Conspiracy Fiction - Film and Television

Film and Television

Further information: List of conspiracy thriller films

One of the earliest exercises in cinematic paranoia was John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate. Its story of brainwashing and political assassination holds the distinction of not merely reflecting contemporary fears and anxieties, but anticipating future conspiracies and scandals by some years.

The screenplays for two of the best-known conspiracy thrillers were written by the same writer, Lorenzo Semple, Jr.: The Parallax View, directed by Alan J. Pakula, was released in 1974, while Sydney Pollack's Three Days Of The Condor entered release the following year. Pakula's movie is considered to be the second installment of a "paranoia trilogy," beginning with Klute (1971) and ending with All The President's Men (1976). Pakula returned to the theme with The Pelican Brief. Actor-producer Robert Redford played a part in 'Three Days of the Condor and All The President's Men. Director Costa-Gavras attributed two entries to the subgenre: Z and Missing.

Gene Hackman starred in a variety of conspiracy-themed films: The Conversation, Night Moves, The Domino Principle, The Package, No Way Out, Absolute Power and Enemy of the State.

John Travolta starred in Blow Out, a conspiracy-themed movie, directed by Brian De Palma.

On television, The X-Files was rich in conspiracy theory lore, often drawing influence from the aforementioned 1970s conspiracy thrillers.