Political oppression movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant political oppression movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out historical drama, captivating, period piece, bleak, tense and suspense films and TV shows about / with political oppression, moral ambiguity, sacrifice, survival, prison, moral dilemma, betrayal, nationalism, society and identity crisis plots mostly in Drama, History and Action genres shot in South Korea, USA, France and other countries.
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TOP 10 movies tagged as political oppression: Suffragette (2015), The First Purge (2018), Big Man, Little Love (2001), All Three of Us (2015), The Kitchen (2023), Carnival Row (2019), The Albanian Virgin (2021), Arrive Before Daybreak (1978), After Midnight (1981), Birds of Passage (2001).
Best films
New films
List of political oppression movies
Genre: Drama, History
Country: UK, France
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Based on true events about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement who were forced underground to evade the State.
Style:
political, factual, costume drama, period piece, bleak ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
feminism, feminist, women, girl power, sexism, rebelliousness, activism, politics, gender, women's suffrage, women's rights, sexual harassment ...
Time:
1900s, year 1912, 1910s, edwardian era, victorian era ...
Place:
england, london, britain, europe, united kingdom ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
To push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year, the New Founding Fathers of America test a sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of ...
Style:
psychological thriller, rough, suspenseful, hood, saga ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
blood, survival horror, social injustice, abuse of power, murder, atrocity, massacre, politics, nightmare, racism, killing spree, resistance movement ...
Time:
2010s, year 2014, year 2017
Place:
new york, new jersey, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey, Greece, Hungary
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Hejar, meaning "Dispossessed", a little Kurdish orphan war victim, educates a Turkish judge!
Style:
sincere, sentimental, suspense, political, islamic ...
Plot:
kurd, racism, nationalism, political oppression, children, orphan, neighbor, cultural difference, injustice, old man, police, murder ...
Place:
kurdistan, turkey
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
An Iranian family survives the shah and the ayatollah and moves to France. This story follows the family through it all. Despite the politics, revolution, prison, beatings, assassinations and suicides this is a comedy.
Style:
captivating, humorous, realistic, touching, tear jerker
Plot:
mountain, political oppression, political prisoner, marriage, large family, wedding, nurse, social worker, family relations, couples, society, friendship ...
Time:
1950s, year 2015, 80s, 70s, 50s
Place:
france, iran, middle east
Is relevant?
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Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
Izi's close to escaping The Kitchen, one of London's last remaining housing estates. But when young Benji enters his life, he faces some hard decisions.
Style:
thrilling, tense, captivating, suspenseful, futuristic
Plot:
political oppression, social issues, dystopia, urban setting, distopia, dystopian society, dystopian future, social problems, robbery, burglar, class differences, life is a bitch ...
Time:
2040s, near future, future, 21st century
Place:
london
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 56 min.
TV show
Story:
In a mystical and dark city filled with humans, fairies and other creatures, a police detective investigates a series of gruesome murders leveled against the fairy population. During his investigation, the detective becomes the prime suspect and ...
Style:
dark fantasy, sensual, gothic, erotic, costume drama ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
mythical creature, steampunk, interspecies romance, fairy, fantasy world, social injustice, monster, politician, alternate reality, class differences, sorceress, female friendship ...
Time:
victorian era, 19th century
Place:
england
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Albania, 1958. Luana, the daughter of a well respected man in the village, makes friends with Agim, who moved here after his family were banned from the city by the communists. Years later, their childhood friendship turns into teenage love, but ...
Style:
historical drama, romantic drama, poignant, emotional, melancholic ...
Plot:
forbidden love, family drama, female protagonist, political oppression, sacrifice, loneliness, patriarchy, gender roles, moral dilemma, arranged marriage, family honor, coming of age ...
Time:
1950s
Place:
albania
Is relevant?
Genre: War
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
The story of political prisoners, detained in a jail before the start of the WWII, and their torture and attempts to escape, and join a partisan unit.
Style:
historical drama, bleak, intense, dark, realistic ...
Plot:
torture, prison escape, political oppression, survival, sacrifice, courage, solidarity, escape plan, rebellion, wartime, oppression, world war two ...
Place:
former yugoslavia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
The Political drama shows the denunciation and persecution of the 19-year-old Sanne in the Nazi state. After she falls in love with her cousin, Sanne is betrayed by her jealous aunt to the Gestapo.
Style:
historical drama, bleak, period piece, tension, gloomy ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
female nudity, accusation, gestapo, jealousy, love, political persecution, political oppression, victimization, totalitarianism, nazi germany, forbidden love, social injustice ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
germany
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action, Crime, Drama
Country: France, Philippines, USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A quest for freedom in the South China Sea. Victims of China’s “One-Child” policy, 100 orphans, all girls, are shepherded by a determined activist, Mrs. Brown (Charlotte De Turckheim) onto a tramp freighter for a harrowing escape from the ...
Style:
emotional, heartbreaking, tense, atmospheric, intercultural ...
Plot:
survival, human rights, sea voyage, political oppression, social injustice, orphan, escape, hopes, activism, rescue mission, moral ambiguity, renegade ...
Place:
china
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: Czech Republic
Story:
Based on true events. USSR, 1950s. As the reach of the oppressive communist regime escalates,
Style:
detective, dramatic, exciting, captivating, historical drama ...
Plot:
dictatorship, spy, dictator, sex scene, communism, female nudity, jazz, political oppression, repression, resistance movement, young girl, jazz club ...
Time:
1950s, 50s
Place:
central europe, czechoslovakia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Africa
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
"Tenth of a Second" is the account of one man's desperate attempt to fight the oppressive apartheid regime of South Africa. This political thriller centres around Michael Wilder (James Whyle), a schoolteacher and political activist, ...
Style:
suspenseful, political thriller, psychological thriller, dark, grim ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
apartheid, guilt, terrorism, bomb, political oppression, social injustice, identity crisis, trauma, moral ambiguity, desperation, ethical dilemma, activism ...
Place:
south africa
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
Fontamara is a village in the Marsica, forgotten by all but God and its inhabitants are called 'cafoni' (boors). Berardo Viola wants to marry Elvira but only after gaining enough money to buy some land and in order to reach his aim he has ...
Style:
harsh, bleak, historical drama, political, melancholic
Plot:
fascism, political oppression, tragedy, poverty, social injustice, village, death of protagonist, social realism, working class, political persecution, class conflict, torture ...
Time:
1930s
Place:
rome italy, italy
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Germany
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Autumn 1961: The GDR regime secures the border between the workers' and peasants' state and the class enemy in the West. To ensure this, the leadership also orders the use of firearms against those fleeing the republic. In Böseckendorf, ...
Style:
suspenseful, captivating, psychological, thrilling, tense ...
Plot:
iron curtain, cold war, repression, political oppression, society, social issues, life is a bitch, social problems, resistance, realism, emigration, refugee ...
Place:
german democratic republic, east germany, germany
Is relevant?
121
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Cambodia, France
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
Cannes Special Screening 2016
Style:
bleak, political, emotional, poignant, realistic ...
Plot:
exile, trauma, genocide, loss, political oppression, khmer rouge, haunting, mourning, memory, survival, totalitarianism, identity ...
Time:
70s, year 1975
Place:
cambodia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Lithuania
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Radio Free Europe, BBC, and Voice of America can only rarely get through the Iron Curtain and Soviet mufflers to Lithuania, a country torn by a war between the local resistance movement and the Soviet regime that is forced onto Lithuanian people by ...
Style:
historical drama, captivating, suspense, psychological, bleak ...
Plot:
partisan, iron curtain, cold war, sacrifice, resistance movement, hopes, political oppression, post war, society, showdown, fight for supremacy, fighting the system ...
Time:
post world war two
Place:
lithuania
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Armenia
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
In 1948, decades after fleeing Armenia to the US as a child, Charlie returns in the hopes of finding a connection to his roots, but what he finds instead is a country crushed under Soviet rule. After being unjustly imprisoned, Charlie falls into ...
Style:
melancholic, historical drama, art house, period piece, tragic
Plot:
diaspora, imprisonment, character study, political oppression, memory, loneliness, longing, introspection, identity crisis, nostalgia, surveillance, survival ...
Time:
1950s, 1940s
Place:
armenia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, Switzerland, Iraq
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Cruel politics and intensive love. Najla (N) has just finished her medical studies in Rome. Sherko (S) conceals sick and injured partisans. Mokhtar (M) belongs to the dictator's police. S and M love N, N loves S. When she gets a letter from S ...
Style:
tragic ending, bleak, art house, islamic, political drama
Plot:
political oppression, police station, love triangle, sacrifice, female protagonist, war crime, moral ambiguity, martyrdom, underground movement, love, torture, self sacrifice ...
Place:
iraq
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 40 min.
TV show
Story:
This Russian series is based on the book of the same name, once considered a serious danger to the future of the Soviet Union. "Life and Fate" is an epic tale of World War II and a reckoning with dark forces emerging. It juxtaposes ...
Style:
captivating, psychological, tense, suspense, disturbing
Plot:
world war two, political repression, wartime, repression, political oppression, soldier, physicist, society, political persecution, science, hunted, military ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Drama directed by Radoslaw Piwowarski.
Style:
historical drama, period piece, melancholic, emotional, intense ...
Plot:
anti semitism, exile, emigration, youth, political persecution, moral dilemma, identity crisis, political oppression, cold war, escape, family conflict, nationalism ...
Time:
60s
Place:
poland
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Czech Republic
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Movie about a sculptor Otakar Svec who is building a statue of Stalin in Prague.
Style:
historical drama, period piece, dark, art house, suspense ...
Plot:
artist, sculptor, moral dilemma, political oppression, totalitarianism, surveillance, symbolism, sculpture, propaganda, paranoia, biopic, accomplice ...
Time:
1950s, 50s
Place:
prague, czechoslovakia, central europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Kang-hie recalls from her cell how she was used by Japanese detectives to track down and destroy the Korean Independence fighters. She manages to escape from prison during a break and proceeds to hunt down her former lover who was a Japanese agent.
Style:
suspenseful, historical drama, dark, period piece, tense ...
Plot:
women in prison, female prisoner, prison break, japanese occupation, revenge, coercion, underground movement, political oppression, nationalism, collaboration, espionage, determination ...
Time:
year 1970
Place:
korea
Is relevant?
321
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Poland
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
The film is set in 1905, in a time of feverish revolutionary underground activity in Poland partitioned between three neighbours. All the characters are committed anarchists. The bomb maker puts an invention together to place it at the disposal of ...
Style:
tension, historical drama, bleak, period piece, intense ...
Plot:
bomb, anarchism, revolution, terrorism, political violence, political oppression, underground movement, paranoia, moral ambiguity, civil unrest, conspiracy, sacrifice ...
Place:
poland, eastern europe
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama, History
Country: Poland, Ukraine
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Immortalised as one of the most scintillating and uplifting Christmas songs, 'Carol of the Bells' adapted from a popular and loved Ukrainian folk melody, came to represent the spirit of brotherhood and unity all over the world. The ...
Style:
family saga, poignant, historical drama, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
world war two, children, wartime, christmas, christmas carol, nazi occupation, life is a bitch, music, tragedy, persecution, sacrifice, survival ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, year 1943, year 1978, year 1941 ...
Place:
ukraine, eastern europe, poland, new york
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
In 1976 the British Government put an end to the special category status of prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army, no longer treating them as prisoners of war, but as common criminals. Mairéad Farrell - on whose life much of the film ...
Style:
captivating, thrilling, psychological, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
ira, prison, anglo irish relations, cell mate, women's prison, female prisoner, jail cell, protest, resistance, hunger, problem, jailed ...
Time:
70s
Place:
ireland, northern ireland
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
5th Republic is a controversial political drama about the Fifth Republic of South Korea, one of the most turbulent times in modern Korean history. The 41-episode television series covered the key aspects of the period from President Park ...
Style:
historical drama, serious, controversial, political, psychological ...
Plot:
politics, political intrigue, korean history, authoritarianism, military coup, military dictatorship, power struggle, social problems, politician, political activist, political leader, political unrest ...
Time:
80s
Place:
south korea, korea, seoul
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
17-year-old Yu Gwan-Sun participates in the Korean independence movement. The country is under the rule of Japan, which annexed the country in 1910.
Style:
historical drama, dramatic, captivating, exciting, serious ...
Plot:
japanese occupation of korea, independence movement, japanese occupation, korean war, women's prison, protest, resistance, asian woman, asian, korean history, occupation, asian history ...
Time:
year 1919
Place:
south korea, korea
Is relevant?
Genre: Action
Country: China
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
China, 1930s. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, several high school boys face the new harsh situation day after day. When a beautiful teacher begins her new job at the Cheonghwa school, things start to change.
Style:
historical drama, thought provoking, psychological, disturbing, captivating ...
Plot:
protest, teacher student relationship, teacher, culture clash, fighting the system, cultural difference, japanese culture, fight, teachers and students, society, protestant, social relations ...
Time:
1930s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Canada
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
In 1839, months after the British army has repressed the insurrection of the Patriots, hundreds of rebels rot in prison. The morning of February 14, Marie-Thomas Chevalier De Lorimier and Charles Hindelang learn that they will be hung in 24 hours, ...
Style:
bleak, grim, tense, reflective, educational ...
Plot:
death sentence, execution, prison, tragedy, injustice, political oppression, british colonialism, rebellion, sacrifice, revolt, grief, mourning ...
Time:
19th century, 1830s
Place:
quebec
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A growing friendship with their neighbors softens the resolve of a group of North Korean spies who are posing as an ordinary South Korean family.
Style:
serious, suspenseful, dramatic, captivating, political thriller ...
Plot:
confrontation, humanity, assassin, spy, inter-korean relations, neighbor neighbor relationship, job, family drama, relationships, empathy, political oppression, coercion ...
Place:
south korea, north korea, korea
Is relevant?
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