Best Based On True Story Movies

1993 • Rating 8.6 • drama, history, war

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

Genre: Drama, History, War

Style:

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Factory, Hero, Nazi, Concentration Camp, Ss (Nazi Schutzstaffel), Holocaust (Shoah), World War Ii, Ghetto, Jew Persecution, Kraków, Poland

Time: Year 1993, 1990S, 1993-12-15

Place: United States Of America, German, Polish, Hebrew, English

Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz

1990 • Rating 8.5 • drama, crime

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

Genre: Drama, Crime

Style: Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Prison, Florida, New York City, Based On Novel Or Book, Gangster, Mass Murder, Drug Trafficking, 1970S, Irish American, Gore

Time: Year 1990, 1990S, 1990-09-12

Place: United States Of America, Italian, English, New York

Cast: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero

2002 • Rating 8.4 • drama, crime

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

Genre: Drama, Crime

Style: Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Teens

Plot: Street Gang, Photographer, Gangster, Rio De Janeiro, Gang War, Ghetto, Based On True Story, Coming Of Age, Introspective, Conceited

Time: Year 2002, 2000S, 2002-08-30

Place: Brazil, France, Germany, Portuguese

Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele

2013 • Rating 8.4 • drama

After 8-year-old So-won narrowly survives a brutal sexual assault, her family labors to help her heal while coping with their own rage and grief.

Genre: Drama

Style:

Audience: Date Night

Plot: Child Abuse, Hope, Based On True Story, Sexual Assault, South Korea, After, Year-Old So-Won Narrowly Survives A Brutal Sexual Assault, Her Family Labors To Help Her Heal While Coping With Their Own Rage And Grief

Time: Year 2013, 2010S, 2013-10-02

Place: South Korea, Korean, Korea

Cast: Sul Kyung-gu, Uhm Ji-won, Lee Re, Kim Sang-ho, Kim Hae-sook, Ra Mi-ran

2002 • Rating 8.4 • drama, war

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Genre: Drama, War

Style: Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Concert, Nazi, Resistance, Warsaw Ghetto, Polish Resistance, Homeland, Holocaust (Shoah), Hunger, World War Ii, Prisoner Of War

Time: Year 2002, 2000S, 2002-09-17

Place: France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, Russian

Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard

2025 • Rating 8.3 • drama, history

Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.

Genre: Drama, History

Style: Dark

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Scotland, Dark Comedy, Biography, Based On True Story, Alienation, Outcast, Tourette Syndrome, Docudrama, 1980S, 1990S

Time: Year 2025, 2020S, 2025-09-22

Place: United Kingdom, Ireland, English

Cast: Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan, Shirley Henderson, Scott Ellis Watson, David Carlyle

2026 • Rating 8.0 • drama, history

One of the most defining moments in American history is the story of an unlikely friendship between the Reverend George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin.

Genre: Drama, History

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Teens

Plot: Based On True Story, Evangelical Christianity, 18Th Century, Religious Conflict, American Revolution, Historical Drama, Constitutional Convention, Christian Film, Ben Franklin, 1780S

Time: Year 2026, 2020S, 2026-04-03

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: John Paul Sneed, Jonathan Blair, JT Schaeffer, Josh Bates, Joe Dignoti, Stephen Foster Harris

2004 • Rating 7.2 • drama

A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Genre: Drama

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Teens

Plot: Ladykiller, Pilot, Biography, Based On True Story, Womanizer, Phobia, Aviation, Period Drama, U.S. Congress, Flying Boat

Time: Year 2004, 2000S, 2004-12-17

Place: Germany, United States Of America, English

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda

2016 • Rating 7.2 • drama, history

On 15 January 2009, the world witnessed the 'Miracle on the Hudson' when Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 souls aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and career.

Genre: Drama, History

Style: Cerebral

Audience: Date Night, Teens

Plot: Rescue, New York City, Airplane, Investigation, Pilot, Based On True Story, Emergency Landing, Flight, Aviation, Airplane Accident

Time: Year 2016, 2010S, 2016-09-07

Place: United States Of America, English, New York

Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Anna Gunn, Holt McCallany, Mike O'Malley, Jamey Sheridan

2026 • Rating 6.8 • drama

Amanda Ogle is a woman living in her aging Toyota Camry on the streets of Seattle. When her car is stolen and impounded, she’s thrust into a relentless legal battle against an indifferent system. What begins as a fight to reclaim her car evolves into a deeply human story of resilience, dignity, and the power of one woman’s voice in the face of systemic failure.

Genre: Drama

Style:

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Seattle, Washington, Homelessness, Based On True Story, Living In Car, Legal Battle, Toyota, 2010S, Toyota Camry, Impound, Amanda Ogle Is A Woman Living In Her Aging Toyota Camry On The Streets Of Seattle

Time: Year 2026, 2020S, 2026-03-20

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Rose Byrne, Dominic Sessa, Demi Lovato, Simon Rex, Elsie Fisher, Corbin Bernsen

1957 • Rating 6.7 • adventure, drama, history

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.

Genre: Adventure, Drama, History

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Teens

Plot: Based On True Story, Flight, Historical Figure, Aviation, Airplane Crash, Transatlantic, Aviator, Aircraft Factory, Warnercolor, Charles Lindbergh Struggles To Finance And Design An Airplane That Will Make His New York To Paris Flight The First Solo Transatlantic Crossing

Time: Year 1957, 1950S, 1957-04-01

Place: United States Of America, English, New York, Paris France

Cast: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith, Bartlett Robinson, Marc Connelly, Arthur Space

1975 • Rating 6.3 • history, thriller, drama

Colonel Franz Ritter, a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.

Genre: History, Thriller, Drama

Style: Cerebral, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Teens

Plot: Based On True Story, Airship, Tragic Event, Historical Event, Hindenburg, Dirigible, Aviation Disaster, Air Disaster, Colonel Franz Ritter, A Former Hero Pilot Now Working For Military Intelligence

Time: Year 1975, 1970S, 1975-12-25

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes, Gig Young, Burgess Meredith

2023 • Rating 5.9 • drama

After their pilot dies unexpectedly mid-flight, passenger Doug White must safely land a plane and save his entire family from insurmountable danger.

Genre: Drama

Style:

Audience: Date Night, Teens

Plot: Airplane, Based On True Story, Family, Duringcreditsstinger, Irreverent, After Their Pilot Dies Unexpectedly Mid-Flight, Passenger Doug White Must Safely Land A Plane And Save His Entire Family From Insurmountable Danger

Time: Year 2023, 2020S, 2023-03-28

Place: United States Of America, English, Spanish

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Jesse Metcalfe, Tonglan Qiu, Abigail Rhyne, Jessi Case