10 Best Whistleblower Movies, Ranked

The most direct definition of the word “whistleblower” is that it’s someone who comes forward and makes public certain information about a company or organization’s misconduct. There’s usually an overall good reason to do this, and it can lead to things improving or at least becoming more fair, though it does put the whistleblower themselves at risk, seeing as there’s usually a reason why the information they’re revealing was intended to stay secret.

Plenty of movies have looked at various examples of whistleblowing, some retelling real-life stories of whistleblowers and others being inspired by actual events. Additionally, there are also various documentaries about the practice of whistleblowing that are worthy of being mentioned. The following titles are some of the best to focus either wholly or partly on whistleblowing and the uncovering of corruption, and are ranked below, from good to greatest.

10 ‘The Post’ (2017)

Director: Steven Spielberg

One of many historical films directed by Steven Spielberg, The Post could also be described as something of a thriller, owing to the suspense inherent to the premise and the intrigue of experiencing a well-known event from a fresh perspective. The narrative centers on those working for The Washington Post in the early 1970s, and the role they played in disclosing the Pentagon Papers.

Such documents revealed certain truths about the U.S. government’s involvement in the then-ongoing Vietnam War, with the exposure of them being a contributing factor to the conflict becoming viewed in a continually unfavorable manner by the U.S. public. As a film, The Post could be criticized for feeling a little dry, but it does cover a high-profile uncovering of confidential documents in a solid and technically well-made way, and is worth a watch for those interested in 20th-century U.S. history.

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9 ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room’ (2005)

Director: Alex Gibney

One of many compelling documentaries directed by Alex Gibney, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is all about the energy company known as Enron Corporation, which notoriously went bankrupt in 2001. The documentary covers how the company fell apart due to widespread corruption and fraud, and the aftermath of what came to be known as the Enron scandal.

While it might be about a company that’s no more, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room still feels relevant because of the way it highlights various flaws within powerful companies and misdeeds that those with power and money often feel they can get away with. Of course, part of the downfall of Enron came about thanks to whistleblowing, showing how even just one person willing to speak up can assist in bringing about the collapse of a huge corporation.

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8 ‘Reality’ (2023)

Director: Tina Satter

A well-made biographical movie that also happens to be about a relatively recent example of whistleblowing, Reality is about a former NSA translator by the name of Reality Winner. She’s known for leaking classified information to the press in 2017, with said information being an intelligence report related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Much of the film concerns the day Reality Winner was arrested, with a great deal of the dialogue being taken from the FBI interrogation transcript of Winner. Reality is a fairly simple yet undoubtedly intriguing movie that argues that whistleblowers remain vital, in many ways, considering the sort of information that is often withheld from the public. Whistleblower movies of old naturally took place in a pre-internet age, but this recent film shows the practice is still alive and necessary, and that even with online information, there are certain secrets withheld from the world at large.

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7 ‘Citizenfour’ (2014)

Director: Laura Poitras

Alongside the aforementioned Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Citizenfour is another documentary about whistleblowing that’s worth mentioning, and one that can rival any non-documentary when it comes to telling an engaging story. It’s about Edward Snowden, who’s perhaps the most well-known whistleblower of the 21st century so far, and someone who’s still at large since leaking classified NSA information in 2013.

Snowden sought asylum in Russia and has been there for the past decade, with Citizenfour providing a gripping and detailed look at how he leaked the information he did and how he successfully fled the U.S. after doing so. It’s one of the more thrilling documentary films in recent memory, and is a more engaging look at Snowden’s story and whistleblowing as a whole than 2016’s Snowden, which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the titular role.

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6 ‘Silkwood’ (1983)

Director: Mike Nichols

One of many films starring Meryl Streep and directed by Mike Nichols, Silkwood was one of their best efforts as an actress/director duo, and another movie about a real-life whistleblower. It’s about a woman named Karen Silkwood, and follows how she exposed various safety violations and wrongdoings she observed while working at a plutonium plant, and how doing so placed her in great danger.

Silkwood is a surprisingly tense film, and certainly one of the more downbeat biopics of its time. It was a moderate success and did fairly well when it came to Oscar nominations, getting a total of five (including Best Actress for Streep and Best Director for Nichols). Even though it’s not as often talked about today, it’s still worth highlighting for being one of the better whistleblower-focused movies, certainly for its time and perhaps even of all time.

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5 ‘Blow Out’ (1981)

Director: Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma can usually be relied on when it comes to delivering great thrillers, and Blow Out just so happens to be one of his very best. The premise has a somewhat novel approach when compared to other movies about whistleblowers, as here, it’s done mostly as a part of the protagonist’s uncovering of a conspiracy, and the film itself isn’t based on actual events, unlike most thematically similar films.

John Travolta plays a sound effects technician who, while working on a movie, believes he’s captured audio evidence of an assassination of a presidential hopeful. He finds someone who may have captured photographic evidence of the same event, but that person’s given some of it to the media, which places everyone in danger. It keeps the suspense high throughout and benefits from the always-compelling stylistic touches that De Palma brings to his films.

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4 ‘Serpico’ (1973)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Starring the always-great Al Pacino in an iconic early role, Serpico is about Frank Serpico, a New York City Police Department officer who grows tired of corruption within the force and decides to be a whistleblower. It begins with someone trying to kill Serpico, and then flashes back to show the various enemies he made through trying to make knowledge of corruption public.

Serpico is ultimately a film that showcases the good that can come about from someone whistleblowing while also being honest about the extreme risk doing so can bring about to an individual. It’s a gritty film that certainly feels like it couldn’t have been made in any decade other than the 1970s, with a young Pacino dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the lead role and getting acclaim for his performance in the process.

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3 ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976)

Director: Alan J. Pakula

With a great cast led by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, All the President’s Men is about as iconic as movies about surveillance and exposing corruption get. The premise revolves around the Watergate scandal that eventually led to Richard Nixon resigning as President, with the lead characters being journalists who covered the story as it unfolded for The Washington Post.

It does feel like a precursor to something like The Post in many ways, though the story here about uncovering and publishing evidence of corruption is a great deal more interesting. Perhaps it’s the fact that it came so close to the event in question that gives it a sense of immediacy, almost like one’s really there watching it happen. It’s more about the way the journalists covered the story, but whistleblowing – from a figure who goes by the pseudonym Deep Throat – is essential to them getting the information in the first place.

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2 ‘The Insider’ (1999)

Director: Michael Mann

Another movie about journalism that also involves whistleblowing and the uncovering of once-unknown information, The Insider might not have the sort of action sequences one associates with Michael Mann, but it’s still one of his best movies. It’s about a whistleblower in the tobacco industry and the information he revealed on a segment of 60 Minutes, which led to a great deal of controversy and discourse.

The Insider runs for a lengthy 158 minutes, but it’s always engaging and exciting, even for those who know the events behind the (mostly) true story it retells. Mann might downplay some of his distinct style, but he always keeps the pace snappy and things engaging, and The Insider also having lead performances from the likes of Al Pacino and Russell Crowe at – or at least near – their very best also helps.

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1 ‘On the Waterfront’ (1954)

Director: Elia Kazan

A movie with career-best performances from the likes of Marlon Brandoand Eva Marie Saint, On the Waterfrontisn’t just one of the best movies of the 1950s, but arguably among the greatest of all time. It follows one man who witnesses – and even participates partially in – criminal activities by a corrupt union led by a mob boss, and decides to stand up against said boss and said union, despite the risks.

On the Waterfrontdeservedly won big at the Academy Awards, and is the quintessential fictional movie about whistleblowing (that nevertheless feels gritty and authentic enough to believe it could’ve actually happened). Few movies about standing up to something much bigger than a single person with the odds stacked against them hit quite as hard as On the Waterfront, leading to it remaining a classic drama 70 years on from its initial release.

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