Best Societal Movies & TV Shows

Join an incredible journey through the history, chemistry and societal impacts of the world’s most extraordinary drugs.

What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of films by Adam Curtis.

Risk Factor begins with filmmaker Robert Lang expressing confusion about his personal risks and the societal risks that seem to threaten us all. Which risk factors are truly dangerous? And which ones don’t matter? To gain insight, he decides to go on a journey to meet the world’s top risk experts.

In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant underground silo that plunges hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them.

The story of the short life, and brutal gang rape and murder in Delhi in December 2012 of an exceptional and inspiring young woman. The rape of the 23 year old medical student by 6 men on a moving bus, and her death, sparked unprecedented protests and riots throughout India and led to the first glimmers of a change of mindset. Interwoven into the story line are the lives, values and mindsets of the rapists whom the film makers have had exclusive and unprecedented access to interview before they hang. The film examines the society and values which spawn such violent acts, and makes an optimistic and impassioned plea for change.

The story of how the young Queen Charlotte’s marriage to King George sparked both a great love story and a societal shift, creating the world of the Ton inherited by the characters in Bridgerton.

Hunter Wilde is the leader of a group of Christian survivalists who are trying to live as normal as possible two years after an EMP attack and knocking all the power down. In a world of chaos living day to day has become more treacherous. But that is nothing compared to when the gates of hell are opened up and demons are commissioned to seek and destroy the remaining believers on earth. Their targets are set on Hunter. If they can break him the whole town of Crossroads will follow.

Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, a young gentleman with a "distinctive blend of airy nonchalance and refined gormlessness", and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his improbably well-informed and talented valet. Wooster is a bachelor, a minor aristocrat and member of the idle rich. He and his friends, who are mainly members of The Drones Club, are extricated from all manner of societal misadventures by the indispensable valet, Jeeves. The stories are set in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1930s.

A drama set in 1986 Iran and centered on a man, Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote village and enters into a conversation with Zahra, who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya, whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant had a tragic ending.

Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and its effect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long run effects of nuclear war on civilization.

After losing her parents to a mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice Hart is raised by her grandmother June on a flower farm where she learns there are secrets within secrets. But years on, an unearthed betrayal sees Alice forced to face her past.

This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.

An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.

Set in the volatile world of 17th century Massachusetts, 'Salem' explores what really fueled the town's infamous witch trials and dares to uncover the dark, supernatural truth hiding behind the veil of this infamous period in American history. In Salem, witches are real, but they are not who or what they seem.

A coming-of-age comedy about a Mexican-American teenager balancing college aspirations, societal expectations, and a hectic home life anchored by his single mom and five uncles.

The sexual revolution is alive and thriving. National Geographic Channel examines a once-taboo subject that is now impacting every aspect of society, from pop culture and science to politics and social interaction. The six-part series explores how sex is increasingly permeating contemporary cultures around the world, shaping lives by becoming more visible via the Internet, advertising, education and the media. Archival footage, animation, interviews and re-creations help uncover surprising ways sex impacts humanity and how societal conditions have changed over the past 50 years.

When young dockworker Jude leaves Liverpool to find his estranged father in the United States, he is swept up by the waves of change that are re-shaping the nation. Jude falls in love with Lucy, who joins the growing anti-war movement. As the body count in Vietnam rises, political tensions at home spiral out of control and the star-crossed lovers find themselves in a psychedelic world gone mad.

From an early age, songs and fairytales convinced Zelma that Love would solve all her problems as long as she abided by societal expectations of how a girl should act. But as she grew older something didn't seem right with the concept of love: the more she tried to conform, the more her body resisted. A story about the acceptance of the inner female rebellion.

A sensitive but confused teenager feels pressure from all directions and turns to drugs, which causes problems for him in school and at home.

An ambitious Indian driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top. An epic journey based on the New York Times bestseller.

A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.

The series leads the audience through a revelatory journey connecting the personal tales of phenomenal Black women to broader societal and historic themes. The stories shared in the series offer an honest and layered look into the complex culture of Black hair and, ultimately, Black women’s identity, beauty, cultural and social contributions and humanity.

In 1976, a Mi'gMaq teenager plots revenge against the sadistic Indian agent who imprisoned her in a residential school where rape and abuse are common.

The true story of Louisa Gould, a widow living in Nazi occupied Jersey, who takes in a Russian prisoner of war.

A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices—and two strangers appear at their door.

Experts say over the next hundred years the "perfect storm" of population growth, resource depletion and climate change could converge with catastrophic results. The scenarios in Earth 2100 are not a prediction of what will happen but rather a warning about what might happen.

Explore American cinema through the decades and the cultural, societal and political shifts that framed its evolution.

At the height of his fame, Oscar Wilde angers the Marquis of Queensberry by having what is believed to be a romantic relationship with Queensberry's son Lord Alfred Douglas, who is twenty years Wilde's junior. When Queensberry slanders Wilde, the artist decides to take the matter to court and brings about his own downfall.

Venerable newscaster Norm Archer reports the latest news in politics, health, culture and entertainment - such as an automotive recall of decapitation-inducing "Neckbelts" and a study finding that "depression hits losers hardest". This compilation of bogus news stories, celebrity profiles, movie trailers and skits come courtesy of the ace satirists at The Onion.

In 1962 England, a young couple finds their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.

Ann, a young woman with outrageously advanced ideas, has been living in sin with Dick, her lover, because of her conviction that marriage would destroy their love; but social pressure ends up paying off, so Ann and Dick get married.

The documentary follows Annabel Chong, former record holder for the world's largest gang bang, which she set in 1995 by having sex with 70 men. It focuses on her reasons for working in porn, and her relationship with friends and family.

In April 1992, following the notorious Rodney King verdict, the streets of Los Angeles became a battlefield, the backdrop to four personal intertwined stories.

Aurora Williams is a 17-year-old girl living with her parents in the New Orleans neighborhood known locally as the 9th Ward. A talented young pianist, Aurora is on the verge of leaving for college to study music when she discovers her cousin Tyrell is responsible for a heinous high-profile murder. Soon, Aurora faces a dire conundrum – turning Tyrell in is obviously the proper thing to do, but societal conventions and family loyalties complicate an already tense situation... Nobody wants to be branded "a snitch” in the tight-knit community of the 9th Ward. With a large reward at stake and the police closing in on Tyrell, Aurora must decide if she is willing to risk the safety of her family in order to do what is right.

Rumbling is a dramatic feature film based on a true contemporary story, spiced with real-life events taken from media reports mixed in. It showcases tales of domestic violence, acts of self-defense, standing up for what is right and helping victims in need. The film is about an endangered human archetype, one whose sense of justice and freedom of speech borders the edge of law and social norms. It was originally planned as a documentary about people whose nature defies societal norm. This background gives the film a credible amount of crude realism. As a feature film Rumbling is set in the world of motorcycles, rock music and artists, where people valuing fairness and honesty blend in their inherent explosive emotions, rumbling in the heart and love for absolute beauty. A world where man ceases to be judgmental with himself.

Shipwrecked on a tropical island, a young boy befriends an abandoned native youth, forcing him to reevaluate societal prejudice about race, religion and nudity.

Ms. Isabel Archer isn't afraid to challenge societal norms. Impressed by her free spirit, her kindhearted cousin writes her into his fatally ill father's will. Suddenly rich and independent, Isabelle ventures into the world, along the way befriending a cynical intellectual and romancing an art enthusiast. However, the advantage of her affluence is called into question when she realizes the extent to which her money colors her relationships.

Kimberly Jansen is a single mother who lives in a small Canadian town. After cutting her hand at a party, she visits the hospital to seek what she assumes will be routine treatment. Instead, she falls victim to a predator in a white coat: Dr. Richard Darian, who drugs her and rapes her while she is asleep. Kimberly attempts to press charges, but the townsfolk and the local police, who regard her as a tramp and respect the doctor, dismiss her accusations.

A new couple and their families reckon with modern love amid culture clashes, societal expectations and generational differences.

College co-eds struggle with the moral, societal and human aspects of romance.

Stark is a 1993 British-Australian television miniseries, based on the bestselling novel Stark by comedian Ben Elton. The three-episode series, directed by Nadia Tass, was an international co-production between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

From a young age, 11-year-old, Max, has identified as a girl and as puberty looms, she begins to present increasing signs of gender variance. When Max was eight, her father, Stephen, left the family home. But as Max’s conviction that she’s in the wrong body intensifies, her distress escalates, and Stephen seizes the opportunity to return to live at the family home and support his daughter.

Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.

After she and her husband lose their jobs, a former Texas homecoming queen inadvertently finds herself in the middle of a prostitution ring after she unknowingly accepts a position at a massage parlor.

A man with a troubled past tries to settle down in a small town, finds love and then ends up being the target of a witch hunt.

Outcast Benny Martin joined the army to escape public scorn. But when townspeople learn that he is to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, they pretend that he and his family are cherished, eminent citizens.

The adolescent sons of an expatriated Chinese physicist visit her in the United States, while she and her colleagues pursue the development of a massive particle collider with which to understand the origin of the Universe. A queer Science Fiction, that engages the utopian impulses of the genre, not through the imagining of another world, but through the rendering of this world as Other. All subjects are treated as alien, or as radical others, who search for, or advance different ideological, psychological, or sexual ideals of belonging. Subjects oscillate between the contemplation of past societal traumas and idealizations of futurity that refuse to synthesize or resolve, but instead reveal a troubling satire of the present.

Jane McCoy, a recent college graduate, much to her parent's dismay, decides to scrap her plans for law school to pursue an acting career full-time. Struggling to make ends meet, she meets a confident and persuasive friend who shows her the way to make extra money go-go dancing. What starts as just an "easy money" job, however, rapidly becomes an all-consuming activity that slowly pulls Jane from her acting classes, her relationships with her boyfriend and family, and, most importantly, from her true self.

Lally is a rich girl whose father writes books and plays polo. After 23 years of marriage her father decides to divorce Lally's mother and remarry to soon-to-be-divorced Beth Cheever. This sours Lally on all men. While on vacation with her mother she meets Jack, who succeeds in stealing her heart. Then Lally discovers that Jack is the son of Beth Cheever, the woman who is to marry her father.

A woman returns to her hometown searching for retribution after serving time for a crime she didn’t commit.