Movies Based on a True Story

Kinora's catalogue lists 43 films based on a true story, spanning 1928–2023. Each is tagged by where and when it takes place — filter by real-world setting, era, and environment, or open any film for its full tagged world.

Explore all movies based on a true story →

• 2013

  12 Years a Slave

  New York City · New Orleans · Louisiana — 1800s
  Ruraldir. Steve McQueen
• 2010

  127 Hours

  Utah — 2000s
  Wilderness · Desert · Undergrounddir. Danny Boyle
• 1976

  All the President's Men

  Washington, D.C. — 1970s
  Urbandir. Alan J. Pakula
• 1995

  Apollo 13

  Houston · Space — 1970s
  Off Worlddir. Ron Howard
• 2018

  BlacKkKlansman

  Colorado Springs — 1970s
  Urbandir. Spike Lee
• 1999

  Boys Don't Cry

  Falls City — 1990s
  Ruraldir. Kimberly Peirce
• 2002

  Catch Me If You Can

  New York City · Miami · France — 1960s
  Urbandir. Steven Spielberg
• 1990

  Close-Up

  Tehran — 1980s
  Urbandir. Abbas Kiarostami
• 1980

  Coal Miner's Daughter

  Kentucky · Nashville · Los Angeles — 1940s · 1950s · 1960s · 1970s
  Ruraldir. Michael Apted
• 1975

  Dog Day Afternoon

  New York City — 1970s
  Urbandir. Sidney Lumet
• 2000

  Erin Brockovich

  Los Angeles · Hinkley — 1990s
  Urban · Suburbandir. Steven Soderbergh
• 2016

  Free State of Jones

  Mississippi — 1800s · 1940s
  Ruraldir. Gary Ross
• 2013

  Fruitvale Station

  Oakland — 2000s
  Urbandir. Ryan Coogler
• 1990

  GoodFellas

  New York City · Tampa — 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s
  Urbandir. Martin Scorsese
• 2005

  Grizzly Man

  Alaska — 2000s
  Wildernessdir. Werner Herzog
• 2019

  Hotel Mumbai

  Mumbai — 2000s
  Urbandir. Anthony Maras
• 2007

  Into the Wild

  Alaska — 1990s
  Wilderness · Ruraldir. Sean Penn
• 2021

  Judas and the Black Messiah

  Chicago — 1960s
  Urbandir. Shaka King
• 2023

  Killers of the Flower Moon

  Oklahoma — 1920s
  Ruraldir. Martin Scorsese
• 2016

  Lion

  Calcutta · Hobart · Melbourne · Khandwa — 1980s · 2000s
  Urban · Ruraldir. Garth Davis
• 2016

  Loving

  Virginia · Washington, D.C. — 1950s · 1960s
  Ruraldir. Jeff Nichols
• 1992

  Malcolm X

  New York City · Boston · Mecca — 1940s · 1950s · 1960s
  Urbandir. Spike Lee
• 2016

  Maudie

  Nova Scotia — 1930s · 1940s · 1950s · 1960s
  Rural · Coastal Seadir. Aisling Walsh
• 2011

  Moneyball

  Oakland — 2000s
  Urbandir. Bennett Miller
• 2023

  Oppenheimer

  Los Alamos · Princeton — 1930s · 1940s · 1950s
  Desert · Urbandir. Christopher Nolan
• 2007

  Persepolis

  Tehran · Paris · Vienna — 1970s · 1980s
  Urbandir. Vincent Paronnaud
• 1980

  Raging Bull

  New York City · Miami — 1940s · 1950s · 1960s
  Urbandir. Martin Scorsese
• 1993

  Schindler's List

  Kraków · Auschwitz — 1940s
  Urbandir. Steven Spielberg
• 2012

  Searching for Sugar Man

  Cape Town · Detroit — 1970s · 1990s
  Urbandir. Malik Bendjelloul
• 2014

  Selma

  Selma · Alabama — 1960s
  Urban · Ruraldir. Ava DuVernay
• 1983

  Silkwood

  Oklahoma — 1970s
  Ruraldir. Mike Nichols
• 2007

  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

  Missouri — 1800s
  Ruraldir. Andrew Dominik
• 2017

  The Big Sick

  Chicago · New York City — 2010s
  Urbandir. Michael Showalter
• 2009

  The Blind Side

  Memphis — 2000s
  Suburban · Urbandir. John Lee Hancock
• 2010

  The Fighter

  Lowell · Atlantic City · London — 2000s
  Urbandir. David O. Russell
• 1928

  The Passion of Joan of Arc

  Rouen — Medieval
  Urbandir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
• 2000

  The Perfect Storm

  Gloucester — 1990s
  Coastal Seadir. Wolfgang Petersen
• 2002

  The Pianist

  Warsaw — 1940s
  Urbandir. Roman Polanski
• 2010

  The Social Network

  Boston — 2000s
  Urbandir. David Fincher
• 1999

  The Straight Story

  Laurens · Mount Zion — 1990s
  Ruraldir. David Lynch
• 2013

  The Wolf of Wall Street

  New York City — 1980s · 1990s
  Urbandir. Martin Scorsese
• 2005

  The World's Fastest Indian

  Invercargill · Los Angeles · Utah — 1960s
  Rural · Desert · Urbandir. Roger Donaldson
• 2007

  Zodiac

  San Francisco — 1960s · 1970s · 1980s
  Urbandir. David Fincher