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(Photo by Open Road Films / Courtesy Everett Collection. Spotlight.)
Best Journalism Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer
The latest: The Academy Award-winning Spotlight celebrates its 10th anniversary! Winning Best Picture in 2015, critics hailed the film as a must-watch drama with gripping tension and an incredible ensemble.
It’s time to track down your leads, dive into your research, and follow up with your informants. What you’ll find at the end of your investigation is the opportunity of a lifetime, to break the biggest story of the century: Our guide to the best journalism movies of all time!
There’s no need for a second pot of coffee, and you can put away that tape recorder you’ve hidden in your jacket. We’ve done all the work for you, uncovering everything from classics, like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s investigation into the Watergate scandal in All the President’s Men, to hidden gems, such as Ava DuVernay’s examination of caste systems throughout Germany, India, and the United States in her critically acclaimed 2023 film, Origin.
We’ve kept our list to narratives, so acclaimed documentaries like Citzenfour, 20 Days in Mariupol, and City of Ghosts were left off, but there’s bound to be something here that’ll scratch your investigative itch, whether it’s The Insider, She Said, or Steven Spielberg’s The Post. We rank them from Certified Fresh, followed by Fresh, and then Rotten-rated, but any one of these are sure to expose you to the truth!
Critics Consensus: Orson Welles’s epic tale of a publishing tycoon’s rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in film.
Synopsis: When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s (Orson Welles) dying words, his investigation gradually reveals [More]
Critics Consensus: Anchored by stellar performances from Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday is possibly the definitive screwball romantic comedy.
Synopsis: When hard-charging New York newspaper editor Walter Burns discovers that his ex-wife, investigative reporter Hildy Johnson, has gotten engaged to [More]
Critics Consensus: Sweet Smell of Success boasts a top-notch cast, sharp direction, atmospheric cinematography, and an appropriately jazzy score, making it one of the best noir crime thrillers ever made.
Synopsis: New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but [More]
Critics Consensus: Blockbuster dramatist James L. Brooks delivers with Broadcast News, fully entertaining with deft, deep characterization.
Synopsis: Intelligent satire of American television news. A highly strung news producer finds herself strangely attracted to a vapid anchorman even [More]
Critics Consensus:Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact-based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes, resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real-life subjects.
Synopsis: In 2001, editor Marty Baron of The Boston Globe assigns a team of journalists to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, [More]
Critics Consensus: Intelligent, compelling, and packed with strong performances, The Insider is a potent corporate thriller.
Synopsis: After seeking the expertise of former “Big Tobacco” executive Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), seasoned TV producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) [More]
Critics Consensus: Much like the beloved TV personality that inspired it, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood offers a powerfully affecting message about acceptance and understanding.
Synopsis: Lloyd Vogel is an investigative journalist who receives an assignment to profile Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers. He approaches the [More]
Critics Consensus: Restless, visually sleek, and powered by a lithe star performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler offers dark, thought-provoking thrills.
Synopsis: Los Angeles denizen Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) survives by scavenging and petty theft. He stumbles into a new career as [More]
Critics Consensus: Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent features a winning combination of international intrigue, comic relief, and some of the legendary director’s most memorable set pieces.
Synopsis: Crime reporter John Jones (Joel McCrea) is turning in nothing but dull copy. His editor, unhappy with his work, hopes [More]
Critics Consensus: Anchored by an outstanding Hugh Jackman, Bad Education finds absurd laughs — and a worthy message — in the aftermath of a real-life scandal.
Synopsis: A Long Island school superintendent and his assistant are credited with bringing the district unprecedented prestige. Frank is a master [More]
Critics Consensus: A taut, solidly acted paean to the benefits of a free press and the dangers of unchecked power, made all the more effective by its origins in real-life events.
Synopsis: Two green reporters and rivals working for the Washington Post, Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), research [More]
Critics Consensus: A passionate and concise cinematic civics lesson, Good Night, And Good Luck has plenty to say about today’s political and cultural climate, and its ensemble cast is stellar.
Synopsis: When Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his foolhardy campaign to root out Communists in America, CBS News impresario Edward R. Murrow [More]
Critics Consensus: Capturing the compromises, dedication, and human fallibility of the newsroom, September 5 is a worthy chronicle of a tragic flashpoint in broadcast media history.
Synopsis: During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli [More]
Critics Consensus: Brilliantly performed and smartly unconventional, The End of the Tour pays fitting tribute to a singular talent while offering profoundly poignant observations on the human condition.
Synopsis: Writer and journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) interviews author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) for Rolling Stone magazine. [More]
Critics Consensus: Almost Famous, with its great ensemble performances and story, is a well-crafted, warm-hearted movie that successfully draws you into its era.
Synopsis: Set in 1973, it chronicles the funny and often poignant coming of age of 15-year-old William, an unabashed music fan [More]
Critics Consensus: Based on a powerful true story and led by note-perfect performances from Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, Philomena offers a profoundly affecting drama for adult filmgoers of all ages.
Synopsis: In 1952, Irish teenager Philomena (Judi Dench) became pregnant out of wedlock and was sent to a convent. When her [More]
Critics Consensus:Safety Not Guaranteed‘s ostensibly modest ambitions are outmatched by the movie’s strong performances, beguiling charm, and heartfelt story.
Synopsis: A disaffected magazine intern (Aubrey Plaza) befriends an unusual guy (Mark Duplass), who is looking for a partner to accompany [More]
Critics Consensus: Driven by populist fury and elevated by strong direction, powerful acting, and an intelligent script, Network‘s searing satire of ratings-driven news remains sadly relevant more than four decades later.
Synopsis: In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he’s being put out to pasture, and [More]
Critics Consensus: Artfully composed, powerfully acted, and fueled by a powerful blend of anger and empathy, The Killing Fields is a career-defining triumph for director Roland Joffé and a masterpiece of cinema.
Synopsis: New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of [More]
Critics Consensus: Spearheaded by an excellent Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole is an incisive and sardonic satire that, much like its opportunistic hero, never lets moral compunction get in the way of a good story.
Synopsis: With flaws that outweigh his talent, reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) has bounced across the country from job to job. [More]
Critics Consensus: A quiet, dialogue-driven thriller that delivers with scene after scene of gut-wrenching anxiety. David Fincher also spends more time illustrating nuances of his characters and recreating the mood of the ’70s than he does on gory details of murder.
Synopsis: In the late 1960s and 1970s, fear grips the city of San Francisco as a serial killer called Zodiac stalks [More]
Critics Consensus: Brawny in both intellect and scope, Reds is an intimate epic that captures the tumult of revolutionary change and the passion of those navigating through it.
Synopsis: American journalist John Reed (Warren Beatty) journeys to Russia to document the Boleshevik Revolution and returns a revolutionary. His fervor [More]
Critics Consensus: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s riveting central performance guides a well-constructed retelling of the most sensational and significant period in author Truman Capote’s life.
Synopsis: Reading of the murder of a Kansas family, New York City novelist Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) decides to cover [More]
Critics Consensus:The Post‘s period setting belies its bitingly timely themes, brought compellingly to life by director Steven Spielberg and an outstanding ensemble cast.
Synopsis: Katharine Graham is the first female publisher of a major American newspaper — The Washington Post. With help from editor [More]
Critics Consensus: Although She Said struggles to add cinematic flair to its fact-based story, it remains a worthy, well-acted tribute to journalistic integrity.
Synopsis: Two-time Academy Award® nominee Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, An Education) and Zoe Kazan (The Plot Against America limited series, [More]
Critics Consensus: Rising on the strength of Rebecca Hall’s gripping performance, Christine offers an empathetic look at its subject’s public career and painful private life.
Synopsis: In Sarasota, Fla., circa 1974, an ambitious, 29-year-old reporter is relentlessly motivated to succeed. She knows she has talent, but [More]
Critics Consensus: With a story inspired by Antonioni’s Blow Up and a style informed by the high-gloss suspense of Hitchcock, DePalma’s Blow Out is raw, politically informed, and littered with film references.
Synopsis: While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terri (John Travolta) stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening [More]
Critics Consensus:A Private War honors its real-life subject with a sober appraisal of the sacrifices required of journalists on the front lines – and career-best work by Rosamund Pike.
Synopsis: Celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin is a woman who is as comfortable downing martinis with high society’s elite as she [More]
Critics Consensus: Carried by Lily Sullivan’s outstanding lead performance and enriched by an expertly administered sense of creeping claustrophobia, Monolith is an eerie thriller that burns slow and lingers.
Synopsis: While trying to salvage her career, a disgraced journalist begins investigating a strange conspiracy theory. But as the trail leads [More]
Critics Consensus:The Parallax View blends deft direction from Alan J. Pakula and a charismatic Warren Beatty performance to create a paranoid political thriller that stands with the genre’s best.
Synopsis: After a presidential candidate is assassinated, political reporter Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) begins to suspect that the mysterious Parallax Corporation [More]
Critics Consensus: Brutal yet captivating, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the result of David Fincher working at his lurid best with total role commitment from star Rooney Mara.
Synopsis: Disgraced financial reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) finds a chance to redeem his honor after being hired by wealthy Swedish [More]
Critics Consensus: Solid performances lift this drama to a higher level.
Synopsis: Kate (Meryl Streep), the undervalued matriarch of the Gulden family, is diagnosed with cancer. Daughter and journalist Ellen (Renée Zellweger) [More]
Critics Consensus: A taut, well-acted political thriller, State of Play overcomes some unsubtle plot twists with an intelligent script and swift direction.
Synopsis: Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is a rising star in Washington; handsome, unflappable and seemingly honorable, he’s seen as his [More]
Critics Consensus: A moving drama that’s unafraid to ask big questions, Origin honors its source material with powerful performances in service of a deeply emotional story.
Synopsis: While grappling with tremendous personal tragedy, Isabel sets herself on a path of global investigation and discovery. Despite the colossal [More]
Critics Consensus: It occasionally fails to live up to its subject matter — and is perhaps an ‘important’ film more than a ‘great’ one — but the performances from Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire are superb.
Synopsis: When journalist Phil Green (Gregory Peck) moves to New York City, he takes on a high-profile magazine assignment about anti-Semitism. [More]
Critics Consensus: A well-crafted political thriller, Nothing But the Truth features a strong cast that helps the real-life drama make an effortless transition to the big screen.
Synopsis: When reporter Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) writes a story that reveals the identity of a covert CIA operative, the government [More]
Critics Consensus: Tough and unsettling by design, Civil War is a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis.
Synopsis: From filmmaker Alex Garland comes a journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they [More]
Critics Consensus: A charismatic turn by star Matt Damon and a consistently ironic tone boost this quietly funny satire about a corporate whistle-blower.
Synopsis: Though a rising star in the ranks of Archer Daniels Midland, Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly exposes a price-fixing conspiracy [More]
Critics Consensus: Timely, solidly acted, and unabashedly earnest, Rosewater serves as an impressive calling card for first-time director Jon Stewart.
Synopsis: In June 2009, BBC journalist Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, returned to his native country to interview Mir-Hossein Moussavi, [More]
Critics Consensus:Kill the Messenger‘s potent fury over the tale of its real-life subject overrides its factual inaccuracies and occasional narrative stumbles.
Synopsis: Journalist Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner) happens upon a story that not only leads to the origins of America’s crack epidemic [More]
Critics Consensus: A loving ode to the spirit of journalism, The French Dispatch will be most enjoyed by fans of Wes Anderson’s meticulously arranged aesthetic.
Synopsis: THE FRENCH DISPATCH brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in [More]
Critics Consensus:Medium Cool merges a bracing cinéma vérité with deft drama to authentically chronicle a nation at odds with itself and a media struggling to get the story straight.
Synopsis: John Cassellis (Robert Forster) is a hardened TV news cameraman who manages to keep his distance while he captures daring [More]
Critics Consensus: Despite its somewhat disjointed narrative, Oliver Stone’s Salvador is a vivid and powerful political drama that sets an early tone for the director’s similarly provocative future projects.
Synopsis: Unable to find work in America because of his penchant for booze and drugs, photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) heads [More]
Critics Consensus: A raucous Andy Griffith channels the corruptive influence of celebrity in Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd, a prescient critique of American media.
Synopsis: Ambitious young radio producer Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) finds a charming rogue named Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes (Andy Griffith) in an [More]
Critics Consensus: Both a smart, suspenseful tale of intrigue and a sweeping romance, The Year of Living Dangerously features excellent performances from Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver as a pair of journalists covering political unrest in Indonesia.
Synopsis: When journalist Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) arrives in Jakarta, Indonesia, he has difficulty making contacts. He forms a friendship with [More]
Critics Consensus: Quotably funny — and fast-paced enough to smooth over the jokes that don’t land — Fletch is one of the best big-screen vehicles for Chevy Chase’s brand of smug silliness.
Synopsis: A veritable chameleon, investigative reporter Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher (Chevy Chase) might drive his editor (Richard Libertini) up the wall, but [More]
Critics Consensus: While WTF is far from FUBAR, Tina Fey and Martin Freeman are just barely enough to overcome the picture’s glib predictability and limited worldview.
Synopsis: In 2002, cable news producer Kim Barker (Tina Fey) decides to shake up her routine by taking a daring new [More]
Critics Consensus: Kate Winslet’s gripping performance in the title role helps elevate Lee beyond its disappointingly conventional biopic trappings.
Synopsis: Lee, the directorial feature from award-winning Cinematographer Ellen Kuras, portrays a pivotal decade in the life of American war correspondent [More]
Critics Consensus: Although it suffers in comparison to similar suspense thrillers, Most Wanted benefits from solid casting and a taut, intelligent storytelling approach.
Synopsis: An investigative reporter fights to expose the twisted truth behind a heroin bust orchestrated by dirty cops to frame an [More]
Critics Consensus:Bombshell benefits from a terrific cast and a worthy subject, but its impact is muffled by a frustrating inability to go deeper than the sensationalistic surface.
Synopsis: The provocative real story of three whip-smart, ambitious, strong women who anchored one of America’s most powerful news networks — [More]
Critics Consensus:Boston Strangler is nowhere near as gripping as it should be, but the worthy story and strong cast are often adequate compensation.
Synopsis: Loretta McLaughlin becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more [More]
Critics Consensus:Velvet Goldmine takes a visual and narrative approach befitting its larger-than-life subject, although it’s still disappointingly less than the sum of its parts.
Synopsis: Glam rock star Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Myers) plays a character on stage named Maxwell Demon who predicts his death [More]
Critics Consensus: A string of questionable plot contrivances threaten to bury its story, but Capricorn One manages to unfurl an amusing, sharply cynical conspiracy yarn.
Synopsis: Three astronauts (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson) are about to launch into space on the first mission to Mars. [More]
Critics Consensus: A thriller that plays at social commentary, The Mean Season fumbles with its weightier themes, but does so in a generally watchable way.
Synopsis: After reporting on the murder of a teenage girl, journalist Malcolm Anderson (Kurt Russell) is contacted by the killer (Richard [More]
Critics Consensus:Truth‘s terrific cast and compelling message are often enough to overcome its occasionally didactic and facile dramatization of a nuanced real-life tale.
Synopsis: Controversy surrounds CBS anchor Dan Rather and “60 Minutes” producer Mary Mapes after the network broadcasts a report about President [More]
Synopsis: A young American journalist stranded in present-day Nicaragua (Margaret Qualley) falls for an enigmatic Englishman (Joe Alwyn) who seems like [More]
Critics Consensus: Ben Foster’s impressive efforts to channel Lance Armstrong are often enough to power The Program past director Stephen Frears’ frustrating unwillingness to delve deeper into its real-life story.
Synopsis: Journalist David Walsh (Chris O’Dowd) of The Sunday Times investigates famed cyclist Lance Armstrong (Ben Foster) for doping. [More]
Critics Consensus:Snowden boasts a thrilling fact-based tale and a solid lead performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, even if director Oliver Stone saps the story of some of its impact by playing it safe.
Synopsis: Disillusioned with the intelligence community, top contractor Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) leaves his job at the National Security Agency. He [More]
Critics Consensus:Profile‘s unique narrative gimmick is enough to carry the film partway, but it’s ultimately overwhelmed by an increasingly ludicrous plot.
Synopsis: PROFILE follows an undercover British journalist in her quest to bait and expose a terrorist recruiter through social media, while [More]
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