Films to stream

Hollywood has long been obsessed with what happens behind the scenes at the White House, and has devoted many films to presidents real and fictional. Here are five of the best:

Young Mr. Lincoln

John Ford’s classic 1939 biopic focuses on the future president in his 20s, as he embarks on a legal career and conducts his first murder case, facing down a lynch mob along the way. Henry Fonda cemented his rise to stardom with a compelling lead performance.

JFK

Oliver Stone has made films about three presidents – Kennedy, Nixon and George W. Bush. This controversial 1991 epic features Kevin Costner as the DA leading the investigation into Kennedy’s assassination. Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon and Tommy Lee Jones also star.

Dave

Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver star in this charming 1993 comedy about a lookalike who is asked by the Secret Service to stand in for a ruthless president. When the latter dies in scandalous circumstances, Dave is persuaded to sustain the deception – but proves more independent than his handlers anticipated.

Primary Colors

The story of a presidential couple’s rise to power, Mike Nichols’s 1998 film is based on a roman à clef which few people doubted was about the Clintons. John Travolta is a charismatic politician determined to conceal the skeletons in his cupboard; Emma Thompson is his equally ambitious wife.

Frost/Nixon

Based on real events, Ron Howard’s 2008 film casts Frank Langella as Richard Nixon – and though he looks nothing like the disgraced politician, he utterly convinces in the role. Michael Sheen is also outstanding as David Frost, staking everything on an attempt to persuade Nixon to confess to his misdemeanours on TV.