The Best Movies Based on Real Events or People

This Oscar-winning classic dramatizes the founding of Facebook and legal battles that ensued. Follow Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) as he turns anti-social grudges into social networking gold. The film is based on a non-fiction book by Ben Mezrich.

Director Sam Mendes drew partial inspiration from stories his grandfather told him when crafting this WWI drama. Presented as a single take (though there are cuts), it sends two soldiers across enemy lines on a deadly mission. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography for industry legend Roger Deakins.

The story of Captain Richard Phillips (played here by Tom Hanks) inspired this gripping depiction of a high seas hostage crisis. Director Paul Greengrass employs handheld camera shots to ratchet up the look of authenticity and the tension alike. (It’s somewhat ironic that the real-life Captain Phillips was reportedly far more arrogant and inept than Hanks’ heroic portrayal would suggest.)

This taut thriller, which takes place during WWII, centers on a Germany-bound train full of stolen artwork. It’s based on the autobiography of art historian Rose Valland, who risked her life by keeping meticulous records of valuable artwork as it was being stolen by the Nazis. Thanks to her efforts, the French Resistance was able to retrieve a fortune in stolen art.

Emily V. Gordon and husband Kumail Nanjiani drew upon their real-life experiences when co-writing this romantic comedy. Nanjiani stars as his thinly veiled alter-ego, who goes against family tradition by dating Emily (played by Zoe Kazan). Their blossoming relationship takes on an even greater challenge when Emily falls victim to a life-threatening medical condition.

Director Cameron Crowe revisited his past as a teenage rock journalist in this beloved coming-of-age dramedy. Patrick Fugit stars as Crowe stand-in William Miller, who hits the road with rock band Stillwater and their loyal followers (aka “band aids”). While Stillwater was the name of an actual band, Crowe reportedly based their depiction on groups such as Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers Band.

Benedict Cumberbatch delivers a career-defining performance as mathematician Alan Turing in this historical biopic. At the height of WWII, Turing and his team must race against time to crack Germany’s elusive Enigma code. From this effort and the work that followed came the foundations for modern computing.

William Friedkin’s seminal crime drama tells the story of a vast drug-trafficking scheme and the operation tasked with bringing it down. It pits a flawed detective (Gene Hackman) against a suave heroin dealer (Roy Scheider) and features one of the most famous car chases in movie history. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

This British biographical drama recounts the experiences of real-life journalists Dith Pran (played by Haing S. Ngor) and Sydney Schanberg (played by Sam Waterston). Both men are trapped in Cambodia during a genocidal campaign under the new Khmer Rouge regime. It won three Academy Awards.

Actor Matthew McConaughey lost 47 pounds for the role of real-life AIDS victim Ron Woodroof in this heralded biopic. As the epidemic spreads, Woodroof oversees an illegal treatment program in 1980s Texas. McConaughey and co-star Jared Leto won two of the movie’s three Academy Awards.

Ben Affleck’s third directorial feature culls from a memoir by CIA operative Tony Mendez (played by Affleck). In the midst of the Iran Hostage Crisis, Mendez and a Hollywood producer (Alan Arkin) enter hostile territory under the guise of movie location scouts. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Henry Fonda plays legendary lawman Wyatt Earp in this John Ford Western, which builds toward the famous gunfight at O.K. Corral. “The film subtly complicates viewer expectations early on, eschewing clear-cut character rivalries in favor of more complex emotional and social configurations,” wrote critic Matthew Connolly for Slant Magazine.

Terrence Malick’s directorial feature debut draws loose inspiration from a real-life murder spree in the late 1950s. The story follows a rebellious killer (Martin Sheen) and his teenage girlfriend (Sissy Spacek) through the American Midwest. Despite the lurid subject matter, Malick injects the film with visual majesty and unspools the story at a slow pace.

An acclaimed novel by Tom Wolfe laid the groundwork for this sprawling chronicle of America’s early space program. The movie takes creative liberties but still feels relatively authentic in its portrayal of fearless fliers. It opened to positive reviews but disappointing box office numbers.

Director Michael Mann followed the crime classic “Heat” with this gripping drama about whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand. Fighting a sea of troubles, Wigand and TV producer Lowell Bergman (played by Al Pacino) set out to expose Big Tobacco on “60 Minutes.” The story draws from a 1996 Vanity Fair article called “The Man Who Knew Too Much” by Marie Brenner.

This biographical drama is based on the true story of American activist Fred Hampton, played by Daniel Kaluuya in an Oscar-winning performance. Hoping to take down Hampton and the Illinois Black Panther Party, the FBI installs an undercover informant (LaKeith Stanfield). “Impressive, explosive and gut-wrenching,” wrote critic Wenlei Ma for news.com.au.

This blockbuster biopic centers on three female African-American mathematicians who proved instrumental to NASA’s budding space program. It takes place in the early 1960s at the height of America’s Space Race against the Soviet Union. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe deliver top-notch performances as the story’s protagonists.

This Civil War drama tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of America’s first Black regiments. Leading them into battle is Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), who faces conflicts of both the internal and external variety. Co-star Denzel Washington won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Private Silas Trip.

Like the play upon which it’s based, this historical drama tells the story of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Arrested for teaching evolution, a teacher must defend his actions in a court of law. It also doubles as an indictment of McCarthyism and the movement’s negative effect on intellectual discourse.

This political thriller follows Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they crack open the Watergate scandal. More than a benchmark of its respective subgenre, the film ushered in new attitudes about investigative reporting. It won four Academy Awards.

Helen Keller’s 1903 autobiography inspired a Broadway play and then this critically adored film adaptation. Against all odds, tutor Anne Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) teaches the deaf and blind Keller (Patty Duke) how to communicate. Bancroft and Duke won Academy Awards for their respective performances.

A Siberian Husky named Togo is the little sled dog that could in this historical adventure from Walt Disney Studios. Follow the dog and his trainer (Willem Dafoe) as they transport a life-saving serum across hostile Alaskan terrain. The story is based on the real-life 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy. (A related tale, featuring another heroic sled dog who was part of the same effort, had been told in the mostly animated feature “Balto,” released by Steven Spielberg’s Amblimation studio in 1995.)

A 1920 coal miner’s strike informed this historical drama, starring Chris Cooper as fictional labor union organizer Joe Kenehan. What begins as the attempt to form a coal miner’s union takes on deadly repercussions as the story unfolds.

Francis Ford Coppola co-wrote the screenplay for this sweeping biopic about controversial WWII General George S. Patton (played by George C. Scott). A fearless and outspoken strategist, Patton’s methods walk the line between genius and insanity. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Colin Firth delivers an Oscar-winning performance as King George VI in this blockbuster period drama. Abruptly ascended to the British throne, the king must quickly overcome a debilitating speech impediment. Screenwriter David Seidler first heard the true story when overcoming his own speech impediment as a child.

This enduring crime dramedy adapted a Life magazine article about a real-life bank robbery from 1972. Al Pacino and John Cazale play two hapless criminals, whose intended bank heist becomes a comedy of errors. The film’s LGBTQ+ characters and media circus themes were both arguably ahead of their time.

From painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel came this French biopic about magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric). Due to a stroke that left him with a rare condition called locked-in syndrome, the once-active playboy is physically paralyzed with the exception of a single eye. The movie culls from Bauby’s own memoir, which he wrote by spelling out words with blinks of his eye, and takes place primarily from his point of view.

Surrealist auteur David Lynch took moviegoers by surprise when he directed this G-rated road trip drama for Walt Disney Studios. It tells the true story of Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), an elderly WWII veteran who rode a lawnmower 240 miles to see his ailing brother.

This gripping drama unfolds during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and centers on hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle). As the violence escalates, Rusesabagina risks his life by providing shelter to over a thousand Tutsi refugees. (In 2020, the real-life Rusesabagina was kidnapped by the Rwandan government and accused of terrorism because of his criticism of the regime. The one-time hero is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.)

Witness the incredible story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who cons his way into a number of high-profile jobs throughout the 1960s. One of the movie’s main sources is the real-life Abagnale Jr.’s own memoir – which was itself largely fabricated according to recent reports. And so the con continues.

Living the life of a free man, Solomon Northup (played Chiwetel Ejiofor) is kidnapped and sold into slavery in this tragic historical drama. The film’s events are based on the real-life Northup’s 1853 memoir of the same name. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Hollywood legend Buster Keaton spared no expense when creating this adventure comedy classic and its epic train crash sequence. He drew direct inspiration from the Great Locomotive Chase, which occurred during the American Civil War. Once a commercial disappointment, the movie is now considered one of the silent era’s greatest achievements.

Actor John Hurt delivers a powerful performance as real-life figure Joseph “John” Merrick in this historical biopic. Severely deformed but mentally competent, Merrick becomes an unlikely member of Victorian London’s high society. Mel Brooks produced, but left his name off the credits so that audiences wouldn’t expect a comedy.

Chazz Palminteri drew upon his own childhood experiences when crafting the one-man play upon which this film adaptation is based. He stars as a neighborhood mob boss who takes a local boy under his wing to the chagrin of the boy’s father (Robert De Niro). The story also explores racial tensions in the 1960s Bronx.

Four Nazis are tried for war crimes in this fictionalized version of an actual courtroom case from 1947. Clocking in at just under three hours, it offers a complex portrait of culpability and hypocrisy during times of war. It won two Academy Awards.

Robert De Niro won an Academy Award for his performance as boxing champ Jake LaMotta in this unsparing biopic. It follows the boxer’s rise and fall while also depicting the domestic repercussions of his violent lifestyle. The real-life LaMotta asked his wife if he really was like his negative portrayal, to which she replied, “You were worse.”

This biographical dramedy tells the story of Irish artist Christy Brown (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), who suffered from cerebral palsy and used his left foot to create. Day-Lewis went deep into character during production and reportedly refused to perform any action that Brown himself couldn’t have performed. It earned the actor his first Academy Award.

This pre-code drama, adapted from a memoir of the same name, helped expose the cruelty of America’s once-common chain gang system. Actor Paul Muni plays James Allen, a wrongfully convicted prisoner who flees to Chicago but can’t escape his past. To prepare for the role, Muni spent considerable time with his character’s real-life counterpart.

Director Stanley Kubrick adapted a 1979 novel called “The Short-Timers” when creating this legendary Vietnam War drama. Soldiers are stripped of their humanity at boot camp and then sent overseas to kill a largely unseen enemy. Writing for the Globe and Mail, critic Jay Scott called it “violent, caustic, ironic, and cold.”

The book upon which this courtroom drama was based took inspiration from an actual event. James Stewart plays small-town lawyer Paul Biegler, who squares off against a savvy prosecutor (George C. Scott) in a high-stakes murder trial. UCLA Law School professor and author Michael Asimow once wrote that it was “probably the finest pure trial movie ever made.”

Daniel Day-Lewis re-teamed with Jim Sheridan, who directed him in “My Left Food,” for this biographical prison drama about Irishman Gerry Conlon. When both Conlon and his father (Pete Postlethwaite) are convicted for crimes they didn’t commit, a lawyer (Emma Thompson) fights for their freedom. In 1997, Day-Lewis and Sheridan reunited once again for the political drama “The Boxer.”

In the mold of “All the President’s Men” came this Oscar-winning newsroom drama, in which Boston Globe reporters uncover a child molestation scandal. Their investigation takes them to the doorstep of the local Catholic Archdiocese, a place of tremendous influence and power. Actors including Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo studied their real-life counterparts to prepare for their respective roles.

At the behest of the Ford Motor Company, two auto experts (Matt Damon and Christian Bale) must create a competition-worthy racecar in time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Set in 1966, the action unfolds against a ticking clock and the bitter rivalry between Ford and Italian automaker Ferrari.

This WWII adventure draws on a novel of the same name, chronicling the daring escape from a German POW camp. Steve McQueen leads an ensemble cast of iconic movie men, whose characters hatch and execute an audacious plan. The film’s now-famous motorbike jump over barbed wire was not based on an actual event.

This highly fictionalized but nevertheless fascinating biopic recounts the life of Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) as seen by rival composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). Jealous of Mozart’s natural talent, Salieri concocts a deadly murder scheme. It won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The real-life trial of four French soldiers inspired a 1935 anti-war novel along with this big screen adaptation. A unit commander (Kirk Douglas) leads his men into the trenches of WWI, giving way to an impromptu mutiny with dire consequences. “It is arguably the best film about the first world war, and still has a reasonable claim to being Stanley Kubrick’s best film,” wrote critic Peter Bradshaw for the Guardian.

A memoir by Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman inspired this Oscar-winning adaptation. Trapped inside the Warsaw Ghetto, Szpilman (Adrien Brody) confronts a number of life-threatening obstacles over the course of several years. It won three Academy Awards.

This animated classic culls from a short story by Akiyuki Nosaka, based on his personal experiences during WWII. When the American firebombing of Kobe separates two siblings from their parents, they embark on a harrowing journey of survival.

Author Nicholas Pileggi adapted his own novel about mobster Henry Hill when co-writing the screenplay for this seminal crime drama. It spends three decades on the fringes of the Italian-American mafia and unfolds through a series of brisk, interconnected anecdotes. Joe Pesci won an Academy Award for the supporting role of violent hothead Tommy DeVito.

Spielberg’s masterful drama centers on German industrialist Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), who helped save over a thousand Jewish lives during the Holocaust. One of the real-life people that Schindler saved spent decades trying to get Hollywood to adapt the story, and is credited as a consultant. Winner of seven Academy Awards, it currently ranks No. 6 on IMDb’s list of the Top 250 Movies.