Of the nearly two hundred libertarian movies identified and reviewed on this site, we picked just 25 as the best of the best. Evaluations were based primarily on libertarian content, but entertainment value and production quality were also important considerations. Additionally, an effort was made to balance subject matter so that no one topic was disproportionately covered.
The top 25 are listed here in reverse-chronological order. This list will evolve as additional libertarian movies are noted and reviewed. Here are the best of the best…
1. Loving (2016)
A married interracial couple’s determination to reside in their home state of Virginia, in violation of Virginia laws against interracial marriage, leads to the legal overturning of all such laws in sixteen states. Based on a true story. [ Loving credits: Dir: Jeff Nichols/ Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Will Dalton/ 123 min/ Drama, Romance/ Government as Bigot, Sexual Liberty, Social Tolerance]. Topics: Government as Bigot | Sexual Liberty | Social Tolerance
“Loving captures at once the tension of man’s morally principled stand against the state, love’s intimacy and the immeasurable toll government control exacts upon the best people…It’s a hard, moving and elegiac movie and it ranks with Black or White and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner high among Hollywood’s greatest interracial-themed films.”
–Scott Holleran
2. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
The true story of AIDS patient Ron Woodroof, an ordinary man turned hero, who defied the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to smuggle unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into the U.S. in order to treat fellow victims of HIV. Topics: Anti-Regulation | Legalize Drugs
“Dallas Buyers Club is a terrific movie with a strong libertarian message about self-help, entrepreneurship, overbearing and even lethal regulation, and social tolerance.”
–David Boaz, Cato Institute
3. Still Mine (2012)
When a rural farmer builds a new home as a kindness to his ailing wife, a government bureaucrat threatens to tear it down for building code violations. Based on a true story. Topics: Anti-Regulation
“Still Mine is one of the best libertarian-themed movies I’ve ever seen…It’s a gripping tale of one fiercely independent man facing a soulless bureaucracy. It is more than a political story. It’s about families, about aging, about love, about responsibility…”
–Sharon Harris, Advocates for Self-Government
“In the slender plot, Craig proceeds to build his dream house by hand, unaware, until a hard-nosed government inspector (Jonathan Potts) comes calling, that he is flouting the local building code by not submitting plans and specifications for approval. After a stop work order is imposed, and numerous building code violations are cited, Craig eloquently argues his case. But there is no fighting the rigid, unsympathetic bureaucracy…”
–New York Times
4. Amazing Grace (2006)
The relentless determination of one man, William Wilberforce, turns the tide of history to spark the beginning of the end of the global slave trade. Topics: Anti-Slavery | Law & Liberty
“This is one of the greatest stories in history. And now it is the subject of an impressive new movie…the story reminds us that humanity has made great progress toward freedom, that each battle for freedom can be long and seemingly futile, but that the goal is worth time and money and effort.”
–The Guardian
5. Das Experiment (2001)
A psychological experiment in which test subjects are divided into “prisoners” and “guards” spins out of control when the “guards” take their authority a little too seriously. Topics: Power Corrupts
“German audiences and film critics alike have lavished Das Experiment with praise, both for its provocative story and for a fine performance by German cinema idol Moritz Bleibtreu in the leading role. It’s not exactly uplifting; but it is a bit wise, because it illustrates a profound truth the world could benefit by knowing better–that unconstrained power, even in the hands of the most ordinary people, is one of the keys to the gates of Hell.”
–MissLiberty.com
“As a debut work it’s nothing short of astonishing, a director completely in control of the film and the viewer. This is cinema not for the faint hearted, where you have to go into the dark places first before you can see the light.”
–Eye for Film
6. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
In the name of saving the children from obscene language, the parents of the South Park kids go to all extremes—including censorship, mind-controlling implants, executions, and finally war on Canada. Topics: Freedom of Speech | Individualism
“While censorship is the filmmakers’ main target, Parker and Stone also poo-poo Hollywood elitism, jingoism, racism, homophobia, Winona Ryder, Bill Gates and Conan O’Brien. Their favorite monster is the Motion Picture Association of America, self-appointed guardians of the nation’s chastity. It’s all in good dirty fun and in service of their pro-tolerance theme.”
–Washington Post
7. The Castle (1997)
When an airport attempts to “compulsorily acquire” a home in its vicinity through the use of eminent domain, the homeowner it intends to evict fights back. Topics: Eminent Domain
“The Castle reminds us of the value of small gestures, assuming the best in people, picking your fights and being fiercely loyal to those you love. When offered a tidy packet to sell his home, Darryl responds with a line that distills the film’s emotional essence: ‘You can’t buy what I’ve got.'”
–The Guardian
“A nice defense of private property, and very funny to boot.”
–David Boaz, Cato Institute
8. Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron (1995)
In a future America, all exceptional human intelligence and achievement is stamped out in order to eliminate the destructive consequences of envy. Topics: Equality & Envy | Individualism
“‘Teacher: “What is the first article of the new American Constitution?’ Student: ‘That all men are not created equal. It’s the responsibility of the government to render them so.’ Based on that law, the population here is subjected to a variety of dumbing-down measures, including: electronic implants, brain surgery, and even boring television. Few would defend such a projected world, and that is what makes this film so useful. It shows in the extreme the undesirability of what is currently being done on a smaller scale…For a cinematic attack on enforced equality, you could hardly do better than this wonderful film. It fully articulates the price of enforced equality, in terms of both lost liberty and of those accomplishments that inequitably great people make possible. Based on a Kurt Vonnegut story, it has an imaginative and thought-provoking quality. This is a moving and stimulating experience, and one of the most dead-on libertarian films ever made.”
–MissLiberty.com
“Harrison Bergeron is a real gem.”
–Sci-Fi Movie Page
9. Strictly Ballroom (1992)
When a talented renegade defies the authority of the Australian Dance Federation by dancing to his own steps, there’s only one thing it can do—stop him! Topics: Individualism
“We toured the play version in Czechoslovakia at the time Communism was still very much around, and the Czechs would climb up on the stage going ‘Bravo!’ For them, the all-powerful Federation had nothing to do with ballroom dancing. To me, the film is not about ballroom dancing. It’s about overcoming oppression, whatever nature that oppression takes.”
–New York Times
10. An American Story (1992)
A small group of World War II veterans challenge their corrupt town government. Story inspired by actual events. Topics: Power Corrupts | Corrupt Government
“‘We didn’t take this kind of bull from the Nazis. I don’t know why we have to come home and take it from [the mayor].’ So says an angry veteran who returns home from the battlefields of World War II Europe to find his small business paying protection money to City Hall. Worse yet, the mayor has just rigged the election. Fresh from restoring democracy abroad, these veterans aren’t about to see it destroyed at home so they defend the ballot box — just the way Uncle Sam taught them to. This is just a B-picture, but unusual for demonstrating (through, as it happens, a true story) why we have the Second Amendment.”
–MissLiberty.com
11. The Palermo Connection (1990)
A New York City politician who campaigns on a platform of drug decriminalization encounters deadly opposition from the Mafia. Topics: Legalize Drugs
“In a moment of uncharacteristic integrity, a cynical politician attempts to live up to his own campaign promise ‘to make a difference.’ Realizing that the public could just as easily be manipulated to do what’s right—i.e., decriminalize drugs—he runs on such a platform. Friends and family begin cautioning that his platform may place him in danger. Organized crime makes too much money on the illegal trade to allow such a change. He ignores these warnings and the next thing you know, the Mafia threatens him with death if he doesn’t abandon his decriminalization platform. Will he give in or will he resist? Even he isn’t sure of the answer to that question until the very end…This is an unusually intelligent film, which benefits from an insightful screenplay coauthored by Gore Vidal. It’s also an effective thriller that conveys with some originality the subtle danger surrounding the politician. Much of this Franco-Italian production is shot in Palermo, Sicily, so it has an interesting Old World feel.”
–MissLiberty.com
12. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
The Big Three automakers use government influence to crush a competitor. Based on a true story. Topics: Pro-Capitalism | Unions & Monopolies | Corrupt Government
“Preston Tucker produced just fifty cars before his company was shut down by the federal government on the basis of trumped-up SEC violations. Although he was subsequently vindicated, the legal battle cost him his savings, and he died several years later. The destruction of Tucker’s company is especially unfortunate because his revolutionary automobile design stressed (then unusual) safety features, including—seatbelts, pop-out safety glass, and a padded dashboard…Tucker’s story, told here in a sympathetic light, is a good example of the creator-as-hero theme. It’s also a compelling illustration of the tendency for big government to operate on behalf of entrenched companies to the disadvantage of new entrants. The film’s energetic 1940s theme music is catchy, and there are some good performances. Martin Landau is outstanding as the crotchety finance man, and Jeff Bridges makes a likable Tucker.”
–MissLiberty.com
13. Orwell’s 1984 (1984)
A very effective adaptation of the George Orwell novel, which depicts a future totalitarian society—bleak in every aspect, thoroughly controlled, and impossible to escape. Topics: Anti-Socialism | Propaganda
“What Orwell feared, when he wrote his novel in 1948, was that Hitlerism, Stalinism, centralism, and conformity would catch hold and turn the world into a totalitarian prison camp. It is hard, looking around the globe, to say that he was altogether wrong.”
–Roger Ebert
14. Night Crossing (1982)
A heroic and ingenious father organizes an escape for his family from East Germany to the West via a homemade hot air balloon. Based on a true story. Topics: Escape from Socialism | Creator as Hero
“Incredible as it may seem, four adults and four children actually did float across the heavily guarded East German border in a balloon stitched together from pieces of sheet and nylon in 1979. That might seem a desperate measure, but by this time escape by land had been made nearly impossible. Miles of barbed wire, watchtowers, mines, and self-firing weapons blocked every opening to the free world. The film portrays the details of this amazing flight as well as the unhappy and dangerous existence under socialism that made it necessary…This entertaining and upbeat Disney film has a lot going for it. The story is inspiring. Music and timing of events are used effectively to build suspense. And John Hurt is particularly good in the leading role. This film would be a terrific introduction for kids to the concept of emigration controls.”
–MissLiberty.com
15. 1776 (1972)
The Founding Fathers declare American independence from Britain. Topics: American Revolution | Libertarian Heroes | Right to Secede
“This film is a good reminder of the intellectual battles and personal sacrifices that went into founding this country. Watching it would be a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July. My favorite quote from the film: ‘I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!'”
–MissLiberty.com
16. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
In a future time when books are banned, a secret underground preserves the world’s literature. Topics: Freedom of Speech
“‘We’ve all got to be alike. The only way to be happy is for everyone to be made equal. So, we must burn the books.’ Thus is explained the government’s antibook rationale. That is: exposure to the ideas found in books makes people different; differences create social friction; therefore books must be destroyed…This is a wonderful Ray Bradbury story, and its antiauthoritarian content will make it of very strong interest to libertarians. Truffaut’s telling of this story is Hitchcockian at times, and seems all the more so supported, as it is, by an excellent Bernard Hermann musical score. In the end, one is left with the disturbing impression that such a society could actually be brought about.”
–MissLiberty.com
17. America, America (1963)
A young, oppressed Greek gives up everything to earn passage to America. Based on a true story. Topics: Pro-Immigration | Democide
“Elia Kazan not only directed but also wrote the script for this moving account of his immigrant uncle’s turn-of-the-century journey to the land of the free. The story is of epic proportions. It follows the experiences of Kazan’s uncle, then a young ethnic Greek, from his early conflicts with the oppressive ruling Turks in his hometown, through a series of disasters and setbacks that he must overcome to complete his nearly impossible journey to America…This is an outstanding, inspiring, landmark docudrama that serves as an important reminder of the beacon of freedom and hope America once represented, and to some degree still does.”
–MissLiberty.com
18. Victim (1961)
When a young gay man in 1960s Britain commits suicide rather than face an inquiry regarding (then illegal) homosexual activity, a closeted bisexual barrister avenges his death and fights the law responsible for it. Topics: Government as Bigot | Sexual Liberty | Social Tolerance
“Released at a time when any homosexual act between men was illegal, Victim has often been cited as the catalyst for the liberating Wolfenden Report and the subsequent legalisation of homosexual activities. Revolutionary and aware of its own importance, Victim successfully treads the precarious tightrope, being both a gripping drama and a taboo-smashing landmark.”
–Eye for Film
“Shot in high-contrast black-and-white, edged with the darkness of a sitting-room at night but trapped in a fierce spotlight, Bogarde is mesmerising. Crisply suited, dry-voiced and on the edge of tears, he painfully stifles the emotion threatening to destroy him. With the camera locked in close-up, he lifts his chin ever so slightly in defiance, his eyes widening into a glare of triumph that costs him everything.”
–The Independent
19. The Man in the White Suit (1951)
Note: The Man in the White Suit is this reviewer’s favorite of all the libertarian movies on this site.
A research scientist invents a fabric both indestructible and stainproof, but manufacturing interests and unions try to prevent its production. Topics: Creator as Hero
“‘Don’t you realize what [the invention of this fabric] means? Millions of people all over the world are living lives of drudgery, fighting an endless losing battle against shabbiness and dirt. You’ve won that battle for them. You’ve set them free. The whole world’s going to bless you.’ So says the inventor-hero’s girlfriend, in an early, optimistic view of the situation. But as Ayn Rand once said, the man who invented fire was probably burned at the stake, and that is pretty much what happens here.”
–MissLiberty.com
“Mischievous, impudent and droll.”
–New York Times
“It is interesting to note how even-handed it was in satirising both boardroom idiocy and trade union intransigence. Arguably Mackendrick’s most trenchant comedy.”
–The Telegraph
20. Green Grow the Rushes (1951)
The citizens of a small town in England outwit meddling officials from the Ministry of Agriculture. Topics: Anti-Regulation | Anti-Taxation
“’Unfortunately, Fitchwick, these marsh people refuse to recognize any authority. They claim to have some ridiculous charter from some old king granting them independence.’ So complains an officious Ministry of Agriculture bureaucrat about the people living in a remote English village. The central government no longer respects their independence, but the people themselves haven’t forgotten it. So, when bureaucrats from the Ministry of Agriculture arrive to ‘advise’ the local farmers on how to improve their ‘disgraceful’ level of productivity, they find a shocking degree of resentment and uncooperativeness. What a delightful story! This wonderful British comedy is full of interesting characters, many played with great style. Honor Blackman, in particular, is charming as a headstrong, fearless reporter opposite her beau, a young Richard Burton. It’s a terrifically amusing film and a gratifying example of what widespread civil disobedience can achieve.”
–MissLiberty.com
21. Harvey (1950)
A woman tries to have her eccentric brother institutionalized. Topics: Psychiatric Coercion | Social Tolerance
“Elwood P. Dowd is a gentle, harmless person. He’s kind to all he meets and sees the good in everyone and everything. But his peculiar belief that he is being accompanied through life by a giant invisible rabbit named Harvey is making life difficult for his live-in sister. So she decides to have him put away. That is, she tries to have him put away. That’s the main source of comedy here—somehow the innocent Dowd keeps evading capture, and meanwhile the sanity of others comes into question. This theme of social tolerance, of accepting benign differences in others, will appeal to libertarians. And it’s expressed here through one of the most charming comedies of confusion ever filmed.”
–MissLiberty.com
“Based on the Pulitzer-prize-winning play by Mary Chase, the film retains many theatrical devices…The writing is consistently witty, making full use of a splendid array of secondary characters.”
–Eye for Film
22. We the Living (1942)
It’s a fitting tribute to the universally antiauthoritarian nature of Ayn Rand’s ideas that this film — first produced in fascist Italy as an attack on communism — was then banned at the angry insistence of the Nazis, who considered it antifascist. Like the Rand novel on which it’s based, it is, of course, an attack on totalitarianism of all stripes. Considered by some film critics in Italy as their equivalent of Gone With the Wind, this engaging film has a touch of greatness. Topics: Anti-Socialism | Ayn Rand | Individualism
“An amazing piece of cinema…I loved every minute of it…Alida Valli has the same kind of quality on-screen as Garbo—just magical—what a performance! I think you will also fall under the spell of this film.”
—Michael Medved/Sneak Previews
“This is certainly the best film version of an Ayn Rand novel.”
–The Atlasphere
23. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
An ordinary American appointed to the Senate is nearly destroyed by a corrupt political machine, but triumphs in the end. Topics: Corrupt Government | Power Corrupts
“A stirring and even inspiring testament to liberty and freedom, to simplicity and honesty and to the innate dignity of just the average man.”
–New York Times
“Stewart’s character represents the powerful forces of American freedom, democracy and morality over oppression and evil in his emotional portrait of a naive, idealist, patriotic young politician who, after being sent to Washington (a symbol of liberty and democracy) as a junior senator from an un-named state, matures in wisdom, fights political corruption within his state’s political machine, and guards American values as a moral hero.”
–Filmsite’s 100 Greatest Films
24. Storm in a Teacup (1937)
An old woman’s refusal to pay for a dog license sets in motion a chain of events that humbles her local government. Topics: Free Press as Hero | Abuse of Power
“At the center of this story is a poor old woman and her mongrel dog. The old woman refused to pay for a dog license, and so has been fined five pounds. However, she can’t pay the fine. So the town mayor, a law-and-order man in the midst of a campaign for higher office, orders that the dog be seized and executed…It all ends in a hilarious climactic trial. What an enjoyable film! The script, based on a stage play, is tremendously witty, the acting talent (including a young Vivien Leigh) is some of the finest of its time, and the direction makes the most of both. For fans of British humor in particular, this is a real gem.”
–MissLiberty.com
“The comedy [is] delightfully played, scampers along like a pup under the joint direction of Victor Saville and Ian Dalrymple and has as flavorsome dialogue…In a word, Storm in a Teacup is a splendid comic brew.”
–New York Times
25. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Posing as a useless dandy, an English gentleman secretly risks all to save innocent lives from the guillotine of the French Revolution. Topics: Democide | Escape from Socialism
“‘I sent them to the guillotine for the future happiness of the human race.’ So says Citizen Robespierre, expressing in a sentence the collectivist reasoning that was destined to leave in its path a worldwide series of genocides. This film dramatizes France’s early experience with revolutionary collectivism, focusing on the ‘Reign of Terror’ during which the French government tortured and put to death tens of thousands, mostly its upper and educated classes. Amidst this carnage enters our hero, snatching the innocent from the blood-soaked jaws of the state, as Wallenberg, Schindler, and unsung others would later do in real life…The 1934 recording looks its age, but in a way the oldness of the production actually gives it an additional historic quality. It’s not as slick as the more modern versions of this tale, but it’s my personal favorite.”
–MissLiberty.com
Past Winners
The following were on the Top 25 list previously but were displaced by newly-discovered films that better represented the objectives of this list. These are nonetheless top notch films worthy of libertarian attention.
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
A young Pakistani immigrant and his English boyfriend overcome all obstacles to launch a fabulous laundromat. Topics: Pro-Capitalism | Individualism
Additional Libertarian Movies & Films
More such libertarian movies can be found in the film section of Miss Liberty’s Film & Documentary World.