List of satirical films

This is a list of films that incorporate satire or were described as such. Made-for-television and animated films are also included.

Title	Year	Credits	Country	Subgenre
La signora di tutti^[1]	1934	Directed by Max Ophüls Written by Salvator Gotta (novel), Curt Alexander, Hans Wilhelm, Max Ophüls	Italy	Drama
A Face in the Crowd^[2]	1957	Directed by Elia Kazan Written by Budd Schulberg	United States	Drama
The Manchurian Candidate^[3]	1962	Directed by John Frankenheimer Written by George Axelrod and based on The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon	United States	Thriller (Political, neo-noir, psychological)
Le Mépris^[4]	1963	Directed by Jean-Luc Godard Based on Il disprezzo by Alberto Moravia	International (France, Italy)	Drama (French New Wave)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb^[5]	1964	Directed by Stanley Kubrick Based on Red Alert by Peter George	International (United Kingdom, United States)	Comedy-science fiction
Night of the Living Dead^[6]	1968	Directed by George A. Romero Written by Romero, John Russo	United States	Horror (Zombie)
Sleeper^[5]	1973	Directed by Woody Allen Written by Allen, Marshall Brickman	United States	Comedy-science fiction
House of Whipcord^[4]	1974	Directed by Pete Walker Written by David McGillivray, Walker	United Kingdom	Horror
Network^[2]	1976	Directed by Sidney Lumet Written by Paddy Chayefsky	United States	Drama
Dawn of the Dead^[7]	1978	Directed and written by Romero	United States	Horror (Zombie)
This Is Spınal Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi^[8]	1984	Directed by Rob Reiner Written by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Reiner	United States	Mockumentary
Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future^[4] (TV-film)	1984	Directed by Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel	United Kingdom	Science fiction (Cyberpunk)
Brazil^[9]	1985	Directed by Terry Gilliam Written by Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown	United Kingdom	Science fiction drama
Desert Bloom^[10]	1986	Directed by Eugene Corr and written by Corr and Linda Remy	United States	Drama
RoboCop^[5]	1987	Directed by Paul Verhoeven Written by Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner	United States	Science fiction-action
They Live^[11]	1988	Directed by John Carpenter Written by Frank Armitage and based on "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson	United States	Science fiction-action
The Distinguished Gentleman^[8]	1992	Directed by Jonathan Lynn Written by Marty Kaplan, Jonathan Reynolds	United States	Comedy
Bob Roberts^[8]	1992	Written and directed by Tim Robbins	United States	Mockumentary
Demolition Man^[12]	1993	Directed by Marco Brambilla Written (disputed) by Daniel Waters, Robert Reneau, Peter M. Lenkov	United States	Science fiction-action
Starship Troopers^[2]	1997	Directed by Paul Verhoeven Based on Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein	United States	Science fiction-action
The Truman Show^[13]	1998	Directed by Peter Weir Written by Andrew Niccol	United States	Comedy drama
Battle Royale ^[4]	2000	Directed by Kinji Fukasaku Based on Battle Royale by Koushun Takami	Japan	Thriller-action
Dumplings^[4]	2004	Directed by Fruit Chan Written by Lilian Lee	Hong Kong	Horror
Land of the Dead ^[14]	2005	Written and directed by George A. Romero	International (Canada, France, United States)	Horror (Zombie, Post-apocalyptic)
District 9^[12]	2009	Directed by Neill Blomkamp Written by Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell	International (South Africa, United States, New Zealand)	Science fiction-action
The Cabin in the Woods^[15]	2011	Directed by Drew Goddard Written by Goddard, Joss Whedon	United States	Comedy-horror
Friend of the World^[16]	2020	Written and directed by Brian Patrick Butler	United States	Body horror
Tughlaq Durbar	2021	Directed by Delhi Prasad Deenadayalan Written by Deenadayalan, Balaji Tharaneetharan	India	Political

References

^ Ian Conrich and David Woods (eds), The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Terror (Wallflower Press, 2004), p. 17, ISBN 1 -904764-14-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cogan B, Kelso T (2009). Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO, p. 119, ISBN 9780313343797
^ Davidson, Telly (2016). Culture War: How the '90s Made Us Who We Are Today (Whether We Like It or Not). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-6619-8. (p. 162)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Davies, Clive (2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won’t Write About. SCB Distributors. ISBN 9781909394063.
^ ^a ^b ^c Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 694, ISBN 9780313329524. Quote: "Science fiction films often turn to satire to comment on contemporary trends. Dr Strangelove satirizes the politicians and scientists who plot nuclear war; Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973) brings a slapstick sensibility to the story of a contemporary man who awakens to find himself in a strange future world; and Paul Verhoeven's Robocop (1987) satirically comments upon the casual violence and corruption of its future world even as it indulges in a violent spectacle of its own."
^ Webley SJ, Zackariasson P (2019). The Playful Undead and Video Games: Critical Analyses of Zombies and Gameplay. Routledge. ISBN 9781351716512. Quote: "Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009) faced accusations of racism in its depiction of African zombies (Brock 2011; Pham 2009; Goldstein 2009), suggesting that the undead are not quite 'other' enough to alleviate moral and social concerns. This is an ironic turn in zombies' popular culture history, perhaps, given the satirical intentions of George A. Romero's original zombie movie, Night of the Living Dead (The Walter Reade Organization, 1968). The film was released just six months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and Romero sought to cast non-white actors in significant roles and went so far as to depict the lynching and murder of a key black character at the film's conclusion."
^ Knöppler, Christian (2017). The Monster Always Returns: American Horror Films and Their Remakes, transcript Verlag, p. 91, ISBN 9783839437353.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nillson J (2013), American Film Satire in the 1990s: Hollywood Subversion, Springer, ISBN 9781137300997
^ Freudenburg, Kirk. Satires of Rome: Threatening Poses from Lucilius to Juvenal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-521-00621-X.
^ Levy, Emanuel (1999). Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5123-7., p. 285.
^ Lethem, Jonathan (2010). They Live: A Novel Approach to Cinema, Catapult, ISBN 9781593763930.
^ ^a ^b Hughes, Howard (2014). Outer Limits: The Filmgoers’ Guide to the Great Science-Fiction Films. Bloomsbury Publishing. pgs. 230, 253. ISBN 9780857723932.
^ Flanders, Judith (2014),The Making of Home: The 500-Year Story of How Our Houses Became Our Homes, Atlantic Books, p. 189, ISBN 9781782393788.
^ Fahy, Thomas, ed. (2012). The Philosophy of Horror. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813136554., p. 121-3. Quote: "[E]xamining the film's satiric treatment of American capitalism and, by extension, a global economic order predicated upon class exploitation. Indeed, the economic system depicted in Land of the Dead has a remarkable parallel with Marx's representation of capitalist society. [...] THe besieged house is transformed into an entire city allegorically representing America and its relationship to the underdeveloped, exploited nations on the periphery of empire."
^ Cowdell S, Fleming C, Hodge J (2015). Mimesis, Movies, and Media: Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, Volume 3. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, p. 107, ISBN 9781628924657.
^ Parker, Sean (2022-05-10). "Friend of the World: The Divine Comedy of Body Horror". Horror Obsessive. Retrieved 2022-07-17.

[1] Ian Conrich and David Woods (eds), The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Terror (Wallflower Press, 2004), p. 17, ISBN 1 -904764-14-2.

[Politic-2] Cogan B, Kelso T (2009). Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO, p. 119, ISBN 9780313343797

[3] Davidson, Telly (2016). Culture War: How the '90s Made Us Who We Are Today (Whether We Like It or Not). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-6619-8. (p. 162)

[DaviesClive-4] Davies, Clive (2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won’t Write About. SCB Distributors. ISBN 9781909394063.

[SciTire-5] Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 694, ISBN 9780313329524. Quote: "Science fiction films often turn to satire to comment on contemporary trends. Dr Strangelove satirizes the politicians and scientists who plot nuclear war; Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973) brings a slapstick sensibility to the story of a contemporary man who awakens to find himself in a strange future world; and Paul Verhoeven's Robocop (1987) satirically comments upon the casual violence and corruption of its future world even as it indulges in a violent spectacle of its own."

[6] Webley SJ, Zackariasson P (2019). The Playful Undead and Video Games: Critical Analyses of Zombies and Gameplay. Routledge. ISBN 9781351716512. Quote: "Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009) faced accusations of racism in its depiction of African zombies (Brock 2011; Pham 2009; Goldstein 2009), suggesting that the undead are not quite 'other' enough to alleviate moral and social concerns. This is an ironic turn in zombies' popular culture history, perhaps, given the satirical intentions of George A. Romero's original zombie movie, Night of the Living Dead (The Walter Reade Organization, 1968). The film was released just six months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and Romero sought to cast non-white actors in significant roles and went so far as to depict the lynching and murder of a key black character at the film's conclusion."

[7] Knöppler, Christian (2017). The Monster Always Returns: American Horror Films and Their Remakes, transcript Verlag, p. 91, ISBN 9783839437353.

[SwedeSatire-8] Nillson J (2013), American Film Satire in the 1990s: Hollywood Subversion, Springer, ISBN 9781137300997

[Rome-9] Freudenburg, Kirk. Satires of Rome: Threatening Poses from Lucilius to Juvenal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-521-00621-X.

[Outsiders-10] Levy, Emanuel (1999). Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5123-7., p. 285.

[Lethen-11] Lethem, Jonathan (2010). They Live: A Novel Approach to Cinema, Catapult, ISBN 9781593763930.

[HuHo-12] Hughes, Howard (2014). Outer Limits: The Filmgoers’ Guide to the Great Science-Fiction Films. Bloomsbury Publishing. pgs. 230, 253. ISBN 9780857723932.

[13] Flanders, Judith (2014),The Making of Home: The 500-Year Story of How Our Houses Became Our Homes, Atlantic Books, p. 189, ISBN 9781782393788.

[14] Fahy, Thomas, ed. (2012). The Philosophy of Horror. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813136554., p. 121-3. Quote: "[E]xamining the film's satiric treatment of American capitalism and, by extension, a global economic order predicated upon class exploitation. Indeed, the economic system depicted in Land of the Dead has a remarkable parallel with Marx's representation of capitalist society. [...] THe besieged house is transformed into an entire city allegorically representing America and its relationship to the underdeveloped, exploited nations on the periphery of empire."

[15] Cowdell S, Fleming C, Hodge J (2015). Mimesis, Movies, and Media: Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, Volume 3. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, p. 107, ISBN 9781628924657.

[16] Parker, Sean (2022-05-10). "Friend of the World: The Divine Comedy of Body Horror". Horror Obsessive. Retrieved 2022-07-17.

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See also

References