Social commentary movies and TV shows – page 5

List of social commentary movies

 7.1
 28K
Catch-22 (1970)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation. Catch-22 is a parody of a "military mentality" and of a bureaucratic society ...
Style: dark comedy, black comedy, absurd, surreal, grim ...
Plot: world war two, anti war, satire, military, bomber, male nudity, soldier, aviation, social commentary, literary, wartime, world war ...
Time: 1940s, year 1970, year 1944, 20th century, 70s
Place: rome italy, alexandria egypt, sardinia, mediterranean sea, new york ...
Is relevant?
Watermelon Man (1970)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Jeff Gerber, an insurance agent, lives in a typical suburban neighborhood. He is also both racist and a fitness freak. But Jeff's bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin ...
Style: cult classic, surreal, independent film, biting, humorous ...
Plot: racism, bigotry, satire, transformation, racial issues, african american, social commentary, bus, culture clash, black, interracial sex, sex ...
Time: 60s, 70s
Place: england, new jersey, africa
Is relevant?
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
Genre: Comedy
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story: And Now for Something Completely Different is a film spin-off from the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring favourite sketches from the first two seasons.
Style: surreal, funny, spoof, sketch comedy, absurd ...
Plot: satire, monty python, absurdism, social commentary, obstacle course, surrealism, british police, embarrassment, social satire, migration, buddies, serial killer ...
Time: year 1971, 20th century, 70s
Place: england, europe
Is relevant?
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy ...
Style: futuristic, suspenseful, exciting, tense, suspense ...
Audience: boys' night, teens, adult
Plot: deadly virus, virus, disaster, medical, laboratory, science, race against time, plague, alien, pandemic, epidemic, small town ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, distant future, year 1971, year 1970 ...
Place: new mexico, usa, north america
Is relevant?
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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Eccentric candy man Willy Wonka prompts a worldwide frenzy when he announces that golden tickets hidden inside five of his delicious candy bars will admit their lucky holders into his top-secret confectionary. But does Wonka have an agenda hidden ...
Style: feel good, visually stunning, light, surreal, entertaining ...
Audience: kids, family friendly, family outing, teens, girls' night ...
Plot: chocolate, children, teacher, overweight child, tour guide, mischievous children, inventor, child protagonist, childhood, surrealism, child, river ...
Time: 20th century, 1900s, 90s, 70s, year 1971
Place: germany, europe, west germany, paraguay, arizona ...
Is relevant?
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: West Germany, Mexico, Peru
Duration: 95 min.
Story: A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirre, a ruthless man who ...
Style: philosophical, suspenseful, surreal, art house, visual ...
Plot: insanity, gold, conquistador, amazon river, expedition, treasure hunt, river, amazon, legends and myths, jungle, megalomaniac, el dorado ...
Time: 16th century, ancient times, medieval times, year 1972
Place: south america, peru, germany, spain, andes mountains ...
Is relevant?
 7.7
 84K
Badlands (1973)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: Dramatization of the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1950s, in which a teenage girl and her twenty-something boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands.
Style: road movie, sexy, surreal, visual, art house ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: serial killer, killing spree, crime spree, road trip, father daughter relationship, lovers on the run, killer, murder, on the run, violent, true crime, landscape ...
Time: 20th century, 50s, 1950s, year 1959, year 1973 ...
Place: south dakota, montana, usa, wyoming
Is relevant?
 7.0
 75K
Soylent Green (1973)
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.
Style: futuristic, atmospheric, twist ending, cerebral, philosophical ...
Plot: dystopia, conspiracy, food, cannibalism, death, murder, overpopulation, distopia, police detective, investigation, law enforcement, consciousness ...
Time: future, distant future, near future, 2020s, 70s ...
Place: new york, usa, manhattan new york city
Is relevant?
 7.7
 163K
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Genre: Comedy, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A town – where everyone seems to be named Johnson – is in the way of the railroad and, in order to grab their land, Hedley Lemar, a politically connected nasty person, sends in his henchmen to make the town unlivable. After the sheriff is ...
Style: parody, spoof, humorous, funny, cult classic ...
Audience: teens
Plot: farce, cowboy, satire, old west, racism, absurd humor, cowboys and outlaws, small town, gay slur, chess, gunfight, ethnic slur ...
Time: 19th century, 70s, 1870s, year 1974
Place: los angeles, america, arizona, california
Is relevant?
 6.1
 17K
Jabberwocky (1977)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A medieval tale with Pythonesque humour: After the death of his father the young Dennis Cooper goes to town where he has to pass several adventures. The town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called 'Jabberwocky'. ...
Style: humorous, cult classic, sexy, talky, exciting ...
Audience: family friendly, teens
Plot: monster, satire, sword and sorcery, monty python, heroic mission, imaginary kingdom, knight, lone hero, alice in wonderland, curses spells and rituals, goofy hero, good versus evil ...
Time: middle ages, medieval times, 17th century
Place: england
Is relevant?
 7.7
 68K
Days of Heaven (1978)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: In 1910, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer. A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish ...
Style: art house, sexy, breathtaking, visually stunning, visually appealing ...
Plot: farmer, love triangle, impossible love, farm, train, love, autumn, harvest, passion, childhood, class differences, photograph ...
Time: 1910s, 20th century, year 1978, turn of the century, pre world war one
Place: usa, chicago, texas, midwest, austin texas
Is relevant?
 8.1
 384K
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 183 min.
Story: A group of working-class friends decides to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in ...
Style: depressing, epic, psychological, emotional, harsh ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: vietnam war, russian roulette, hunting, anti war, suicide, friendship, small town, wedding, u.s. army, gambling, drunkenness, war crime ...
Time: 20th century, year 1978, post world war two, 60s
Place: vietnam, pennsylvania, pittsburgh, asia, usa ...
Is relevant?
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The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.
Style: scary, suspenseful, creepy, dark, harsh ...
Plot: cannibalism, desert, cannibal, blood, family in danger, violence, brutality, rape, serial killer, serial rape, rape and revenge, violent ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1977
Place: california, usa, southern california
Is relevant?
 7.4
 28K
The Tin Drum (1979)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: West Germany, France, Poland
Duration: 142 min.
Story: Oskar is born in Germany in 1924 with an advanced intellect. Repulsed by the hypocrisy of adults and the irresponsibility of society, he refuses to grow older after his third birthday.
Style: surreal, disturbing, controversial, clever, epic ...
Plot: world war two, fascism, coming of age, boy, circus, nazi, wartime life, magic realism, cheating wife, extramarital affair, infidelity, beach ...
Time: 1930s, 1940s, 20th century, 1920s, year 1939 ...
Place: germany, middle east, israel, europe, central europe ...
Is relevant?
 8.0
 433K
Life of Brian (1979)
Genre: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 94 min.
Story: Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the ...
Style: hilarious, funny, humorous, cult classic, parody ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: religion, monty python, satire, mistaken identity, absurdism, ancient rome, dark humor, medieval, ancient, roman empire, god, sarcasm ...
Time: 1st century, ancient times, biblical epic, 20th century, year 1979 ...
Place: jerusalem, palestine, ancient greece, greece, middle east ...
Is relevant?
 7.1
 93K
Wag the Dog (1997)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.
Style: black comedy, satirical, dark comedy, political, cynical ...
Plot: politics, satire, political corruption, journalism, election, cia, conspiracy, government, political conspiracy, secret service, president, election campaign ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: washington d.c., albania, persia, usa, middle east ...
Is relevant?
Gangs of New York (2002)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 167 min.
Story: It's 1863. America was born in the streets. Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points of America to seek vengeance against the psychotic gangland kingpin, Bill the Butcher, who murdered his father years earlier. With an eager pickpocket by ...
Style: tense, rough, bloody, epic, atmospheric ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: revenge, gang, vengeance, gangster, organized crime, street gang, violence, betrayal, racism, courage, violent, gang war ...
Time: 19th century, victorian era, 1800s, 1860s, 50s ...
Place: new york, usa, manhattan new york city
Is relevant?
 7.8
 8K
Herod's Law (1999)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Mexico
Duration: 123 min.
Story: Mexico, 1949. The fable of a janitor turned Mayor on a little town lost in the Mexican desert, who gradually realizes how far his new acquainted power and corruption can get him.
Style: political, realistic, dark comedy, black comedy, biting ...
Plot: politics, satire, corruption, social commentary, small town, political corruption, desert, dictatorship, mayor, greed, protest, leader ...
Time: 1940s, year 1999, 20th century
Place: latin america, mexico, south america, north america
Is relevant?
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 8.0
 272K
Love's a Bitch (2000)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 154 min.
Story: Three different people in Mexico City are catapulted into dramatic and unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a terrible car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer ...
Style: bleak, emotional, depressing, tense, psychological ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: multiple storylines, dog, forbidden love, violent, rottweiler, multiple perspectives, siblings relations, relationships, betrayal, vengeance, hitman, life is a bitch ...
Time: year 2000, y2k, year 1999, 90s, 2000s ...
Place: latin america, mexico city, mexico, south america, ohio ...
Is relevant?
 7.5
 538K
28 Days Later (2002)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the ...
Style: scary, frightening, atmospheric, dark, suspenseful ...
Audience: manly, boys' night
Plot: zombie, post apocalypse, virus, survival, apocalypse, epidemic, infected, fear, zombie apocalypse, plague, end of the world, experiment gone awry ...
Time: distant future, year 2003, near future, year 2000, year 2002 ...
Place: london, england, bolivia, britain, europe ...
Is relevant?
 7.1
 141K
The Dreamers (2003)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, Italy, USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.
Style: sexy, erotic, psychological, erotic drama, sexual ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: incest, sexuality, protest, sexual relations, sex, nudity, youth, couples, love triangle, brother sister relationship, brother sister incest, sex scene ...
Time: 60s, year 1968, year 2003, near future, 20th century
Place: paris france, france, europe
Is relevant?
Shattered Glass (2003)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 94 min.
Story: Fact-based 2003 drama about the young journalist Stephen Glass, who got a job at The New Republic in 1995 and for three years fabricated at least half of the stories he wrote.
Style: suspenseful, enigmatic, captivating, disturbing, mindfuck ...
Plot: journalism, writers, ethics, workplace, politics, media, fake news report, homosexual, research, workaholic, suspicion, career ...
Time: year 2003, 90s, 20th century
Place: washington d.c., palo alto california, haiti
Is relevant?
Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 133 min.
Story: It's three years after the events of the original Battle Royale, and Shuya Nanahara is now an internationally-known terrorist determined to bring down the government. His terrorist group, Wild Seven, stages an attack that levels several ...
Style: suspense, controversial, splatter, disturbing, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night, teens, kids
Plot: terrorist, dystopia, island, terrorism, vengeance, violent, dystopian future, revenge, terrorist group, friendship, game of death, violence ...
Time: 2000s
Place: japan, afghanistan, asia, israel
Is relevant?
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 8.2
 398K
Downfall (2004)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Germany, Austria, Italy
Duration: 156 min.
Story: In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still ...
Style: psychological, costume drama, harsh, disturbing, epic ...
Audience: adult
Plot: world war two, hitler, nazi, war, nazism, suicide, fascism, holocaust, national socialism, dictatorship, third reich, paranoia ...
Time: 1940s, year 2004, 2000s, 20th century, year 1945 ...
Place: germany, berlin germany, prague, europe, bavaria ...
Is relevant?
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Genre: Action, Horror
Country: USA, Canada, Japan, France
Duration: 101 min.
Story: A group of surviving people take refuge in a shopping center after the world has been over taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies. A remake of the 1978 zombie film of the same name.
Style: scary, creepy, cult classic, sexy, bloody ...
Audience: teens, manly, boys' night, adult
Plot: zombie, apocalypse, living dead, post apocalypse, virus, zombie apocalypse, survival, infected, zombie outbreak, blood, zombie attack, terror ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, future, year 2000, year 2003 ...
Place: usa, midwest, wisconsin
Is relevant?
The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 95 min.
Story: It’s 1974 and Sam Bicke has lost everything. His wife leaves him with his three kids, his boss fires him, his brother turns away from him, and the bank won’t give him any money to start anew. He tries to find someone to blame for his misfortunes ...
Style: realistic, depressing, serious, rough, suspenseful ...
Plot: depression, hypocrisy, assassination, suicide, psychology, crime gone awry, robbery, tragedy, revenge, attempted murder, assassination attempt, head of state ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, year 2004, year 1974
Place: baltimore, usa, vietnam
Is relevant?
 6.9
 138K
Syriana (2005)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: United Arab Emirates, USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story: The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a ...
Style: political thriller, cerebral, political, intense, serious ...
Plot: terrorism, espionage, corruption, cia, capitalism, spy, oil, globalization, conspiracy, middle east conflict, politics, terrorist ...
Time: 2000s, 20th century, year 2005, 21st century
Place: middle east, iran, lebanon, usa, israel ...
Is relevant?
 7.6
 46K
The Visitor (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
Style: depressing, philosophical, touching, independent film, psychological ...
Plot: immigrant, life, professor, destiny, loneliness, self discovery, friendship, jazz, arrest, lawyer, midlife crisis, existentialism ...
Time: year 2007
Place: new york, connecticut, michigan, senegal, manhattan new york city ...
Is relevant?
 8.0
 722K
Her (2013)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story: In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every needs. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. ...
Style: melancholic, philosophical, futuristic, crying, clever ...
Audience: date night, teens, chick flick, adult
Plot: loneliness, artificial intelligence, existentialism, philosophy, love, melancholy, computer, cyberspace, impossible love, solitude, love story, relationship problems ...
Time: near future, future, year 2013, distant future, 2030s ...
Place: los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant?
 6.0
 56K
The Condemned (2007)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Jack Conrad is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from ...
Style: exciting, action packed, intense, harsh, stylized ...
Audience: boys' night, teens
Plot: death row, last man standing, island, brutality, website, jungle, vengeance, chase, battles, criminal heroes, prison, revenge ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Is relevant?
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