The Political Thriller in Contemporary American Cinema

The Political Thriller in Contemporary American Cinema examines how political thriller films (de)construct and reflect the sociopolitical realities of the second half of the twentieth century, as well as the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

The book highlights the convergence between the cinematic narrative, its underlying political discourse, and the audience’s perception of it. Through a critical lens, it analyzes how contemporary films utilize characterization, narrative, and suspense to examine topics of governance, malfeasance, and power dynamics. By referring to films such as The Manchurian Candidate, Zero Dark Thirty, and Snowden, this book traces the evolution of the political thriller, questioning how its narratives mirror issues such as covert operations, the erosion of democracy, and governmental surveillance. In turn, the conspiratorial and underlying paranoid nature of these films serves as a reflection of societal anxieties and a metaphorization of the levers of power in America’s modern-day democracy.

Consequently, this book serves as a contribution to the growing body of research on political cinema and the way it simultaneously reflects and shapes political life through its role as a sociocultural phenomenon. In doing so, it invites readers to further delve into the exploration of these films, which represent complex commentaries on the structures of corporations, media, and the military that are predominant in contemporary American society and cinema.