State of Play is a 2009 political thriller film, based on the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour film format, with the location changed to Washington, D.C. The film reveals the journalistic ethics and the scandalous nature of politics when a Congressman's assistant is murdered, a team of reporters join forces with the police to get to the bottom of the case. They delve into the politician's past to find answers.