The Year’s Best Political Movies and Television Shows
Political junkies had a lot to watch this year. Aside from wall-to-wall coverage of the midterm elections, there was the summer spectacle of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings (which one critic named as one of his top TV shows of 2022).
But wide-angle shots of congressional hearings and talking heads predicting doom for Dems weren’t the only political content — on the small screen and the big — this year. Satires of the rich, meditations on cancel culture, depictions of revolution and American exceptionalism were everywhere we looked.
In that spirit, here is Nightly’s list of movies and television shows that said something interesting about our politics and values — and, most importantly, kept us entertained.
Tár: A beautifully designed epic from director Todd Field, Tár tells the (fictional) story of famous conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) as she spirals out of control while rehearsing Mahler’s 5th Symphony. It might sound like a tough sit, but it’s a dynamic, darkly funny look at how fame, and the power that comes with it, can lead to evil, destruction and madness. Tár imagines herself to be above the dominant discourse online or in classrooms, but as the political dance that comes with fame changes, she plows forward without regard for others or how she might be held to account. The film will surely spark discussions about cancel culture, but it’s also about power, abuse and the relationship between boss and worker or teacher and student. It’s such a realistic depiction that it had people on the internet asking whether Lydia Tár is a real person.
Andor: Disney’s need to milk Star Wars content and ride the nostalgia train has made for a handful of lackluster shows, such as “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” But “Andor” is a breath of fresh air. The basis of the Star Wars franchise has always been political, and “Andor” dares to explore the quotidian intricacies of both the Empire and the Rebellion in a way that previous films and series have avoided. In this prequel to the “Rogue One” film, the main character Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) practically stumbles upon the Rebel cause after initially spurning the fight against the Empire. We see the ways in which the Empire travels from planet to planet as unforgiving imperialists, and how their stifling, authoritarian reign impacts the financial stability and health of those it preys upon. The reason “Andor” succeeds is because it ties back to the original Star Wars message that people everywhere are surviving however they can, and that very little is black and white.
NOPE: Director Jordan Peele’s latest effort doesn’t deal as explicitly in the political as either of his first two films. Unlike, say, 2017’s “Get Out,” there are no characters proudly proclaiming they’d vote for Obama for a third time if they could. Without spoiling too much of the plot, “NOPE” asks questions about what it means to put “the other” on display. What seems like an alien life-form arrives around a farm; how each character deals with this — treating it as something to be feared, something to be conquered, something to be gawked at — speaks to their own motivations and how Americans deal with anything they deem unfamiliar or foreign.
