The Best Film & TV That Reflect The Times

When Nina Simone said "an artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times,” she wasn’t referring to only the moments in history that feel like sunshine and roses. The iconic singer and activist meant the dark and ugly parts, too. 

Lately, however, there’s been an alarming trend of people in power censoring art that reflects reality. Just recently, Apple TV postponed the release of The Savant in the weeks following Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The series follows an investigator (Jessica Chastain) who interferes with white supremacist organizations before mass shootings occur. In a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for the streaming platform said, “After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant,” adding that it would be released at a later date. Chastain expressed her disappointment on Instagram, stating that “we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States” since they began making the show five years ago. 

This is just one example of Hollywood executives canceling or suspending shows and movies seemingly in immediate response to headlines of the day. Their statements may be broad, and their actions may do little more than appease shareholders, but the consistent attacks on freedom of speech and expression through the arts do nothing but hold the entertainment industry — and society — back.

That’s why it’s worth praising the TV shows and films that confront the times instead of running from them. These are the best series and movies that have refused to shy away from the social and political climates they were made in. 

The world was introduced to the genius of Ryan Coogler through Fruitvale Station, a poignant film that highlights the final day of Oscar Grant’s life. Portrayed by Michael B. Jordan, Grant was killed at age 22 on New Years Day in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle. The killing occurred in Oakland, California — Coogler’s hometown — but the film resonated across the nation, and with timely reason: It debuted one year after the killing of Trayvon Martin, an event that sparked protests nationwide and ignited the Black Lives Matter movement in a formal way. State-sanctioned and racist violence was all too common, yet it had been long ignored on the silver screen. Coogler’s directorial debut shined a light on the deadly cost of institutionalized racism that the United States has yet to contend with. Watch now on Prime Video.

Regina King is the true hero of this HBO limited series, adapted from the DC Comics graphic novels of the same name. Though Watchmen is set in a present-day alternate universe, it’s based on the true horrors of the Tulsa Race Massacre that took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921, in which white supremacists targeted an area of town known as Black Wall Street for its thriving Black-owned businesses. Unlike in reality, the descendants of the massacre receive reparations, leaving resentment amongst the white supremacist group known as the Seventh Kavalry. King is a masked vigilante on a mission to put an end to the group’s pattern of racial violence. Watchmen also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Irons, and Jean Smart as their characters must confront their own ethics in ways they’ve never had to before.. This nine-episode series is a masterclass in rich, nuanced storytelling about the traumas that wounds inflicted from racism hold — and the inherited pain that ensues if not addressed head-on. With the resurfacing of white nationalism and erasure of historical facts on federal and state levels, this prescient show is absolutely worth a rewatch today. Stream now on HBO Max.

There’s a reason Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest has been heralded as one of the best films of 2025 while also spinning conservatives into a tizzy. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti, and highlights the cost and complexities of serving as part of a revolution. Though One Battle After Another doesn’t specify what the protagonists are fighting for other than freedom, it’s evident that patriarchal and white supremacists systems are a known enemy. (Sound familiar?) The film tackles racism, sexism, xenophobia, and classism as the main characters reunite after decades of inactivity in the effort to save the daughter of one of their own. A secondary plot focusing on immigrant rights reflects the reality of so many people and families who have recently been targeted by ICE raids under Trump’s regime; markedly, the film spares no punches in its depiction of this violence. One Battle After Another is in theaters now with a digital release date of November 20.

Season after season, this Apple TV series understands the assignment. Starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show is a novel depiction of the inner workings of the media, this time from a nationally syndicated morning show on a major network. Each season, these journalists are impacted personally and professionally by major events happening in the world, from the #MeToo movement to the pandemic to the rise of artificial intelligence. Throughout the series, they must contend with a changing media landscape that leads to layoffs and a challenging environment for journalism to thrive. Watching this four-season show can be triggering for those working in the industry. Binge at your own risk. Stream now on AppleTV.

This Netflix original is an uncomfortably ugly ride that exposes the life-threatening dangers of the digital manosphere. Owen Cooper plays a 13-year-old named Jaime, who — despite coming from a solid home with a seemingly normal foundation — is arrested for killing a female classmate who declined his advances. The four-episode series is a devastating depiction of how the dark corners of social media and the internet at large are radicalizing young men today. Stream now on Netflix.

Her isn’t a horror film — but it might soon become a documentary, as a recent Vantage Point Counseling Services study showed that almost a third of Americans have admitted to having an intimate or romantic relationship with an AI chatbot. That is more or less the premise of this film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the lonely and introverted Theodore Twombly. Fresh off a divorce, Theodore falls in love with Samantha, a chatbot voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Though the Spike Jonze feature premiered more than a decade ago, it eerily predicted the moment in time we currently live in, particularly as a loneliness epidemic and advancements in generative AI converge. Watch now on Netflix.

Watching this dystopian Hulu series is sombering, especially in a post-Roe v. Wade society. Based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, the Emmy-winning series takes place in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian nation that was once the United States. Its power-hungry men have made laws that subjugate women to follow an extreme set of laws that essentially gives the government total control of their bodies. It is illegal for them to read, vote, divorce, and freely express themselves in any way. June Osborne (Elizabeth Moss) is one of the few fertile women left in Gilead; for this, she is captured, enslaved, and forced to become a surrogate for a Commander and his wife. The torture, abuse, and dehumanizing conditions these characters experience make this show a hard watch, especially as lawmakers continue to police and chip away at women’s reproductive rights at the federal and local level. Stream now on Hulu.

Gentrification has been a hot button topic for quite some time, but seeing how it’s depicted in The Last Black Man in San Francisco gives the conversation around it a fresh lens. The film centers on Jimmie Fails, a third-generation San Franciscan holding onto the Victorian home his grandfather supposedly built despite it no longer belonging to his family. When the home’s white former tenants vacate, Jimmie moves out of his friend’s apartment in a low-income neighborhood that’s built on toxic waste and begins squatting. The realities of the movie continue to this day: As the cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive cities continues to rise, communities established by people of color have only become whiter and whiter. This Sundance Film Festival winner maintains its relevancy as Black and Brown neighborhoods across the country contend with what “home” looks like when so many of their neighbors are being displaced. Rent now on Prime Video or AppleTV.

Barry Jenkins masterfully adapts James Baldwin’s novel of the same name into the beautiful love story. Fonny and Tish are a young, Black couple from Harlem. Their relationship is tragically interrupted when Fonny is falsely accused of raping a white woman and thrown in prison. Though the film depicts the tragedy of mass incarceration and corruption, it takes care to treat the families impacted by these systemic travesties with  sophistication and dignity. The moral of If Beale Street Could Talk is that no matter what systems try to break love, its resiliency is undeniable. Watch now on Prime Video.

The housing crisis took place in 2008 but Adam McKay’s The Big Short still feels eerily relevant. Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt, it takes a comedic approach to explaining how a group of investors predicted that a crash was coming and bet against the banks. They won big while the rest of the country went into an economic downward spiral. The Oscar-winning film depicted the role Wall Street’s greed played in causing The Great Recession. While other factors certainly contributed to the economic realities of 2008 and the following years, the film still hits as today’s everyday Americans increasingly feel financial strain. Watch now on Paramount+.

As a comet hurls towards Earth, two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) try to warn the global population in this Adam McKay-directed film. Few are taking this death star seriously, however — including the U.S. president. Don’t Look Up follows DiCaprio and Lawrence’s charaters as they take matters into their own hands and warn the general public. Political hijinks ensues as the comet becomes a divisive issue rather than a rallying cry for action. Though a comet is the big threat in this film, it feels like a metaphor for many things, including the looming dangers of climate change and the gullibility of viewers who believe something is “fake news” because a politician told them so. Watch now on Netflix.

This Emmy Award-winning Apple TV series premiered after the onset of the Covid pandemic and the work-from-home era, when many Americans had the time to assess their relationship with their work. Seasons don’t exist in the cold and dreary town run by Lumon, the company that sells the dream of a true work-life balance by literally severing their personalities into two. Their workplaces selves (innies) don’t know anything about their outside selves (outies). What initially seems like the ideal technology becomes an actual living hell for a group of employees who have effectively lost their free will. Stream now on AppleTV.

A hallmark of prestige television since the moment it debuted in 2002, The Wire should be required viewing for anyone looking to pursue careers in law enforcement, journalism, local government, or the legal field. Set in Baltimore, the HBO original chronicles institutions on each side of the drug trade and examines how cops, drug dealers, reporters, lawyers, teachers, and blue-collar workers are all connected by the same system. Creator David Simon paints a vivid picture of the toll political corruption, racism, and addiction take on both individual people and the entire city. Though specific to the Maryland city in its accents and details, the show’s message easily applies to other urban cities across the country. Stream now on HBO Max.

After The Hunt poses a frustratingly timeless question: Who gets to be the perfect victim? Ayo Edebiri stars as Maggie Price, a queer Black student at Yale University whose family is filthy rich. This complex background — a mix of privilege and marginalization — as well as her suspected missteps call her integrity into question after she accuses a male instructor of raping her. Julia Roberts plays Alma Olsson, Maggie’s professor and mentor, who has to make a decision: Support her mentee as Maggie seeks to hold her abuser accountable, or side with her colleague with whom she shares romantic chemistry. The film challenges assumptions as it holds an uncomfortable mirror to the ways in which modern society still views consent and cancel culture. After the Hunt was in theaters in October and will be released digitally on PrimeVideo soon.

The series created by and starring Michaela Coel premiered two years after bombshell allegations against Hollywood mega-producer Harvey Weinstein thrust Tarana Burke’s #MeToo movement into the national spotlight and sparked widespread conversations about sexual assault, harassment, and survivorhood. It’s a visceral but necessary watch. The show centers on three main characters as they navigate what it means to heal after being subjected to sexual violence. In just one season, I May Destroy You tackled the messy, dark, harrowing reality of what it means to process sexual assault and maintain a sense of your own agency as a survivor. Stream now on HBO Max.