The Best Political Movies on Free Services

What it's about: Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise E pursue the Borg back in time to prevent the invaders from changing Federation history and assimilating the galaxy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Hildy, the journalist former wife of newspaper editor Walter Burns, visits his office to inform him that she's engaged and will be getting remarried the next day. Walter can't let that happen and frames the fiancé, Bruce Baldwin, for one thing after another, to keep him temporarily held in prison, while trying to steer Hildy into returning to her old job as his employee.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, SnagFilms, Tubi & 2 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Epix, Dove Channel & 3 others), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The real-life struggle of an honest New York City cop against a corrupt system.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime & fuboTV), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In a place where killers are celebrated as heroes, these filmmakers challenge unrepentant death-squad leaders to dramatize their role in genocide. The result is a surreal, cinematic journey, not only into the memories and imaginations of mass murderers, but also into a frighteningly banal regime of corruption and impunity.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Yuri Orlov is a globetrotting arms dealer and, through some of the deadliest war zones, he struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent, his business rivals and even some of his customers who include many of the world’s most notorious dictators. Finally, he must also face his own conscience.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: On the day of his daughter's birthday, William "D-Fens" Foster is trying to get to the home of his estranged ex-wife to see his daughter. His car breaks down, so he leaves his car in a traffic jam in Los Angeles and decides to walk. He goes to a convenience store and tries to get some change for a phone call, but the Korean owner does not oblige, tipping Foster over the edge. The unstable Foster, so frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society, begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Richard Hannay stumbles upon a conspiracy that thrusts him into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors—a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued—as well as into an unexpected romance with the cool Pamela.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, Prime Video, FilmBox & 1 other) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A young British soldier must find his way back to safety after his unit accidentally abandons him during a riot in the streets of Belfast.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The epic story of the first contact, encounter, approach, betrayal and, eventually, life-transcending friendship, between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman, last survivor of his people, and two scientists that, over the course of 40 years, travel through the Amazon in search of a sacred plant that can heal them. Inspired by the journals of the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, Sundance Now & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancé's conservative moralistic parents.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 3 others). Coming soon to Prime Video on May 31st, 2020 (PDT).

What it's about: A young queen falls in love with her physician, and they start a revolution that changes their nation forever.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix & Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets Jack and his family as revenge.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix & Tubi) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: True story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine brought to thrilling, dramatic life. Sophie Scholl stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous performance as the fearless activist of the underground student resistance group, The White Rose. Armed with long-buried historical records of her incarceration, director Marc Rothemund expertly re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed (1887-1920), who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant (1885-1936).

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A film adaptation of the classic sword and sorcery hero, Conan the Barbarian. A horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom, the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria and Subotai. The group comes upon King Osric, who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV), stream on a subscription service (Starz), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Zeitgeist: Addendum premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival. Director Peter Joseph stated: "The failure of our world to resolve the issues of war, poverty, and corruption, rests within a gross ignorance about what guides human behavior to begin with. It address the true source of the instability in our society, while offering the only fundamental, long-term solution."

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Daring Docs) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Through interviews filmed over four years, Noam Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality – tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority – while also looking back on his own life of activism and political participation. He provides penetrating insight into what may well be the lasting legacy of our time – the death of the middle class, and swan song of functioning democracy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A suburban family is torn apart when fourteen-year-old Annie meets her first boyfriend online. After months of communicating via online chat and phone, Annie discovers her friend is not who he originally claimed to be. Shocked into disbelief, her parents are shattered by their daughter's actions and struggle to support her as she comes to terms with what has happened to her once innocent life.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, Tubi, Vudu & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Michael Moore comes home to the issue he's been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Unitedstatians (and by default, the rest of the world).

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, by director Peter Joseph, is a feature length documentary work which will present a case for a needed transition out of the current socioeconomic monetary paradigm which governs the entire world society. This subject matter will transcend the issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and move to relate the core, empirical "life ground" attributes of human and social survival, extrapolating those immutable natural laws into a new sustainable social paradigm called a "Resource-Based Economy".

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Daring Docs & Gaia) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp that was the site of a child's drowning.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The year is 1938, and Mahatma Gandhi's groundbreaking philosophies are sweeping across India, but 8-year-old Chuyia, newly widowed, must go to live with other outcast widows on an ashram. Her presence transforms the ashram as she befriends two of her compatriots.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: On 9 April 1940, German soldiers arrive in the city of Oslo. The King of Norway faces a choice that will change his country forever. The King's Choice is a story about the three most dramatic days in Norway's history, the royal family's escape and King Haakon's difficult choice after Nazi Germany's invasion of Norway.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, Epix & 2 others), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: In 1980 the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognised as genuine Jews and are secretly carried to Israel. The day before the transport the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name (Schlomo) she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Kanopy).

What it's about: A startling expose of rape crimes on US campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. The film follows the lives of several undergraduate assault survivors as they attempt to pursue—despite incredible push back, harassment and traumatic aftermath—both their education and justice.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: All The King's Men is the story of the rise of politician Willie Stark from a rural county seat to the governor's mansion.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple…

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Epix, Secrets of Cinema & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Bubba Ho-tep tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis Presley. We find Elvis as an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death," then missed his chance to switch back. He must team up with JFK and fight an ancient Egyptian mummy for the souls of their fellow residents.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: North Face tells the story of two German climbers Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser and their attempt to scale the deadly North Face of the Eiger.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who recieves a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, Tubi, Vudu & 1 other) & stream on a subscription service (Kanopy). Coming soon to Prime Video on May 31st, 2020 (PDT).

What it's about: Fed up with the cruelty and stupidity of American culture, an unlikely duo goes on a killing spree, killing reality TV stars, bigots and others they find repugnant in this black comedy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Wife and mother Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) has a double life as a CIA operative, hiding her vocation from family and friends. Her husband, Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), writes a controversial article in The New York Times, refuting stories about the sale of enriched uranium to Iraq, Then Valerie's secret work and identity is leaked to the press. With her cover blown and other people endangered, Valerie's career and personal life begin to unravel.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 3 others). Coming soon to Hulu on May 31st, 2020 (PDT).

What it's about: An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).