia, dystopia, politics, totalitarianism, dystopian future, brainwashing, technology, fascism, totalitarian state, satire, surveillance, political corruption ...
Time:
future, 80s, year 1984, near future, 20th century ...
Place:
london, england, europe, britain, united kingdom
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Vienna, 1937, on the eve of the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. The young and inexperienced Franz Huchel begins to learn about both the joys and hardships of life by working as an apprentice to the mutilated war veteran Otto Trsnjek in a ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, captivating, atmospheric
Plot:
political repression, naked woman, world war two, male nudity, friendship, historical figure, friends, danger, rivalry, society, wartime life, gestapo ...
Time:
1930s, year 1938, 20th century
Place:
germany, vienna, central europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
The story of a humble farmer who becomes President of Mexico. When he is falsely accused of fraud and incarcerated, he must fight back against the corrupt system behind the scheme and clear his name for the sake of his country and family.
Style:
tense, captivating, disturbing, political thriller, intense ...
Plot:
political repression, political intrigue, confined, political persecution, president, wrongful imprisonment, corruption, politician, jail, jailed, political prisoner, politics ...
Place:
mexico, latin america, mexico city
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the ...
Style:
exciting, futuristic, teen, suspenseful, serious ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, chick flick, family outing, kids
Plot:
survival, female protagonist, dystopian future, death, game of death, dystopia, distopia, competition, contests and competitions, youth, heroine, danger ...
Time:
future, near future, year 2012, 2010s
Place:
north america, seattle
Is relevant?
11K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: Chile, Argentina, France, Spain, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
It’s 1948 and the Cold War has arrived in Chile. In the Congress, prominent Communist Senator and popular poet Pablo Neruda accuses the government of betraying the Party and is stripped of his parliamentary immunity by President González Videla. ...
Style:
costume drama, serious, suspenseful, realistic, captivating ...
Plot:
political repression, latinx lead, writers, anti communism, poet, manhunt, latin american history, propaganda, biopic, politician, police detective, police investigation ...
Time:
1940s, year 2016, year 1948, 2010s, 20th century ...
Place:
chile, south america, santiago chile, latin america, andes mountains ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, South Africa
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
Style:
emotional, inspirational, serious, realistic, political ...
Plot:
rebellion, apartheid, prison, prison life, civil rights, political repression, racism, biopic, politics, brutality, human spirit, courage ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 2013, 1950s, 80s ...
Place:
south africa, africa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 171 min.
Story:
Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet ...
Style:
sexy, erotic, sexual, sensual, erotic drama ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
sex, infidelity, passion, adultery, waitress, photography, voyeurism, lesbianism, voyeur, erotic scene, photograph, love triangle ...
Time:
20th century, year 1988, year 1968, 60s
Place:
central europe, california, switzerland, soviet union, europe ...
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
100 Minutes is the tale of thousands of Soviet soldiers who fought the Nazis and whose only ‘crime’ was to get caught. Stalin’s justice meted out on the prisoners who returned home was swift: ten years of forced labour in the Siberian camps. ...
Style:
suspense, disturbing, captivating, psychological, tense
Plot:
political repression, gulag, captivity, prisoner of war camp, prison guard, prisoner, soldier, life is a bitch, captive, repression, political prisoner, letter ...
Place:
russia
Is relevant?
Genre: Horror
Country: Argentina, Mexico
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
During the last broadcast of 60 Minutes Before Midnight, the most watched journalistic program on television, Adrián Marcato could expose a conspiracy and link the government to a obscure secret society.
Style:
suspense, tense, psychological, suspenseful, disturbing ...
Plot:
political repression, senator, fear, television studio, conspiracy theory, occult, murder, conspiracy, president, expose, justice, evil plot ...
Time:
80s, year 1987
Place:
buenos aires argentina
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Argentina, Spain
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
In the present, in Spain, Miguel's mind, affected by a brain disease, seems cloistered in the past, in Argentina, in the seventies, when he risked his life for his ideals. He is obsessed with finding a woman named Diana. Mario, his son, who has ...
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, touching, captivating, suspense ...
Plot:
father son relationship, political repression, terrorist group, military dictatorship, estranged son, fall in love, love, haunted by the past, violence, memory loss, family drama, boyfriend girlfriend relationship ...
Time:
70s
Place:
argentina, spain
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
Berlin, 1941. Five friends eager to become heroes in an adventure that will change the face of Europe - and that will forever change them as well.
Style:
tense, captivating, thought provoking, serious, anime ...
Plot:
world war two, nazism, holocaust, soldier, military, nazi germany, guilt, danger, eastern front, atrocity, wehrmacht, friends ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
germany, berlin germany, east germany, hawaii, soviet union ...
Is relevant?
127K
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA, Poland, United Arab Emirates, India
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Peter Weir's follow-up to Master & Commander (2003) is the stark & brilliant The Way Back, which takes on the theme of man's struggle for freedom. At the dawn of WWII, several men escape from a Russian gulag. The film ...
Style:
epic, inspirational, realistic, road movie, rough ...
Plot:
survival, wilderness, prison escape, escape, journey, war, pow, freedom, gulag, world war two, explorer, human spirit ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, 2010s
Place:
himalaya, russia, tibet, mongolia, soviet union ...
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story:
Directed by Academy Award-winner Florian Gallenberger from Sigefried Lenz's international bestseller, "Der Überläufer" is set in the summer of 1944. German soldier Walter Proska is about to return to the Eastern Front when his train ...
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, suspense, unusual plot structure, captivating ...
Plot:
world war two, german soldier, partisan, nazi germany, pow, eastern front, defector, political repression, nazi occupied poland, border crossing, swamp, jail ...
Time:
1940s, year 1945, year 1956, post world war two, year 1944
Place:
berlin germany, east berlin, germany, hamburg germany
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: Hungary
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Welcome to Hungary, Christmas 1957. The state, shaken and insecure by the defeated revolution of 1956 and prodded by a renewed Stalinist atmosphere, has decreed that all security personnel must take an exam to challenge and verify their loyalty. But ...
Style:
captivating, serious, disturbing, suspense, visual ...
Plot:
secret police, political repression, investigation, secret agent, informant, covert operation, agent, courtroom drama, hitman, police station, stalinism, cover-up ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1957, 20th century
Place:
budapest, hungary, europe
Is relevant?
224K
Genre: Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Country: UK, USA, Canada
Duration: 160 min.
Story:
This is the story of how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and it involves love, loss, hatred, envy and an unwillingness to accept anything that is different.
Style:
fairy tale, absurd, sinister, crying, powerful ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
bullying, wizard of oz, witch, magic, feminism, abuse of power, talking animal, prejudice, based on broadway musical, dancing, rebellion, fighting the system ...
Place:
new york
Is relevant?
813
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Violette is old enough to marry in 1852 when her mountain village is brutally deprived of all its men following the repression of the Republicans ordered by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. The women spend months in total isolation. Desperate to one day ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, disturbing, independent film
Plot:
political repression, female protagonist, sorority, social problems, male female relationship, women, love, victorian england, woman, missing man, getting home, political prisoner ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 2017, victorian era
Place:
south of france, france, provence
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Romero is a compelling and deeply moving look at the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who made the ultimate sacrifice in a passionate stand against social injustice and oppression in his county. This fil chronicles the transformation ...
Style:
inspirational, realistic, reflective, serious, tense ...
Plot:
catholic, church, murder, political repression, priest, biopic, religion, catholic priest, saint, christian, social commentary, politics ...
Time:
year 1989, 80s, 70s
Place:
latin america, south america
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government.
Style:
political, realistic, serious, suspense
Plot:
politics, political repression, government, political corruption, revolution, siblings relations, tragic love, vengeance, love and romance, dishonesty, conspiracy, professor ...
Time:
60s, 1950s, 1940s, 1930s, 50s
Place:
caribbean, latin america, dominican republic
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Spain, France, Canada
Duration: 147 min.
Story:
Higinio and Rosa have only been married for a few months when the Civil War breaks out, representing a serious threat to his life. Helped by his wife, they decide to use a hole dug into their own home as a provisional hiding place. The fear of ...
Style:
tense, suspenseful, captivating, suspense, hispanic ...
Plot:
dictatorship, spanish civil war, secret, revenge, assassination, political repression, fear, arrest, small village, spanish history, hiding place, delusion ...
Time:
1930s, 1940s, 20th century, year 1936, year 1945 ...
Place:
iberian peninsula, spain, andalusia, europe, morocco ...
Is relevant?
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