Power

Power (1986) is a political drama directed by Sidney Lumet that you can watch online on iFILM. Pete St. John is a political consultant at the top of his field — clients across the country, a track record that speaks for itself, and a professional philosophy built entirely around winning. What his candidates actually stand for is someone else's problem.

When a longtime ally leaves the Senate, St. John is handed a new client: Jerome Cade, a businessman with no political history and, it turns out, very specific backers. The deeper Pete digs, the less he can pretend the job is morally neutral. Richard Gere plays St. John with a polished remove that suits the character exactly — charming enough to sell anyone, detached enough to sell anyone out. Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, and Julie Christie round out a cast that Lumet knew how to use.

Lumet made Power between his gritty crime work and Network-era media satire; it shares their instinct for systems that corrupt quietly. The tagline — "more seductive than sex, more addictive than any drug" — describes what the film is actually about. Stream Power (1986) online on iFILM.