To capture the spirit of the United States on its 250th birthday, we're asking some of the country’s most noted filmmakers and fans—actors, directors, producers, executives, and more—to tell us about the pictures they feel reflect this moment on the big screen. For TIME film critic Stephanie Zacharek, for example, it was 2003’s Masked and Anonymous, in which Bob Dylan plays the troubadour Jack Fate: “Fate seems like America’s last hope, not because he’s a savior figure, but because he’s still invested in the idea of being free—not the ‘personal freedoms’ that selfish modern people think they’re entitled to, but something deeper and richer, something that comes with a responsibility to your fellow human beings and the earth around you,” she says. “Jack Fate is America’s past and its future rolled into one: He’s a sonnet, a vibe, a vessel of crackpot optimism. He’s our best day following our worst, because that’s what we’re built to hope for.”The 25 responses below include movies old and new, documentaries and blockbusters and quiet indie triumphs. Together, they demonstrate that movies aren’t just one of America’s most important cultural exports, but also a lens through which the country can be seen in living color.Robert Redford as Bob Woodward in “All the President's Men” Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesAll the President’s MenSelected by Ron Howard The movie underscores freedom of the press as an imperative component of our society. It’s a reminder that leadership narratives must sometimes be challenged and tested, particularly when deliberate obfuscation stands in a journalist’s way. It accomplishes those things and, oh yeah, it’s a helluva good watch.Howard is a director, producer, screenwriter, and the co-founder and co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment. He recently directed the documentary Avedon and his next project is Alone at Dawn.Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Brock Peters as Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird” Silver Screen Collection/Getty ImagesTo Kill a MockingbirdSelected by Cameron CroweTo Kill a Mockingbird may be over 60 years old, but the film’s message has never felt more essential. Leave it to Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch to speak so loudly to our fractious times. This quiet movie still packs a mighty punch—a timeless lesson in the power of empathy and nobility to melt seemingly insurmountable differences. Crowe is a filmmaker and journalist. His memoir, The Uncool, was published in October 2025.Chase Infiniti as Willa Ferguson in “One Battle After Another” Courtesy Warner Bros. PicturesOne Battle After AnotherSelected by Pamela AbdyIt's a film that feels incredibly urgent about the times we are living in, and one that leaves the audience with the promise that the next generation can make a difference and create a better world than the one the previous generations left for them. It ends with hope.Abdy is the co-chair and co-CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky in “Don’t Look Up” Niko Tavernise—NetflixDon’t Look UpSelected by Tyler PerryWhen I think about this current America, one film comes to mind: Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up. As the title so perfectly suggests, it’s about technology taking over our world, our hearts, and our minds, and no one looking up from the devices that keep us distracted and divided long enough not to notice that fact. Regardless of being comedy or satire or drama, true art often prophetically warns us, and I hope we all start to look up and see what’s happening before we lose what the forefathers intended this nation to be.Perry is a director, producer, and star of the upcoming Netflix film Why Did I Get Married Again?Robert De Niro as Rupert Pupkin in “The King Of Comedy” Silver Screen Collection/Getty ImagesThe King of Comedy Selected by Autumn Durald ArkapawThe movie gets straight to the heart of today's obsession with virality. It feels incredibly contemporary because it essentially mapped out the influencer economy and the rise of parasocial dynamics decades before they became our everyday reality.Arkapaw was the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, for Sinners.Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding in “The Shawshank Redemption” Courtesy ColumbiaThe Shawshank Redemption Selected by Dan LinFrank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption is a timeless classic that reflects where our film culture is headed. Audiences want to see films that celebrate the human spirit—movies that are realistic, that acknowledge pain and difficulty in everyday life, but that are buoyed by resilience, empathy, and community. Shawshank is also a lasting vestige of an iconic filmmaker, the late Rob Reiner. Castle Rock Entertainment, the company he co-founded, produced the film and many others that are rooted in hope and perseverance. I look to that legacy when developing our slate at Netflix, with films like Remarkably Bright Creatures and the upcoming Voicemails for Isabelle, Fight for ’84, and The ’99ers meant to meet this moment. Lin is the chairman of Netflix Film.Woody Harrelson as Mickey Knox and Juliette Lewis as Mallory Wilson Knox in “Natural Born Killers” Warner Brothers/Getty ImagesNatural Born Killers Selected by Antoine Fuqua Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers captures something deeply unsettling about American culture. The public's obsession with Mickey and Mallory isn't horror, it's worship. Fame can be a real disease. In an era of algorithm outrage and viral infamy, the film's central warning has only sharpened.Fuqua is a director and producer. His latest film is Michael.Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell, Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert, and Bill Paxton as Fred Haise in “Apollo 13” Universal/Getty ImagesApollo 13Selected by Brian GrazerApollo 13 captures something essential about America at its best, which is the belief that no challenge is too big when talented people come together with urgency, ingenuity, and purpose. To me, it remains one of the greatest space films ever made because it celebrates problem-solving, resilience, and teamwork under extraordinary pressure. The story reflects a defining era when America’s space program became a symbol of ambition and innovation for the world. The film still feels relevant today as a reminder that America’s greatest strength has always been its ability to confront impossible problems and find a way forward together.Grazer is a producer and the co-founder and co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment. His upcoming projects include Wild Things on Apple TV and films including How to Rob a Bank and Spaceballs: The New One.Ulrich Mühe as Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler in “The Lives of Others” Sony Pictures Classics/Everett CollectionThe Lives of OthersSelected by Kumail Nanjiani It’s a movie about rediscovering your humanity and empathy within structures that are designed to dehumanize your neighbors. I can’t imagine why I am saying it’s relevant today. It also features perhaps my favorite lead performance of all time, given by German actor Ulrich Muhe. Nanjiani is an actor, producer, and screenwriter. His most recent stand-up special is Night Thoughts and he will be seen in the upcoming season of HBO’s The White Lotus.Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson in “One Battle After Another” Courtesy Warner Bros. PicturesOne Battle After AnotherSelected by Peter CoyoteOne Battle After Another put its finger on the American tension between the quest for absolute freedom and the wisdom of commitment. As someone who lived fully in the anarchistic left of the counter-culture, I was amazed that Paul Thomas Anderson put his finger so succinctly on the central dilemma. His genius was giving everything just enough of a comic edge to nullify pomposity. Coyote is an author, Zen Buddhist priest, and the voice of 12 Ken Burns documentaries. Kirsten Dunst as Lee Smith and Cailee Spaeny as Jessie Collin in “Civil War” Murray Close—A24Civil WarSelected by Richard RoeperThe most chilling line I’ve heard in any movie this decade is from Alex Garland’s dystopian action thriller Civil War (2024), when Jesse Plemons’ militia gunman asks a detainee: “What kind of an American are you?” I don’t believe this country is headed down the path of Civil War, where a megalomaniacal third-term president has authorized military strikes against insurgents. Still, this is a searingly effective cautionary tale. I do believe in the style of reportage showcased in this film—the boots-on-the-ground reporting, the risk-taking, the relentless pursuit of capturing the news and bringing it to the people. Civil War is terrifying, but it’s also one of the best movies ever made about the indispensable value of American journalism.Roeper is a film critic, entertainment and culture contributor for NBC 5 Chicago, and host of the podcast The Movie of Your Life with Richard Roeper. Michael B. Jordan as both Smoke and Stack in “Sinners” Courtesy of Warner Bros. PicturesSinnersSelected by Michelle SatterSinners, written and directed by the visionary Ryan Coogler, captures this cultural moment by confronting the enduring legacy of racism, violence, and moral division in America, while reinforcing the possibility of redemption and human connection. The film reflects the direction of American culture, exploring how people navigate identity, guilt, faith, and survival within deeply fractured systems. What makes it especially meaningful right now is the way it blends personal storytelling with larger historical and social tensions. At a time when Americans are reexamining history, institutions, and community, Sinners asks difficult questions about accountability, inherited trauma, and whether reconciliation is truly possible.Satter is the founding senior director of the Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs.Sierra McCormick as Sybil and Ryan Masson as Miles in “The Last Stop in Yuma County” Well Go USA Entertainment /Everett CollectionThe Last Stop in Yuma County Selected by Dennis LehaneOn the surface, it seems merely a tight and tense noir in which a group of disparate strangers await the arrival of a fuel truck in a gas-station diner in mid-’70s Texas. But underneath, this micro-budget B movie is a jaundiced lament for the death of American individualism. In the life-or-death (but mostly death) scrabbling of the film’s characters lies a perfect metaphor for the moment our dependence on oil reached a point of no return, and scorched-earth capitalism began its inexorable death march straight into the age we’re living through now.Lehane is a novelist, most recently of Small Mercies, and screenwriter. He created the series Smoke for Apple TV+ and is currently adapting Small Mercies as a limited series.Laura Dern as Ellie Sattler and Sam Neill as Alan Grant in “Jurassic Park” Universal/Getty ImagesJurassic ParkSelected by Reece FeldmanJurassic Park is not only one of my favorite movies, but also one I find so relevant today. The theme park in the film is devised by John Hammond, a “lovable” billionaire who puts his own beliefs onto the world, and expects the world to bend in response. Hammond is more than happy to cut corners, underpay his staff, put the lives of others in jeopardy, and violate scientific ethics for the sake of his dream. “We spared no expense,” he loves to remind us. Ultimately, living in a country governed by men with their own agendas, from rigid belief systems to the apparent desire to integrate new technologies into every facet of the human experience, I can’t help but think of this perfect film and the classic line spoken by Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” Feldman is a content creator. He goes by @guywithamoviecamera on TikTok.Jane Fonda as Sally Bender Hyde and Jon Voight as Luke Martin in “Coming Home” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty ImagesComing HomeSelected by Randall PosterBruce Dern, Jon Voight, and Jane Fonda, emotionally destroyed by the war in Vietnam, evolve and move forward. So much hope in the movie—so much humanity. Poster is a music supervisor for film and television. David Oyelowo, as Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma". Atsushi Nishijima—Paramount Pictures/Everett CollectionSelmaSelected by Patricia CardosoSelma reminds us how conviction and courage led a group of Americans to fight injustice with non-violence and transform history. Through David Oyelowo’s nuanced portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and masterful direction by Ava DuVernay, we experience the marches from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, including Bloody Sunday, and how images of that violence, seen by millions of Americans on televisions across the nation, contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Cardoso is a director, screenwriter, producer and professor of filmmaking at the University of California, Riverside.Joshua Odjick as Parker, Jordan Gonzalez as Harkness, David Jonsson as McVries, Cooper Hoffman as Garraty, and Charlie Plummer as Barkovitch in “The Long Walk” Murray Close—Lions gateThe Long WalkSelected by Francis LawrenceI know I should suggest a film other than one I worked on, but I do think The Long Walk perfectly depicts an America where the American Dream has vanished and been replaced by the sense of financial nihilism that we all live with today.Lawrence is a director and producer. His next film is The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, in theaters Nov. 20.Isabel Sandoval as Olivia in “Lingua Franca” Array Releasing/Courtesy Everett CollectionLingua FrancaSelected by Sydney FreelandStrip away the politics, and Lingua Franca is about something universal: the hunger for love, belonging, and a better life. But politics do play a role. Olivia, the film’s protagonist, is an undocumented trans woman—two communities that have been demonized in Trump's America. Director Isabel Sandoval's genius is making you forget about labels and instead focus on the humanity of her characters. Stories like this are a reminder that the things people have in common with each other far outweigh our differences.Freeland co-wrote and directed the 2024 sports drama Rez Ball. She will next direct two episodes of Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie. Jon Bernthal as Brett Hamilton and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson in “Origin” Neon/Everett CollectionOriginSelected by Hayley KiyokoThe U.S. is a country built on the most complicated, painful, beautiful intersection of cultures and identities on earth. That’s not weakness; that’s the whole point of us. We can’t move forward by pretending the past didn’t happen or build something lasting on a foundation we refuse to look at. We’re about to celebrate 250 years, and I want us to still be here for 500. That requires honesty. Origin does that in a way I haven’t seen before.Kiyoko is a singer, songwriter, actor, and author; she directed the film Girls Like Girls, in theaters June 19, and recorded the soundtrack, available June 12.Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Goble Johnson in “Hidden Figures” 20th Century Fox/Everett CollectionSelected by Taraji P. HensonI chose this film because it shows how people can come together and put aside their differences to achieve something bigger than themselves, which feels especially relevant today. Its message of women’s empowerment and representation in STEM still resonates and continues to motivate younger generations to pursue careers in science, technology, and innovation. Art is supposed to inspire, and this film did exactly that by encouraging audiences to imagine a more inclusive and collaborative future—a reflection of where American culture is headed.Henson is an actor and producer. She currently stars in August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone on Broadway.Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, Joseph Mazzello as Dustin Moskovitz, and Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network” Merrick Morton—Columbia Pictures/Everett CollectionSelected by Jon M. ChuThere is something haunting about the world David Fincher captures: a society standing on the edge of a profound change. Watching it today feels strangely familiar. Once again, we find ourselves holding tools with the power to reshape how we live, connect, and understand one another. Those tools may help us build extraordinary things or they may expose our deepest flaws. Most likely, they’ll do both, reflecting who we are and who we will become. The Social Network, like its perfect Atticus Ross/Trent Reznor score, profoundly captures that feeling of when the future is rushing toward us and no one yet knows what it will reveal.Chu is the director of Crazy Rich Asians, Wicked, and Wicked: For Good.Joaquin Phoenix as Joe Cross and Pedro Pascal as Ted Garcia in “Eddington” A24EddingtonSelected by David WainEddington laid bare the way we have lost the ability to talk to each other, how our separate feeds have robbed us of the ability to share a single reality with the person standing right in front of us. It’s accurate, funny, anxious, confused, violent—and somehow mournful underneath it all.Wain is a writer, actor, and filmmaker. He wrote and directed Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, in theaters July 10.Miles Caton as Sammie Moore in “Sinners” Courtesy of Warner Bros. PicturesSinnersSelected by Ruth E. CarterWith its striking red, white, and blue palette, reinforced through costume choices, Sinners becomes a layered meditation on the American story—one that uses color to explore ideals, contradictions, sacrifice, wisdom, redemption, and the possibility of forging a more hopeful and unified future. In a world rapidly trying to understand the role of AI and what it means for creativity, Sinners represents something increasingly precious: big-budget originality driven by human imagination, craftsmanship, and cultural truth. At a moment when technology is challenging us to define what makes us human, Sinners is ultimately a call to embrace our own agency, claim our stories, and stand in the light.Carter, a costume designer, was the first Black winner of an Oscar in that category.A still from “The Perfect Neighbor” NetflixThe Perfect NeighborSelected by Dana Ledoux MillerMy mom told me to watch The Perfect Neighbor because she needed someone to talk to about it. But I had no idea when I turned it on that I'd spend 90 minutes having my heart ripped open until I wept. I often feel like my generation has spent most of our lives grieving; so very little moves us anymore. But this film is a haunting portrait of America today, an unflinching record of our systemic brokenness and our societal failures, and a time capsule of reality not as we want it to be remembered but as it must be. It is impossible to watch and not mourn, not just about the tragic killing of Ajike Owens, but also the other tragedy at the heart of this film: how easy we’ve made it to rob our children of their joy. The day we collectively forget what a remarkable gift it is to hear the sounds of children playing is the day we will have truly lost ourselves.Ledoux Miller is a director, writer, and producer. She co-wrote Moana, in theaters July 10.Dennis Christopher as Dave, Jackie Earle Haley as Moocher, Daniel Stern as Cyril and Dennis Quaid as Mike in “Breaking Away” John Springer Collection/Corbis/Getty ImagesBreaking AwaySelected by Edward Burns Upon recently rewatching Peter Yates' 1979 Breaking Away, I was struck by how its themes—of class division, economic uncertainty, and the promise of the American Dream slipping away for a younger generation—speak to today’s America. While the four working-class young heroes at the center of the story live in fear that their best days may already be behind them, Breaking Away is ultimately a celebration of resilience and the enduring American belief that a better future remains within reach. And it's my hope that the promise of America is still out there, waiting for those with the courage and resilience to pursue it.Burns is an actor and filmmaker. He wrote, directed, and stars in Finnegan’s Foursome, available on streaming platforms June 19.