Best tv shows like To Play the King
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Francis Urquhart, unscrupulous but cunning Conservative politician, managed to become the British prime minister and crush all significant opposition. But his survival on the top is threatened by a liberal monarch and some skeletons in the closet.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 218 min
Plot tags: political, political thriller, tense, clever, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical
Best tv shows and movies like To Play the King (1993):
Similar in 79%
The Politician's Wife (1995)
Plot Summary:
A woman's life is turned upside down when it is revealed that her husband, a member of the British Parliament, has been having an affair with a former prostitute.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 542
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 185 min
Plot tags: political, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending
Similar in 79%
A Story of David: The Hunted (1960)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Bob McNaught. King Saul of Israel is jealous of the fame and adoration of David, who long ago slew Goliath and brought victory to Saul's armies. Now Saul, egged on by his Edomite counselor Doeg, attempts to have David killed. Saul's son, and David's best friend, Jonathan, conspires to help David, who is reluctant to fight back against his own people the Israelites.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Israel
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, biblical
Similar in 87%
The Ice Cream Girls (2013)
Plot Summary:
The Ice Creams is based on the bestselling book by Dorothy Koomson about two girls who, one brief summer, find themselves involved with an abusive, controlling man. The situation spirals out of control and they are trial for his murder; ultimately Poppy gets sent to prison. Flash forward 17 years; Serena is married with a daughter in a seemingly comfortable life, returns to Brighton to take care of her dying mother. Poppy has been released and she wants answers. She claims not to have killed Marcus, but if she didn't and Serena didn't....then who did?.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 699
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 82%
The Galíndez File (2003)
Plot Summary:
On March 12, 1956, Basque Nationalist Jesús de Galíndez Suarez disappears from his apartment in New York, never heard from again. He had been working with the FBI and was about to publish a book critical of Dominican strongman, Trujillo. In 1988, a graduate student, Muriel Colber, wants to make Galíndez the subject of her dissertation. She's in Spain doing research; finding little, she goes to Santo Domingo. At every turn, the CIA, in the person of agent Robards, tries to thwart her; and, at each turn, as she considers abandoning the project, someone offers new information, often contradictory. She wants the truth behind the Galíndez mystery; will she find it?.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 558
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain, UK, Italy, Portugal, Cuba, France
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspenseful, mind bending, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
1992 (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set in Rome, Milan and different Italian cities, the TV series offers a thrilling story following six people whose lives are intertwined with the rapidly changing political landscape in the early 1990s, during which Italy was gripped by the Clean Hands investigation into political corruption. Subsequently, this led to the termination of the First Republican Party as well as the termination of several other Italian parties. This controversial period in Italy resulted in the suicide of various political figures.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration:
Plot tags: realistic, serious, atmospheric, psychological, erotic, political, sensual, tense, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
Spin (2012)
Plot Summary:
The President of the French Republic, visiting Saint-Etienne in the Loire, in a striking plant dies, victim of a bomb attack. The political world is agitated: early presidential elections to be held within the next thirty-five days. There is no doubt that Philip Deleuvre, the prime minister, will run for the Elysee. But what few people know is that the leader of the government knows more things he claimed. This state causes lie back to business Kapita Simon, a former communications adviser (spin doctor) of the late president. Anxious to preserve the honor of his deceased friend and some form of political ethics, the man of the shadows has now set a goal: to find a candidate who will be able to beat Deleuvre.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 790
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, realistic, political, clever, suspenseful, political drama
Similar in 87%
Clouds of Witness (1972)
Plot Summary:
Lord Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver is accused of murdering their sister Mary's fiancé. It's up to Lord Peter and his faithful man Bunter to untangle all the clues and the contradicting testimony of a cloud of witnesses to save Denver.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 364
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: talky, detective, mind bending, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty, stylized
Similar in 76%
Martin Chuzzlewit (1994)
Plot Summary:
Martin Chuzzlewit is an old man with a large fortune and an even larger set of family and friends. A portrait of greed and selfishness, this magnificent adaptation of Dickens' comic masterpiece features an all-star cast.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 938
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 385 min
Plot tags: costume drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 83%
Vanity Fair (1967)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel. The first colour production from the BBC.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: costume drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period piece, period drama
Similar in 86%
Good Morning President (2009)
Plot Summary:
Good Morning President is an abridged version of the politics and life of three different presidents. The three are: the older President Kim Jung-ho at the end of his term, the young President Cha Ji-wook, a skillful manipulator of foreign policy and with great determination, and a female President Han Kyuong-ja. They are distressed over the choices they have to make between politics and ethics. The affliction of Kim Jung-ho who wins the lottery, the agony of Cha Ji-wook who donates an organ, and the troubles of Han Kyuong-ja who faces the crisis of divorce.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 269
Genere: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, witty, semi serious, humorous
Similar in 83%
Tanner '88 (1988)
Plot Summary:
In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics, in which actors Michael Murphy (as contender Jack Tanner) and Cynthia Nixon (as his daughter) rub elbows on the campaign trail with real-life political players Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart, Bob Dole, Ralph Nader, Kitty Dukakis, and Gloria Steinem, among many others. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the complete eleven-episode television series—more relevant today than ever.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 936
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 353 min
Plot tags: mockumentary, political, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, biting, suspense
Similar in 76%
AFR (2007)
Plot Summary:
Danmarks statsminister Anders Fogh Rasmussen er blevet myrdet. Den hovedmistænkte er statsministerens homoseksuelle elsker Emil. I tiden efter mordet møder vi en lang række af verdens politikere og magtfulde mennesker, fra Kofi Annan til Pia Kjærsgaard. De forholder sig til mordet og ikke mindst til mennesket Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 473
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, cynical, thought provoking, mockumentary, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, biting, suspense
Similar in 76%
K Street (2003)
Plot Summary:
K Street is a 2003 HBO television series about lobbyists and politicians in Washington, D.C. It was named for a street that is home to many lobbying and legal firms.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: political, clever, serious, realistic, cynical, satirical, witty, talky, biting, black comedy
Similar in 88%
House of Cards (1990)
Plot Summary:
Francis Urquhart is the chief whip of the Conservative party. When Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader, he remains neutral and after a general election where the conservatives are returned with a reduced majority, he fully expects the new Prime Minister, Henry Collingridge, to give him his just reward: a senior Cabinet post. When he's informed that he is to stay in his current position, he devises a plot to unseat Collingridge and ensure his own election as party leader which would make his Prime Minister.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 226 min
Plot tags: tense, witty, political, realistic, clever, serious, political thriller, biting, educational, intelligent
Similar in 78%
The Politician's Husband (2013)
Plot Summary:
Aiden Hoynes is a senior cabinet minister who has always put his career before family, with the support of Freya, his devoted wife and mother to their two young children. But when Freya's own political career takes off and threatens to overshadow his, Aiden's life is thrown into chaos. As his political career comes to a standstill, and with his marriage turned upset down, Aiden takes increasing risks in his quest for power.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, tense, serious, political, psychological, clever, talky
Similar in 77%
Knife Fight (2012)
Plot Summary:
A political strategist juggling three clients questions whether or not to take the high road as the ugly side of his work begins to haunt him.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, talky, independent film, biting, suspense
Similar in 79%
Tycoon (2002)
Plot Summary:
During the Gorbachev years, Platon Makovski and his four buddies are university students who jump on the private capitalism movement. Fast-forward 20 years, Platon finds himself the richest man in Russia, having sacrificed his friends to get to the top. But with this cynical rise, comes a brutal fall.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Russia, France, Germany
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: serious, cynical, realistic, suspenseful, political thriller, suspense, biting, clever
Similar in 79%
The Final Cut (1995)
Plot Summary:
Approaching his 65th birthday, Prime Minister Frances Urquhart begins to see the end of his career. Not that he has the intention of resigning anytime soon. He does however hope to establish a legacy, one for the history books and one to provide his pension. Urquhart, the master manipulator, may be losing his touch however. His Foreign Secretary, Tom Makepeace, not only resigns but crosses the floor to sit in the opposition benches in order to attack the government. As his grip on power begins to wane, Urquhart goes to ever greater lengths to retain his authority.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 206 min
Plot tags: political thriller, political, clever, serious, realistic, witty, cynical, biting, suspense
Similar in 80%
Coalition (2015)
Plot Summary:
Political drama about the rise of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats during the 2010 election. After the election failed to produce an outright winner, Clegg was catapulted into an unaccustomed position of influence and was the recipient of political courtship from both Labour's Gordon Brown and David Cameron of the Conservative Party.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, atmospheric, psychological, political, tense, sincere, thought provoking, clever, realistic
Similar in 90%
Margaret (2009)
Plot Summary:
A detailed and compelling portrait of one of the most formidable characters in British politics as she faces her final days in power. The year is 1990 and Margaret Thatcher's support within the government is wavering - her hold on the premiership hangs in the balance. Then, long-serving politician Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns over Thatcher's attitude to Europe. His resignation speech sparks a chain of events that leads to the overthrow of Britain's first woman prime minister. This modern dramatic tragedy illustrates the strengths and fatal flaws of this iconic woman more clearly than ever before and reveals how the very aspects of her character that helped her secure power are the ones that ensured her downfall. Drama starring Lindsay Duncan.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, sincere, political, rough, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
The Best Man (1964)
Plot Summary:
The other party is in disarray. Five men vie for the party nomination for president. No one has a majority as the first ballot closes and the front-runners begin to decide how badly they want the job.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, cynical, political, rough, clever, witty, contemplative, biting, suspense
Similar in 84%
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley (2008)
Plot Summary:
A light hearted look at future Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers rise from research chemist in 1949 to becoming MP for Finchley in 1959 encompassing her early relationship and marriage to Oil Millionaire Denis Thatcher.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 447
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, emotional, realistic, political, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 83%
Party Animals (2007)
Plot Summary:
Party Animals presents Westminster from the ground up – the young researchers and advisors shouldering huge responsibility in a frantic, high-stakes world. It's no wonder their personal lives are so messy. Sons of an ex-Labour MP, Scott and Danny Foster have politics in their blood.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 545
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: political, captivating, thrilling
Similar in 82%
Secret State (2012)
Plot Summary:
A four-part conspiracy theory drama inspired by Chris Mullen's novel "A Very British Coup". When a devastating industrial accident results in deaths and raises safety questions about the US petrochemical company involved, PM Tom Dawkins becomes aware of an establishment cover up.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, clever, realistic, political, political thriller, political drama
Similar in 81%
Rosary Scissors (2010)
Plot Summary:
Rosario is a teenage schoolgirl who lives in a tough Latin neighborhood filled with challenges. Having poverty all around, she faces difficult situations from family, school, rich friends vs. poor friends, and the element of drug cartel activity while she is forming her beliefs, goals and life. Her special skill of being "street-smart" allows her to outwit and shine in situations of danger, and is an epic strength that attracts people in her life, as well as helping her and her friends get ahead and what they want out of life. Her reputation becomes larger than real-life, and causes trouble and changes in the Barrio.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 432
Genere: Drama
Country: Colombia
Duration:
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, suspenseful, tense, psychological, captivating, serious, telenovela
Similar in 90%
Crematorium (2011)
Plot Summary:
Crematorio is a Spanish TV series written and directed by Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo. It is based on Rafael Chirbes' novel of the same name.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 397 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Reign (2013)
Plot Summary:
Mary, Queen of Scots, faces political and sexual intrigue in the treacherous world of the French court.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: sexy, stylized, serious, historical drama, costume drama, tense, suspenseful, realistic, period piece, erotic
Similar in 75%
Power (1986)
Plot Summary:
Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client Ohio senator Sam Hastings decides to quit politics, he is rapidly drafted to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, unknown and mysterious businessman Jerome Cade.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, clever, cynical, political, retro, talky
Similar in 79%
House of Cards (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set in present day Washington, D.C., House of Cards is the story of Frank Underwood, a ruthless and cunning politician, and his wife Claire who will stop at nothing to conquer everything. This wicked political drama penetrates the shadowy world of greed, sex and corruption in modern D.C. House of Cards is an adaptation of a previous BBC miniseries of the same name, which is based on the novel by Michael Dobbs.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 524000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 3804 min
Plot tags: political, serious, clever, captivating, tense, talky, postmodern, cynical, intellectual, exciting
Similar in 80%
The Deal (2003)
Plot Summary:
It is approaching an election in the UK when the leader of the Labour party, John Smith, suffers another in a line of heart attacks and dies. With the leadership campaign about to start the clear choice appears to be Gordon Brown, a stanch Scotsman. However Tony Blair is also beginning to appear more likely as he will appeal to Southern voters who would be turned off by Brown. Blair rings Brown to arrange a meeting to discuss which will go for the job. The film flashbacks to the start of their relationship, sharing an office in Westminster on their first seats.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: political, clever, serious, realistic, sincere, thought provoking, talky, political drama