Re-watching Election in the final days and weeks preceding what feels like one of the most explosive, unpredictable, and shocking election cycles in recent memory was truly an experience. To watch Tracy Flick—entitled, unlikable, hard-working, and undeterrable—fight to win her election was to have your jaw drop open in shock muttering only, “Oh my god, it’s Hillary Clinton...” The parallels are positively uncanny, despite as Aaron pointed out in his Opening Statement this week that the film isn’t really about exploring or satirizing the way our political process works. Though that’s partly what makes the way this film resonates in 2016 so stunning.

The long running joke of the year has been that 2016 must surely be one of the worst years on record. It’s been a year full of scandals, death, destruction, and fear. While one could argue that the same is true of any and every year, there hasn’t been the same little something in the air, the perpetual undercurrent hovering just beneath the news of the day. Every breaking story seems to feel like further proof that 2016 has been, in a word, awful, and it’s not even over yet.

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to take a look at four more films that ring true when we look back on the year so far:

Back to the Future Part II [Robert Zemeckis, 1989]
Available for Digital Rental

The sequel to the sensation that was Back to the Future Part II manages to retain much of the charm of the original, if not its originality. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reprise their roles, but instead of heading back to 1955, the duo spring into the far-flung future of 2015. Who could have predicted that Zemeckis’s nutty comedy would only be one year away from Nostradamus-level predictions about our present day? The biggest [and perhaps most unbelievable] of which being that the Chicago Cubs have finally ended their 108-year dry spell. But many have also noted upon re-watch in 2016, Biff’s arc as a former bully turned gaudy, lecherous businessman turned skeevy right-wing political candidate seems almost all too familiar.

Edge of Tomorrow [Doug Liman, 2014]
Available for Digital Rental

A blip on the radar of the 2014 summer blockbuster season, Edge of Tomorrow opened and closed quietly in the face of middling ticket sales. All this despite being one of the most inventive action movies in recent memory. Brushed off as another sad Tom Cruise vehicle, the film tells the story of a futuristic world under attack from a seemingly unstoppable alien threat. We follow Major Bill Cage [Cruise], a talking head that finds himself on the front lines reliving the same day on the battlefield over and over and over and over again. Only with the help of super soldier Rita Vrataski [Emily Blunt] can he find a way to break the cycle and stop the destruction of mankind. Some of the film's most brilliant comedic moments come from watching Cage find new paths to take in this hellish version of a Groundhog Day-style tale. But it’s also in watching Cage relive the worst day of his life ad nauseam that we feel a little kinship in 2016, the year that never seems to end, piling up the tragedies as we march along.

Zombieland [Ruben Fleischer, 2009]
Available for Digital Rental

This so-called “zombie-comedy” was one of the surprise delights of 2009. Starring Jesse Eisenberg as a lonesome nerd making his way home through the zombie apocalypse, it’s an entertaining blend of action and fun that somehow manages to perfectly capture the feeling of being alone in a world that makes no sense to you—something that has felt like a running theme of the 2016 election. Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone costar, rounding out a seemingly oddball cast that form something like a family in the midst of the disaster around them. But it’s really the cameo appearance that has me feeling shades of 2016. In an attempt not to ruin the surprise if you’re new to the film, suffice it to say there’s an unexpected death that’s hilariously shocking. That moment can’t help but remind me of all the losses that surprised us this year, particularly those of Alan Rickman, Prince, and David Bowie. Thankfully, Zombieland never strays far from its comedic roots so you can at least count on it to end on an upbeat note.

Apocalypse Now [Francis Ford Coppola, 1979]
Available for Digital Rental

Francis Ford Coppla’s masterpiece Vietnam War picture feels like the perfect note to end on. Famously based on the novella “Heart of Darkness,” Coppola captured the sense of hopelessness and disillusionment that the rising death toll in Vietnam had brought on the American people. Frequently called out as one of the greatest films of all time, Apocalypse Now has proven to have a somewhat uncanny ability to resonate with viewers as time wears on. In 2016, the title alone reminds us of just how much has seemed to be at stake this year and how perilously close everything felt to ending, no matter which candidate you were rooting for. It seemed no one could shake the notion that everything was on the line.