The Netflix streaming service has become the go-to destination for binge watching. But what about when you want to watch a movie based on a true story? There are plenty of options, and this list is just a sampling of the best movies that have been adapted from real life events.
Netflix has a wide range of movies based on true stories. These are the best 30 movies based on true stories on Netflix.
Movies are thrilling in their own right; each new release introduces us to a fresh narrative, but the thrill is amplified when the plot is based on “actual” events.
We’ve compiled a list of the best 30 true-crime films now accessible on Netflix.
Full Out 2: You’ve Got This!
Jeff Deverett is the director. Sydney Cope, Logan Edra, and Liza Wilk are among the cast members. The film will be released on February 1, 2024.
A fun-filled film featuring a variety of sports, including gymnastics. The film is based on a real tale about a female gymnastics team.
The narrative follows the Oklahoma Sooners gymnasts as they try to win their second national title without their star, Brenna Dowell, and is set to premiere on Netflix in 2024.
They do, however, encounter a local break dance aficionado who helps them advance to the next stage.
Join the team to find your bravery and confidence!
Hillbilly Elegy
Ron Howard is the director. Gabriel Basso, Glenn Close, and Amy Adams star. The film will be released on November 11, 2024.
J.D. is a former marine and Yale law student who is about to get his dream job. However, a family emergency compels him to return to his hometown in southern Ohio, where he attempted to forget about his family.
In reality, he must deal with the complicated dynamics of his Appalachian family, particularly his tense connection with his mother, Bev, who is battling with addiction.
J.D. embarks on a personal journey to understand and embrace his family, thanks to the memories of his grandmother Mamaw, a strong and intellectual lady who has always looked after him.
The College Admissions Scandal: Operation Varsity Blues
Chris Smith is the director. Matthew Modine is one of the movie’s stars. The film will be released on March 17, 2024.
Chris Smith’s documentary Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal is a re-enactment of the 2019 college admissions scam probe.
The FBI looks into the methods Rick Singer used to persuade wealthy clients to cheat an education system that was already designed to benefit the better off.
The video examines the actual narrative behind the controversy by using montage to combine interviews and discussions between Rick Singer and his customers.
Rose Island
Sydney Sibilia is the director. Elio Germano, Matilda De Angelis, and Tom Wlaschiha are among the cast members. The film will be released on December 9, 2024.
Life doesn’t often provide us with many choices other than to flee our troubles. Run away to a desolate location and begin a new life. Doesn’t it seem to be very intriguing? Like our protagonist, for example.
The Italian film, which premiered on December 9th, tells the tale of Giorgio Rose, who founded a tiny nation near the Rimini shore in 1968. Sydney Sibilia is the director of the film.
It was widely publicized and a huge success. So what are you waiting for? Go binge-watch the incredible tale of discovery on Netflix.
Seoul Searching
Benson Lee is the director. Justin Chon, Jessika Van, and Cha In-pyo are among the cast members. The film will be released in January 2015.
In the 1980s, the Korean government established a unique summer camp for “gyopo,” or foreign-born adolescents, where they could spend the summer learning about their country in Seoul. While the show’s objectives were admirable, the adolescent behavior was not.
After a few years, the program was ultimately terminated since the government could no longer manage the young. Seoul Searching is an adolescent comedy and coming-of-age film based on a real tale from 1986 about one of the summer camps.
America’s Most Hated Woman
Tommy O’Haver is the director. Melissa Leo, Josh Lucas, and Peter Fonda star. The movie will be released on March 14, 2017.
Madalyn Murray O’Hair, her son Garth, and granddaughter Robin are abducted by three men in 1995: David Waters, Gary Karr, and Danny Fry. One of the abductees, David Waters, would be recognized by the three abductees.
The setting now shifts to the early 1960s. Madalyn has two children out of wedlock, Garth and William J. “Billy Boy” Murray, Jr., and is a devout atheist who puts pressure on her Christian parents.
When Madalyn learns that Billy is being forced to say the Lord’s Prayer at school, she organizes a campaign to abolish school prayer, which leads to a Supreme Court decision making obligatory prayers in schools unconstitutional. And she rapidly rose to become one of America’s most vilified people.
Brain on Fire
Gerard Barrett is the director. Chloe Grace Moretz, Jenny Slate, and Richard Armitage star. The movie will be released on September 14, 2016.
Susannah, 21, works as a reporter for the New York Post. Her conduct starts to alter shortly after meeting her lover Steve. She struggles to focus at first, but she quickly has mood swings, anxiety attacks, epileptic seizures, and hallucinations, and she loses control of herself.
She is eventually taken to a facility and becomes catatonic. The physicians are stumped at first and seek assistance from Dr. Souhel Najjar, a specialist. He diagnoses anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a kind of brain inflammation, after a brain biopsy.
Susannah finds her way back to life after a long period of treatment. Susannah starts writing her book after receiving guidance from her boss Richard.
Barry
Vikram Gandhi is the director. Devon Terrell, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Ashley Judd are among the cast members. The film will be released on September 10th, 2016.
Barack Obama, then 20 years old and known as “Barry,” arrived in New York City in 1981 as a transfer student from Occidental College to attend Columbia University. Barry spends the night on the streets after being unable to reach his long-awaited roommate Will.
Barry contacts Saleem, a guy he met at a party a few months ago, the following day, and he is welcomed into his apartment. Later, Barry meets his roommate Will, and the two of them move into his 109th Street apartment.
The film follows a teenage Barack Obama through his college years, demonstrating how he evolved into the man America chose, both philosophically and personally.
Penguin Bloom
Glendyn Ivin is the director. Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, and Jacki Weaver star. The film will be released on January 21, 2024.
Life isn’t always a level playing field. It may sometimes make a complete 180-degree turn and alter everything in an instant. But, no matter what, “hope” may keep you going.
And it’s when I speak about this that I think of Samantha Bloom. A lady who, due to an unfortunate event, broke her back and is now paralyzed below the chest.
Her kids, on the other hand, bring in a wounded Magpie one day. And, as the title of the book indicates, “Penguin Bloom: The Odd Tiny Bird Who Saved a Family,” just one little bird transforms the lives of everyone in the family.
They Assaulted My Father First
Angelina Jolie is the director. Sreymoch Sareum, Kompheak Phoeung, and Tep Rindaro are among the cast members. The film will be released on February 18, 2017.
When the Pol Pot government took control in Cambodia, Loung Ung was five years old. Her father worked for the government and was a rich government official, making him a potential target for the Khmer Rouge. Loung, her parents, and numerous siblings were forced to flee their house in Phnom Penh when it was emptied of its residents in April 1975, departing without a destination.
To escape arrest, they were forced to leave all of their possessions behind and pose as a peasant family, before being transported to a work camp.
Adapted from the memoirs of Loung Ung, a Cambodian-born human rights campaigner who left the country in 1975 when the Khmer took control following a civil war.
Ung’s tale is recounted through her own eyes under Pol Pot’s oppressive rule, from the time she was five years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power until she was nine years old. Her family fought to remain united throughout that period.
Chef
Jon Favreau is the director. Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, and Sofia Vergara star. The movie will be released on March 7, 2014.
When chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) abruptly resigns from a prestigious Los Angeles restaurant after confronting his domineering owner (Dustin Hoffman) and refusing to compromise his artistic integrity, he must decide what to do next.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, he is forced to relocate to Miami, where he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), a buddy (John Leguizamo), and his son (Emjay Anthony) to open a Cuban street food stall. Along the journey, Carl reconnects with his origins and rediscovers his love of cooking as well as his zest for life and love.
The Wind-Harnessing Boy (1919)
Chiwetel Ejiofor is the director. Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Assa Maga are among the cast members. The film will be released on January 25, 2019.
The film was directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who also portrayed Trywell Kamkwamba in the film, and was released in 2019.
The story follows a 13-year-old Nigerian kid who is expelled from school when his family fails to pay his tuition. Simultaneously, natural occurrences occur in his community.
The inquisitive and compassionate kid, eager to assist his community in this difficult circumstance, enters a library and learns how to construct a windmill.
Learn more about life by watching an inspirational tale of a little kid.
The Duchess
Saul Dibb is the director. Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, and Charlotte Rampling are among the cast members. The film will be released on September 5, 2008.
The storyline of the film is based on Amanda Foreman’s book on the life of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Extravagance, gambling, and love – a shame. Beauty and charm earned her success in society, but extravagance, gambling, and love – a shame.
Georgiana was able to become a trailblazer of fashion and style, a loving mother, an adept political manipulator, connected to high society and common people, after marrying a young lady to the mature, jaded, and inattentive Duke of Devonshire. However, the narrative revolves around a desperate quest for love.
On My Skin
Alessio Cremonini is the director. Alessandro Borghi, Jasmine Trinca, and Milvia Marigliano are among the cast members. The film will be released on September 12th, 2018.
The film is a Netflix original that premiered in 2018. It is based on a real story of Stefano Cucchi, who is detained by the cops for a minor narcotics offense.
However, he is discovered dead inside the jail five days after his detention as a result of police abuse. The plot is inflamed by a gradual and virtuous movement in the correct direction.
The film was nominated for nine David di Donatello awards and won three of them.
Lost Girls
Liz Garbus is the director. Amy Ryan, Gabriel Byrne, and Thomasin McKenzie are among the cast members. The film will be released on January 28, 2024.
What could be more distressing than a family member being missing? And having a young daughter as a member is ridiculous.
The film premiered on Netflix on March 13th. The plot centers on the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker.
The case causes a stir across New York City, particularly when Shannan’s mother, Mari Gilbert, demands justice for her daughter. Her research leads the cops to the source of numerous unsolved sex worker murders.
Into the Wild
Sean Penn is the director. Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, and William Hurt star. The film will be released on September 21, 2007.
Christopher McCandless is a wealthy American boy who, after graduating from Emory University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, decides to donate the money his parents had given him to continue his studies to Oxfam and abandon friends and family in order to escape a consumerist and capitalist society in which he can no longer live.
His restlessness, fueled in part by his strained connection with his family and in part by his reading of nonconformist writers like as Thoreau and London, drove him to journey throughout the United States and northern Mexico on foot for two years under the alias Alexander Supertramp.
The Excavation
Simon Stone is the director. Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James star. The movie will be released on January 14, 2024.
Waking up one day to find that your home has many more mysteries that you were unaware of is both frightening and thrilling.
The same thing occurred to Edith Pretty, a widow who hired Basil Brown, an archeologist, to examine her property. Brown and his crew mates discover an Anglo-Saxon ship inside the process.
The event occurred in 1939, and John Preston, a member of the archeological team, published a book with the same title in May 2007.
Rush
Ron Howard is the director. Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, and Olivia Wilde star. Date of Publication: September 2, 2013
The film is based on a real tale, and it follows racing drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) as they navigate their lives and competition.
Lauda was reported to have been involved in a severe accident in 1976 when competing for the World Cup championship, but he recovered and resumed the battle with Hunt for the title.
Hunt, on the other hand, had a wild off-field existence, where he partied hard and lived a playboy lifestyle overseas, but he wanted to distance himself from the image he had developed.
Philomena
Stephen Frears is the director. Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, and Michelle Fairley star. The film will be released on August 31, 2013.
It’s 1952 in Ireland. Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) is a young lady who is taken to a convent with her newborn child. She is forced to perform grueling laundry work seven days a week at the convent to “pay for the sin,” and she is forced to give up her baby for adoption, which the convent sells to an American couple who will never know anything about him.
Philomena starts her quest for her son fifty years after giving birth, with the assistance of Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a strong-willed journalist. They uncover amazing facts about Philomena’s son’s life while traveling throughout the United States, and the two develop a strong connection of love.
My name is Dolemite, and I’m 11 years old.
Craig Brewer is the director. Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key, and Mike Epps star. The film will be released on September 7, 2019.
Rudy was first shown on September 7, 2019, and was produced by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the film. Rudy Ray Moore’s real tale is the inspiration for the comedy film. The well-known comedian rose to prominence after inventing the character “Dolimite.”
The character became so famous that Rudy decided to make a movie around him. Artists such as Wesley Snipes, Snoop Dogg, and others perform in the film, which is very entertaining.
The Social Network
David Fincher is the director. Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake are among the cast members. Date of Publication: September 24, 2010
Mark Zuckerberg (creator of Facebook) sits down at his computer one evening in 2003, a Harvard University student and computer programmer, and begins working on a new concept.
It will soon build a worldwide social network and change communication as a consequence of wild content blogging and programming. Success, on the other hand, has dragged this young entrepreneur into emotional and legal trouble. It also concerns the litigation brought by Eduardo Saverin and the Winklevoss Twins against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
This is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece by David Fincher, who is well renowned for his mind-bending films but has ventured into more realistic waters with this picture.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
George C. Wolfe is the director. Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, and Glynn Turman star. The film will be released on November 25, 2024.
The film, which was aired on Netflix in 2024, is based on the Oscar-winning drama of the same name, which was adapted from an award-winning play written by August Wilson and released in 1982.
The film depicts a day in the lives of legendary vocalist Ma Rainey and her band. The story revolves on a day when Ma and her bands are getting ready to record their new album. Due to Ma’s lateness to the studio, her band members (Toledo, Levee, Culter, and Slow Drag) pass a few jokes, which quickly devolve into a scuffle, culminating in a brawl involving Levee, Toledo, and Culter.
The group becomes even more enraged when Ma enters with her nephew and suggests that he may give the introduction to the title song, escalating the tension in the room. Things become much worse when Levee stabs Toledo, killing him and whatever future ambitions he had.
The Two Popes
Fernando Meirelles is the director. Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins star. The film will be released on August 31, 2019.
Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina, frustrated with the Catholic Church’s leadership, requested Pope Benedict XVI for permission to retire in 2012. He intends to retire from the curia while continuing to serve the Church as a parish priest in his hometown.
Instead, Benedict XVI invites his harshest critic and potential successor to Rome to announce his resignation. Behind the Vatican’s gates, the two men debate their beliefs and worldview in attempt to establish common ground for the world’s more than a billion believers.
Erin Brokovich
Steven Soderbergh is the director. Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, and Aaron Eckhart star. The film was released on March 17, 2000.
Erin Brockovich is raising her three children on her own and is in urgent need of a job. She hired a legal firm led by Edward L. Masry to defend her after being involved in a traffic accident. He is sure that the driver would be found guilty, yet she loses the case against all odds.
Erin persuades Masry to employ her, and he does, but she is sent to the archives. In a minor instance, she will learn that a subsidiary of a major corporation, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), purchased one by one the homes of a tiny Californian town called Hinkley in the Mojave Desert.
Many of the inhabitants have severe health issues, such as cancer. Investigating on the scene, she discovers that these severe illnesses are caused by drinking water contaminated with hazardous discharges from the plant’s cooling water, particularly hexavalent chromium (or chromium-6).
She leads the battle alone at first, gathering evidence, motivating the residents one by one, persuading her employer of the gravity of the situation, and eventually obtaining substantial recompense for each of the victims from the guilty business.
The Chicago 7’s Trial
Aaron Sorkin is the director. Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, and Mark Rylance are among the cast members. The film will be released on September 25, 2024.
Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, Lee Weiner, John Froines, and Bobby Seale gather in Chicago in August 1968 to protest the Democratic National Convention. All eight are arrested and charged with instigating a riot five months later.
Attorney General John N. Mitchell selects Tom Foran and Richard Schultz as prosecutors, while William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass represent all of the defendants save Seale. Because Seale’s counsel is unable to attend due to his hospitalization, Judge Julius Hoffman orders that Kunstler represent all eight defendants, a request that both Kunstler and Seale repeatedly refuse.
The judge expresses considerable prejudice in favor of the prosecution and starts to exclude jurors suspected of sympathizing with the defendants, as well as accusing the defendants and their attorneys of many court violations. Several undercover local cops and FBI agents have been summoned to testify during the trial.
Use a spotlight
Tom McCarthy is the director. Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams are among the cast members. The film will be released on September 3rd, 2015.
In 2001, the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigative team, headed by new director Martin “Marty” Baron, launched a spectacular investigation into the sexual abuse of children by approximately seventy priests of the Archdiocese of Boston, abuses that had been kept up by the ecclesiastical authorities for decades.
Knowing the dangers of going against a powerful institution like the Catholic Church, Marty Baron and Ben Bradlee Jr., as well as the four members of the newspaper’s investigative team, Walter Robinson, Mike Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer, and Matt Carroll, are more determined than ever to expose the truth about a story that has been ignored by the authorities and the media for years.
Following the controversy, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law was relieved of his duties in Boston and elevated to archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the world’s biggest and most significant basilicas.
Mank
David Fincher is the director. Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, and Lily Collins star. The film will be released on November 13, 2024.
Mank premiered in the year 2024, depicting life in Hollywood during the 1930s. The tale is presented from the perspective of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz.
The plot revolves on the period when the writer is eager to complete the script for “Citizen Kane,” a 1941 film.
Watch the world of the 1930s through the eyes of the author and savor the moments you thought you’d never get to see.
Roma
Alfonso Cuarón is the director. Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira star. The film will be released on August 30, 2018.
Alfonso Cuarón’s upbringing served as a source of inspiration for the film. A rich family resided in the Colonia Roma area of Mexico City in the early 1970s. Cleo, along with Adela, is one of the family’s local slaves.
Parents Sofa and Antonio, children Pepe, Sofi, Too, and Paco, and Sofa’s mother Teresa make up the family. Sofa’s spouse had abandoned her. Cleo and Sofia, the two ladies, will then assist each other.
The film ends with the phrase Shantih, Shantih, Shantih (we also hear them in The Sons of Man). T. S. Eliot’s poem La Terre Vaine (The Waste Land) ends with the same lines. The term “shantih” comes from Sanskrit and signifies “peace.”
The Musician
Roman Polanski is the director. Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, and Frank Finlay star. Date of Publication: May 24, 2002
The video recounts the tale of Wadysaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish pianist. During World War II, the tale takes place in Warsaw, Poland. W. Szpilman was the official pianist of Polish Radio at the time, as well as a well-known personality in Polish culture.
When the Nazis took control of the city, they progressively restricted the Jews’ rights, then gathered them in a ghetto to prepare for their annihilation. W. Szpilman barely makes it out of the ghetto and is taken up by Polish resistance fighters who bring her food on a daily basis.
Szpilman, hungry and thirsty, seeks refuge in a tiny attic from the Germans, only to be found by Wilm Hosenfeld, a music-loving German officer. After discovering that W. Szpilman is a pianist, and certain that the war would be lost soon since the arrival of Soviet forces in Warsaw seems imminent, the latter will covertly supply him with the food he needs to survive every day.
Schindler’s List is the first film in the Schindler’s List series.
Steven Spielberg is the director. Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes star. The film was released on November 30, 1993.
The persecution of Polish Jews starts in September 1939. The video depicts Jews being forced to relocate from the Kraków region to the Kraków Ghetto. Oskar Schindler, a previously failed industrialist, travels to Krakow with the hopes of finding inexpensive labor.
He gains popularity with the Germans, and with their help, Schindler acquires a pot and pan factory.
Schindler meets a number of Jewish merchants via the Jewish man Itzhak Stern, who are ready to give him money in return for some pots and pans; the Jews in the ghetto where they were sent by the Nazis have no money.
Stern utilizes his position as plant manager to rescue the lives of a number of Jews, first without the knowledge of Schindler.
The best movies based on true stories is a list of 30 films that are based on true stories.
