The faithful “true story” sticker on films is a huge selling point for moviegoers or Netflix junkies. Whether it’s seeing the rock-and-roll lifestyle of a famous band behind the scenes or the terrifying ascent of a world-famous climber, true stories seem to have extra visual thrill for cinephiles globally.
But let’s not mix up truth with fiction. True stories no longer need 100% accuracy if the opportunity to add more suspense or dramatize events is present. Away from threats of historical misinterpretation, it’s no problem for the avid film lover. Nothing will stop us from watching and re-watching again.
In this article, we’ll cover the faithful life recounts or artistic licenses gone crazy. These are the true story films that have us gripped.
1. Oppenheimer (2023)
Released last year in 2023, Oppenheimer stormed every conceivable award show, including earning five Golden Globes. The story follows J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role during World War II in developing the atomic bomb.
Nicknamed the Manhattan Project, the film gives great insight into the background of the event and the devastating nuclear explosion. The film is close to the actual life of Oppenheimer and includes a brief affair with Jean Tatlock while married to his wife, Kitty.
2. The Pianist (2002)
Heartbreak alert. Stories do not get much more upsetting than this. The Pianist follows the tragic tale of Polish Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody). After being forced into a Warsaw ghetto during World War II, the film follows the deaths of his father and mother and the catastrophic effects of Operation Reinhard.
This movie is extremely accurate as it closely follows the autobiography The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945.
3. Erin Brockovich (2000)
Julia Roberts does a sterling job of presenting no-nonsense Erin Brockovich in the self-titled film. It’s said that Brockovich had a big hand in the production stages of the film; but there are a few inconsistencies, such as her never winning Miss Wichita, a beauty pageant competition in the U.S. It was Miss Pacific Coast.
4. King Richard (2021)
Seventy-eight pages and a dream that inspired both daughters Venus and Serena were all that was needed for Richard Williams to push them into greatness. The truth is kept exceptionally accurate due to both Venus and Serena Williams playing big parts in the production of the film.
Elements like Richard encountering the Klu Klux Klan are real, but other parts, like Richard becoming interested in tennis due to black athletes, are false. It was due to him watching tennis player Virginia Ruzici of Romania winning $30,000 on TV.
5. Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
It’s hard to believe the drug-fuelled life of Jordan Belfort in Wolf of Wall Street, but surprisingly, the story is accurate regarding the crime and gory details. It’s true that he regularly defrauded his clients and that his yacht sank in stormy seas.
But other details, like Matthew McConaughey giving his famous throat chant, near the start of the movie is something he does as a relaxation technique before filming. Some things just stick.
6. Black Book (2006)
Black Book is another movie inspired by World War II. It’s a cinematic masterpiece which follows the fear of Dutch-Jewish singer Rachel Stein. Totalling death camps and gas chambers, the film is a constant thrashing for the viewer but offers truth into the horrific events that director and writer Paul Verhoeven encountered. He intentionally made it not very Hollywoodian to promote the realism of the piece.
7. All The President’s Men (1976)
Time for a throwback to a classic. Inspired by the Watergate scandal, the film is based on a non-fiction book written by two journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. They investigated the break-in at the Watergate Office Building in June 1972, allowing the book and subsequent film to be accurate, especially since it was released only four years after the event.
While there are examples of dramatic license, like it only being Bernstein and Woodward who labored in the offices, it’s generally close to the true events that brought down President Nixon.
8. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Following the hedonistic lifestyle of Queen’s lead singer, Freddy Mercury, the film offers a beautiful insight into the bond between the band members, their foundation and the devastating AIDS and subsequent HIV that would eventually lead to Mercury’s demise.
The film is accurate not just in terms of recounting the band’s lifestyle and the legendary Live Aid concert of 1985 but also the fear among the homosexual community during the 70s and 80s.
9. Spotlight (2015)
Spotlight sheds light on the Catholic Church and the priestly sexual abuse against minors that it covered up. Winning Best Picture, the film is an excellent reading into the investigative reporters at the Boston Globe but points like defrocked priest Ronald H. Paquin confessing to abusing children during the investigation are false and were debunked following newspaper reports.
10. Hustlers (2019)
If any of these movies were to be false, it would be Hustlers, due to how crazy the story sounds. A group of strippers joined forces to exploit Wall Street clientele who visited their club in Rockland County by drugging them and overcharging their credit cards.
Inspired by the famous New York Magazine that explored their lives, the film received criticism from actual stripper Samantha Barbash, who “wasn’t that impressed” and sought to sue the producers for allegedly not securing the rights to her life story.
11. Schindler’s List (1993)
Directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring legendary actors Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, the star-studded film was a big hit due to its popularity and enduring story of love and hatred against Jewish people during World War II.
The film is honest as it’s based on interviews with Holocaust survivors and gives a truthful take on Oskar Schindler turning from a cruel, money-hungry businessman to a sympathetic savior of his Jewish workers.
12. Moneyball (2011)
Moneyball is a realistic depiction of The Oakland Athletics 2002 season, which saw manager Billy Beane use a “Moneyball” style to produce a new method of playing baseball. Remarkably, the story of using numbers and stats to win is incredibly accurate, but the portrayal of Peter Brand (real name Paul DePodesta) as a standalone martyr against his scouts is wrong. There was a lot more teamwork behind the scenes.
13. Elvis (2022)
Nicknamed “The King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis’ story was illustrated in the 2022 movie Elvis. But, according to an interview on the entertainment site Variety with biographer Alanna Nash, there are a few points that have been overshadowed. They include making Colonel Tom Parker more antagonistic than necessary, for dramatic effect, and even Tom Hanks’ accent seems humorous rather than genuine.
14. Wild (2014)
Wild follows the bestselling 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, written by Cheryl Strayed. Performed by Reese Witherspoon, the film is generally accurate as Strayed was a producer. There were a few alterations, like Cheryl not encountering two hunters when searching for water and a few parts in the book not included to save precious film time.
15. Judy (2019)
Renee Zellweger’s presentation of acclaimed singer/actress Judy Garland was fairly accurate, given that her past is generally shrouded in mystery and secrecy. The timelines of her success and starring in hit roles are correct, but discrepancies like the role of Rosalyn Wilder was exaggerated for entertainment and Garland doesn’t marry Mickey Deans until March 1969 are present.
16. Jackie (2016)
Natalie Portman undertook the role of First Lady Jackie Kennedy in a heartbreaking presentation of life as such a prominent figure, undergoing a miscarriage and dealing with her husband’s assassination. The film combines archival footage and thorough historical investigation, but Pablo Larraín’s directorial style dramatized the various “faces” of Jackie, including her public and private persona.
17. The Big Short (2015)
The Big Short is an insightful film about the effects of a failing economy. Offering a compelling portrayal of how the financial crisis of 2008 started and how it decimated the US economy, director Adam McKay won Best Adapted Screenplay and ensured his film followed the timeline and key facts well, including the background behind the housing crisis.
The movie does fall in one aspect. Wall Street observers have noted that there have been no mentions of legislation from the 1990s, a key factor in the downfall of the economy.
18. Hidden Figures (2016)
Hidden Figures is a positive representation of the troubles black women experienced across America, including within highly skilled and professional workplaces like NASA. The personal experiences and space travel timeline are accurate, and job roles like John Glenn’s position of double-checking the IBM 7090s trajectory are true. But the segregation element is slightly oversold to exacerbate the perils of being a black woman in the workplace.
19. Titanic (1997)
Titanic has gone past being just a film and has become part of pop culture. Cue Jack Dawson’s “I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!”. The love interest and the dying words are all fictional, but the famous boat sinking and the dates are correct. Who needs fact when fiction makes us well up?
20. Dunkirk (2017)
Christopher Nolan presented Dunkirk with the same epic film style he’s made a career from. The movie is allegedly based on historic images and the location is the real-life French town of Dunkirk. All the incidents shown in the film are true. History buffs will have noticed that the scale of the battle was dramatically minimized to just Dunkirk, which is inaccurate.
21. Rocketman (2019)
Elton John’s flamboyant and madcap life is well presented in the musical biopic Rocketman. The British singer’s early life in the 70s and even down to John Reid being the first man he slept with is true, but there appear to be some inconsistent elements, like songs released in the wrong order. Director Dexter Fletcher says the “film is supposed to capture emotion, not the facts,” so this gets a pass for its overblown and slightly falsified finish.
22. Argo (2012)
There are always mutterings of the American government being a tad shady with their dealings, but Argo takes pole position for showcasing the mystery of our leaders. It offers a true account of the events of American diplomats held hostage in Tehran in 1979.
While the events are accurate and based on an article by Joshuah Bearman on the Wired site, the final escape is overly dramatized and Canada’s influence in helping the hostages escape is underrepresented.
23. The King’s Speech (2010)
The King’s Speech is considered by critics as an enjoyable film that goes behind the scenes of the royal family and shows how even the most fortunate have their battles too. The essential facts are correct, but there are some sizable historical red flags, such as the king’s stutter being milder than showcased and the dates of speech therapist Lionel Logue attending to the king.
24. The Social Network (2010)
Chances are, you were probably scrolling through this very platform while reading our article. Based on the background and creation of Facebook, The Social Network is a compelling watch, but several roles and events are falsified, such as Eduardo Saverin feeding chicken flesh to a chicken. Saverin said, “The movie was intended to be entertainment and not a fact-based documentary.”
25. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Hotel Rwanda is a compassionate film that showcases the violence and corruption in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It’s claimed that several scenes are false, including the leniency of the Hutus against the Tutsi people and director Terry George’s opinion of how charitable the hotel was for survivors.
