US Election: Fifteen American politics movies to watch instead of doomscrolling

It's not even a New Zealand election, but we get it. You're stressed out.

America will choose its next president on Wednesday NZ Time, deciding between former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

You really can't scroll through campaign news non-stop without breaking your brain, but you're still in a mood to watch something political.

The presidency has been the subject of countless movies, good and bad, from lofty biopics to action-packed romps.

Here are 15 movies about American presidents and politics that are worth firing up to divert your brain for a few hours as Election Day approaches.

If you want to feel a little bit of optimism:

The American President (1995): A genuinely sweet romantic comedy about a widowed president finding a new love, starring a luminous Michael Douglas and Annette Bening, and written by Aaron Sorkin, who later went on to create The West Wing TV series. (Available for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

Lincoln (2012): Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning performance takes Abraham Lincoln out of the realm of cliche and makes him a complex human being again, wrestling with how to end slavery in an America torn by the Civil War and trying to do the right thing. (Available for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939): Jimmy Stewart's naive young US senator comes up against Washington corruption. The thing that makes Frank Capra's classic still relevant today is its fierce determination to make politics better. (Available for rent on Apple TV.)

If you just want to wallow in political intrigue:

Frost/Nixon (2008): There have been a lot of movies about Richard Nixon, but this tightly focused film sticks to one post-presidential interview where the disgraced president tries to redeem himself. Tense dialogue and terrific acting makes the spectacle of two men mostly sitting in chairs talking seem riveting. (Available for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

All The President's Men (1976): Nixon never appears in this Oscar-winning Watergate drama, but hovers over it like a malignant ghost as journalists Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman uncover a labyrinthine scandal that led to America's first and only presidential resignation. (Available on Netflix, and for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

JFK (1991): Oliver Stone's mammoth three-hour epic is a twisted knot of conspiracy theory, paranoia and grifters, so it's a perfect vibe for Election 2024. It's a complicated, indulgent sprawl of a movie that's still somehow fascinating, with an all-star cast. (Available on Disney+ and for rent on Apple TV.)

If you think politics is ridiculous:

Election (1999): Strictly speaking, not quite about a president, but this classic story of an American high school student election that goes horribly awry sums up how much the desire to win can eat away at a person. With a never-better Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. (Available on Netflix or to rent on Apple TV, Google, YouTube and Neon.)

Don't Look Up (2021): The US hasn't had a female president - yet - and they're pretty thin on the ground in movies, too. (Television is a different story, where women presidents have been seen on Veep, Scandal, Homeland and many other shows.) This hit-or-miss satire about panic over a comet destroying Earth has its amusing moments and features Meryl Streep as the president - unfortunately, she's a shallow, poll-obsessed fool who bungles the end of the world badly. (Available on Netflix.)

Mars Attacks! (1996): Love Beetlejuice? Tim Burton's underrated comic book epic features a rogue's gallery of oddball Americans battling Martians, and one of the funniest turns is Jack Nicholson as a vaguely sleazy, cocky and utterly unprepared president. (Available for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

If you've given up all hope on America:

Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964): Stanley Kubrick's Cold War satire still stings today, with the magnificent Peter Sellers in multiple roles, none quite so indelible as the wishy-washy President Merkin Muffley, who very apologetically starts a nuclear war. (Available for rent on Apple TV and Neon.)

Vice (2018): Christian Bale makes an unlikely Dick Cheney in this biopic of George W. Bush's vice president, which in a broadly comic way shows just how much ambitious power can be wielded behind the scenes. (Available on Netflix or to rent on Apple TV.)

Civil War (2024): A movie about a traumatised band of journalists travelling through an America torn by an unspecified civil war, it's not one to watch if you want to feel cheerful about the possibilities of the USA, with Nick Offerman as a crazed, out-of-his-depth president presiding over the country's collapse. (Available on Prime, Neon after 10 November or to rent on Apple TV, Google, YouTube, Neon, AroVision or Academy on Demand.)

If you just want a president to kick butt:

Air Force One (1997): Harrison Ford lives the American dream - that is, the dream of being a take-charge military hero who also happens to be president and fights back against terrorists on his own airplane. (Available on Disney+ and for rent on Apple TV.)

White House Down (2013): Mix Die Hard with Air Force One, shake, stir and settle in for explosions and gunfire at the White House as terrorists attack and only the humble everyday policeman Channing Tatum can save the day. (Available on Netflix, Neon, Prime Video and for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012): Sure, you've seen a president fight terrorists, but how about vampires? This very silly alternate-history horror movie takes itself far too seriously, but does provide some ridiculous, bloody laughs as Honest Abe stakes blood-suckers. Considering how bizarre the 2024 election campaign has been so far, this might just not be the strangest thing about American presidents you see this week. (Available on Disney+ and for rent on Apple TV, Google and YouTube.)

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