10 on-screen political thrillers that stood out in a year of upheaval and partisanship

Political thrillers have been a staple of popular culture since the 1960s, when the Cold War threw conspiracy theory-loving writers into overdrive, and television and film are no exception.

This year, however, has seen a marked abundance of stories dealing with government scheming, corruption, incompetence and general mayhem. (Make of that what you will.) Some have given contemporary resonance to universal classics — assassination, mass casualty events, global annihilation — while others have taken veiled but obvious aim at recent or current leaders and events.

Landing at a time when conspiracy theories, nationalism and charges of treason have become the lingua franca of politics and people are regularly shoved into unmarked cars by ICE agents, some of the plotlines seem less far-fetched than in other eras. But the beauty of the political thriller is that there’s almost always someone able to fight back and ensure that justice prevails.

Here are a few that stood out.