Movies about whistleblowers are still relevant, but this particular subgenre has a rich, storied tradition.

The Informant!

(He wrote aNew York Timesop-ed debunking the administration’s WMD rationale.)

Whistleblowers

Adam Driver in ‘The Report’; Matt Damon in ‘The Informant’; Julia Roberts in ‘Erin Brockovich’.Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Amazon; Everett Collection (2)

“We’re still very much living with it.”

“[I want] to help have this information be disseminated out into the world.

It’s really important.

ON THE WATERFRONT, Marlon Brando, 1954

Everett Collection

It’s been underreported, and it touches all of our lives.

It transcends politics and ideologies.

It’s one place I think where we can meet communally.”

SERPICO, Al Pacino, 1973

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ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, 1976

Everett Collection

SILKWOOD, Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, 1983

Everett Collection

THE INSIDER, Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, 1999

Everett Collection

ERIN BROCKOVICH, Julia Roberts, 2000

Everett Collection

THE CONSTANT GARDENER, Rachel Weisz, Ralph Fiennes, 2005, ©Focus Features / courtesy Everett Collect

Everett Collection

NORTH COUNTRY, Charlize Theron, (center), 2005, (c) Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection

Everett Collection

MICHAEL CLAYTON, Tilda Swinton, 2007. ©Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection

Everett Collection

THE INFORMANT!, Matt Damon, 2009. Ph: Claudette Barius/©Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection

Everett Collection

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Everett Collection; Niko Tavernise/Fox

FAIR GAME, from left: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, 2010. ©Summit Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collectio

Everett Collection

wikileaks

Focus World; Frank Connor/Dream Works

Citizenfour-snowden

Everett Collection (2)

Keira Knightley in ‘Official Secrets’

Keira Knightley in ‘Official Secrets’.Sundance Institute

The Report

Atsushi Nishijima/Amazon

DARK WATERS

Mary Cybulski/Focus Features