Movies Based on a True Story
Kinora's catalogue lists 203 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.
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- 2013
12 Years a Slave
Ruraldir. Steve McQueen - 2010
127 Hours
Wilderness · Desert · Undergrounddir. Danny Boyle - 2002
24 Hour Party People
Urbandir. Michael Winterbottom - 1977
A Bridge Too Far
Rural · Urbandir. Richard Attenborough - 1998
A Civil Action
Urban · Suburbandir. Steven Zaillian - 2012
A Royal Affair
Urbandir. Nikolaj Arcel - 1993
Alive
Mountain · Wildernessdir. Frank Marshall - 1976
All the President's Men
Urbandir. Alan J. Pakula - 2003
American Splendor
Urbandir. Robert Pulcini - 1997
Amistad
Coastal Sea · Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1999
Angela's Ashes
Urbandir. Alan Parker - 2002
Antwone Fisher
Urbandir. Denzel Washington - 1995
Apollo 13
Off Worlddir. Ron Howard - 2022
Argentina 1985
Urbandir. Santiago Mitre - 2012
Argo
Urbandir. Ben Affleck - 1986
At Close Range
Ruraldir. James Foley - 1990
Awakenings
Urbandir. Penny Marshall - 2000
Before Night Falls
Urbandir. Julian Schnabel - 1988
Bird
Urbandir. Clint Eastwood - 1962
Birdman of Alcatraz
Islanddir. John Frankenheimer - 2023
BlackBerry
Urbandir. Matt Johnson - 2018
BlacKkKlansman
Urbandir. Spike Lee - 1966
Born Free
Wildernessdir. James Hill - 1989
Born on the Fourth of July
Suburbandir. Oliver Stone - 1999
Boys Don't Cry
Ruraldir. Kimberly Peirce - 1995
Braveheart
Ruraldir. Mel Gibson - 2015
Bridge of Spies
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1948
Call Northside 777
Urbandir. Henry Hathaway - 2005
Capote
Ruraldir. Bennett Miller - 2002
Catch Me If You Can
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 2008
Changeling
Urbandir. Clint Eastwood - 1981
Chariots of Fire
Urbandir. Hugh Hudson - 2000
Chopper
Urbandir. Andrew Dominik - 1981
Christiane F.
Urbandir. Uli Edel - 1963
Cleopatra
Urbandir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 1990
Close-Up
Urbandir. Abbas Kiarostami - 1980
Coal Miner's Daughter
Ruraldir. Michael Apted - 2007
Control
Urbandir. Anton Corbijn - 1987
Cry Freedom
Urban · Ruraldir. Richard Attenborough - 1992
Daens
Urbandir. Stijn Coninx - 2013
Dallas Buyers Club
Urbandir. Jean-Marc Vallée - 2016
Dangal
Ruraldir. Nitesh Tiwari - 1995
Dangerous Minds
Urbandir. John N. Smith - 2019
Dark Waters
Urban · Ruraldir. Todd Haynes - 1995
Dead Man Walking
dir. Tim Robbins - 2016
Deepwater Horizon
Coastal Seadir. Peter Berg - 1975
Dog Day Afternoon
Urbandir. Sidney Lumet - 1997
Donnie Brasco
Urbandir. Mike Newell - 2004
Downfall
Urban · Undergrounddir. Oliver Hirschbiegel - 1994
Ed Wood
Urbandir. Tim Burton - 1988
Eight Men Out
Urbandir. John Sayles - 2022
Elvis
Urbandir. Baz Luhrmann - 2000
Erin Brockovich
Urban · Suburbandir. Steven Soderbergh - 1979
Escape from Alcatraz
Island · Coastal Seadir. Don Siegel - 1990
Europa Europa
Urbandir. Agnieszka Holland - 2015
Everest
Mountain · Wildernessdir. Baltasar Kormákur - 1993
Fire in the Sky
Rural · Wildernessdir. Rob Lieberman - 2018
First Man
Suburban · Off Worlddir. Damien Chazelle - 2019
Ford v Ferrari
Urbandir. James Mangold - 2016
Free State of Jones
Ruraldir. Gary Ross - 2004
Friday Night Lights
Ruraldir. Peter Berg - 2013
Fruitvale Station
Urbandir. Ryan Coogler - 1968
Funny Girl
Urbandir. William Wyler - 1982
Gandhi
Urban · Ruraldir. Richard Attenborough - 1993
Gettysburg
Ruraldir. Ronald F. Maxwell - 1999
Girl, Interrupted
dir. James Mangold - 1989
Glory
Coastal Sea · Ruraldir. Edward Zwick - 2005
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Urbandir. George Clooney - 1990
GoodFellas
Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 1988
Gorillas in the Mist
Mountain · Wildernessdir. Michael Apted - 2005
Grizzly Man
Wildernessdir. Werner Herzog - 1994
Heavenly Creatures
Urbandir. Peter Jackson - 2016
Hidden Figures
Urbandir. Theodore Melfi - 2019
Hotel Mumbai
Urbandir. Anthony Maras - 2004
Hotel Rwanda
Urbandir. Terry George - 1958
I Want to Live!
Urbandir. Robert Wise - 1967
In Cold Blood
Ruraldir. Richard Brooks - 1993
In the Name of the Father
Urbandir. Jim Sheridan - 2007
Into the Wild
Wilderness · Rural · Desertdir. Sean Penn - 1944
Ivan the Terrible, Part I
Urbandir. Sergei Eisenstein - 2014
Jersey Boys
Urbandir. Clint Eastwood - 2021
Judas and the Black Messiah
Urbandir. Shaka King - 2009
Julie & Julia
Urbandir. Nora Ephron - 2023
Killers of the Flower Moon
Ruraldir. Martin Scorsese - 1997
Kundun
Mountain · Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 1987
La Bamba
Urbandir. Luis Valdez - 1989
Lean On Me
Urbandir. John G. Avildsen - 1974
Lenny
Urbandir. Bob Fosse - 2016
Lion
Urban · Ruraldir. Garth Davis - 2013
Lone Survivor
Mountaindir. Peter Berg - 2016
Loving
Ruraldir. Jeff Nichols - 1973
Ludwig
dir. Luchino Visconti - 1956
Lust for Life
Rural · Urbandir. Vincente Minnelli - 1992
Malcolm X
Urbandir. Spike Lee - 1999
Man on the Moon
Urbandir. Miloš Forman - 2006
Marie Antoinette
Urbandir. Sofia Coppola - 1987
Matewan
Rural · Mountaindir. John Sayles - 2016
Maudie
Rural · Coastal Seadir. Aisling Walsh - 2000
Men of Honor
Coastal Seadir. George Tillman Jr. - 1978
Midnight Express
Urbandir. Alan Parker - 2008
Milk
Urbandir. Gus Van Sant - 2004
Miracle
Urbandir. Gavin O'Connor - 1985
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Urbandir. Paul Schrader - 1982
Missing
Urbandir. Costa-Gavras - 2011
Moneyball
Urbandir. Bennett Miller - 2003
Monster
Urbandir. Patty Jenkins - 1990
My Father's Glory
Ruraldir. Yves Robert - 1989
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
Urbandir. Jim Sheridan - 1990
My Mother's Castle
Rural · Urbandir. Yves Robert - 1999
October Sky
Rural · Undergrounddir. Joe Johnston - 2000
One Hundred Steps
Ruraldir. Marco Tullio Giordana - 2017
Only the Brave
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Joseph Kosinski - 2023
Oppenheimer
Desert · Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1985
Out of Africa
Rural · Wildernessdir. Sydney Pollack - 1998
Patch Adams
Urbandir. Tom Shadyac - 1970
Patton
Desert · Ruraldir. Franklin J. Schaffner - 2007
Persepolis
Urbandir. Vincent Paronnaud - 2014
Pride
Rural · Urbandir. Matthew Warchus - 2009
Public Enemies
Urban · Ruraldir. Michael Mann - 1994
Quiz Show
Urbandir. Robert Redford - 2002
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Desert · Wildernessdir. Phillip Noyce - 1980
Raging Bull
Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 1981
Reds
Urbandir. Warren Beatty - 2000
Remember the Titans
Urbandir. Boaz Yakin - 1990
Reversal of Fortune
Urbandir. Barbet Schroeder - 1993
Rudy
Urbandir. David Anspaugh - 1986
Salvador
Urban · Ruraldir. Oliver Stone - 1993
Schindler's List
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 2012
Searching for Sugar Man
Urbandir. Malik Bendjelloul - 1997
Selena
Urbandir. Gregory Nava - 2014
Selma
Urban · Ruraldir. Ava DuVernay - 1941
Sergeant York
Ruraldir. Howard Hawks - 1973
Serpico
Urbandir. Sidney Lumet - 1997
Seven Years in Tibet
Mountain · Urbandir. Jean-Jacques Annaud - 1996
Shine
Suburban · Urbandir. Scott Hicks - 1983
Silkwood
Ruraldir. Mike Nichols - 2011
Snowtown
Suburban · Ruraldir. Justin Kurzel - 2023
Society of the Snow
Mountain · Wildernessdir. J. A. Bayona - 1956
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Urbandir. Robert Wise - 2015
Spotlight
Urbandir. Tom McCarthy - 1988
Stand and Deliver
Urbandir. Ramón Menéndez - 2015
Straight Outta Compton
Urbandir. F. Gary Gray - 2015
The 33
Underground · Ruraldir. Patricia Riggen - 2007
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Ruraldir. Andrew Dominik - 2008
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Urbandir. Uli Edel - 1995
The Basketball Diaries
Urbandir. Scott Kalvert - 2015
The Big Short
Urbandir. Adam McKay - 2017
The Big Sick
Urbandir. Michael Showalter - 2009
The Blind Side
Suburban · Urbandir. John Lee Hancock - 1968
The Boston Strangler
Urbandir. Richard Fleischer - 1969
The Color of Pomegranates
dir. Sergei Parajanov - 1951
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
Desertdir. Henry Hathaway - 1959
The Diary of Anne Frank
Urbandir. George Stevens - 2007
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Coastal Seadir. Julian Schnabel - 1980
The Elephant Man
Urbandir. David Lynch - 1974
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Urbandir. Werner Herzog - 2019
The Farewell
Urbandir. Lulu Wang - 2010
The Fighter
Urbandir. David O. Russell - 2016
The Founder
Suburbandir. John Lee Hancock - 1999
The Hurricane
Urbandir. Norman Jewison - 2012
The Impossible
Coastal Seadir. J. A. Bayona - 1999
The Insider
Urbandir. Michael Mann - 2011
The Intouchables
Urbandir. Éric Toledano - 1984
The Killing Fields
Urban · Rural · Wildernessdir. Roland Joffé - 2010
The King's Speech
Urbandir. Tom Hooper - 2021
The Last Duel
Rural · Urbandir. Ridley Scott - 1987
The Last Emperor
Urbandir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 1980
The Long Riders
Ruraldir. Walter Hill - 1962
The Longest Day
Coastal Sea · Ruraldir. Ken Annakin - 1962
The Miracle Worker
dir. Arthur Penn - 2004
The Motorcycle Diaries
Mountain · Desert · Ruraldir. Walter Salles - 1998
The Newton Boys
Ruraldir. Richard Linklater - 1928
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Urbandir. Carl Theodor Dreyer - 1996
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Urbandir. Miloš Forman - 2000
The Perfect Storm
Coastal Seadir. Wolfgang Petersen - 2002
The Pianist
Urbandir. Roman Polanski - 2017
The Post
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1942
The Pride of the Yankees
Urbandir. Sam Wood - 1983
The Right Stuff
Desert · Off Worlddir. Philip Kaufman - 2004
The Sea Inside
Rural · Coastal Seadir. Alejandro Amenábar - 2010
The Social Network
Urbandir. David Fincher - 1943
The Song of Bernadette
Ruraldir. Henry King - 1957
The Spirit of St. Louis
Coastal Seadir. Billy Wilder - 1999
The Straight Story
Ruraldir. David Lynch - 1957
The Three Faces of Eve
Urbandir. Nunnally Johnson - 2020
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Urbandir. Aaron Sorkin - 1970
The Wild Child
Rural · Wildernessdir. François Truffaut - 2013
The Wolf of Wall Street
Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 2005
The World's Fastest Indian
Rural · Desert · Urbandir. Roger Donaldson - 1956
The Wrong Man
Urbandir. Alfred Hitchcock - 2000
Thirteen Days
dir. Roger Donaldson - 2022
Thirteen Lives
Underground · Mountaindir. Ron Howard - 1993
This Boy's Life
Rural · Mountaindir. Michael Caton-Jones - 1970
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Coastal Sea · Urbandir. Toshio Masuda - 1988
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Urban · Suburbandir. Francis Ford Coppola - 1952
Viva Zapata!
Ruraldir. Elia Kazan - 2005
Walk the Line
Rural · Urbandir. James Mangold - 2008
Waltz with Bashir
Urbandir. Ari Folman - 2006
We Are Marshall
Urbandir. McG - 1993
What's Love Got to Do with It
Urbandir. Brian Gibson - 1994
Wyatt Earp
Rural · Desertdir. Lawrence Kasdan - 2007
Zodiac
Urbandir. David Fincher - 1964
Zulu
Ruraldir. Cy Endfield
Frequently asked
How many movies are based on a true story?
Kinora's catalogue lists 203 films based on a true story, spanning 1928–2023.
What are some movies based on a true story?
Films based on a true story in our catalogue include 12 Years a Slave (2013), 127 Hours (2010), 24 Hour Party People (2002), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and A Civil Action (1998).
What is the oldest movie based on a true story?
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) is the earliest film based on a true story in our catalogue; the most recent is Society of the Snow (2023).