This is a list of films and miniseries that are based on actual events. All films on this list are from American production unless indicated otherwise.
All Good Things (2010) – crimeromanticdrama film inspired by the life of accused murderer Robert Durst, the film chronicles the life of the wealthy son of a New York real estate tycoon, a series of murders linked to him, and his volatile relationship with his wife and her subsequent unsolved disappearance[4]
Black Venus (French: Vénus noire) (2010) – Frenchdrama film based on the life of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman who in the early 19th century was exhibited in Europe under the name "Hottentot Venus"[13]
The Clinic (2010) – Australianhorrorthriller film following six abducted women and their newborn babies, according to the poster it's "inspired by true events"[24]
Cold Fish (Japanese: 冷たい熱帯魚) (2010) – Japanesecrimedrama film about a quiet and unambitious owner of a tropical fish shop whose life and family are taken over by a fellow fish entrepreneur who happens to be a serial killer, loosely based on the exploits of two Tokyo serial killers, Sekine Gen and Hiroko Kazama, a husband and wife duo who owned a pet shop and murdered at least four people[25]
Conviction (2010) – biographicallegaldrama film based on the story of a single mother, Betty Anne Waters, who goes to law school so she can become her brother Kenny's attorney after Kenny is wrongly convicted of murder[28]
The End Is My Beginning (German: Das Ende ist mein Anfang) (2010) – German-Italian biographical drama based on the posthumous autobiographical best-seller with the same name written by Tiziano Terzani
The First Grader (2010) – biographical drama film based on the true story of Kimani Maruge, a Kenyan farmer who enrolled in elementary school at the age of 84 following the Kenyan government's announcement of free universal primary education in 2003
Green Zone (2010) – British-French-American war thriller depicting the events from the end of the invasion phase of the 2003 invasion of Iraq until the transfer of power to the Iraqis
The Hammer (a.k.a. Hamill) (2010) – biographical film about Matt Hamill, a deaf wrestler and mixed martial artist
Holly Rollers (2010) – independent crime film drama film inspired by a true story of a young Hasidic man who was lured into the world of international drug trafficking in the late 1990s
Janie Jones (2010) – drama film written and directed by David M. Rosenthal, about a fading, alcoholic rock star meeting his daughter for the first time after being left by her drugged-up mother, and the growing relationship they have while on tour, Rosenthal based the film's storyline on his real-life meeting with his own daughter
Kajínek (2010) – Czech action drama film based on the story of Jiří Kajínek, who managed to escape from a strictly guarded prison in the Mírov fortress
Letters to God (2010) – based on the true story of Tyler Doughtie, an 8-year-old suffering from cancer with a love of writing and sending letters to God
Meek's Cutoff (2010) – western film loosely based on a historical incident on the Oregon Trail in 1845, in which frontier guide Stephen Meek led a wagon train on an ill-fated journey through the Oregon desert along the route later known as the Meek Cutoff in the western United States
Mr. Nice (2010) – loosely based on the Welsh former drug smuggler turned author, Howard Marks, who achieved notoriety through high-profile court cases[33]
My Name Is Khan (2010) – Indian Hindi-language drama film centering on Rizwan Khan, an autistic Muslim man who tries to meet the President of the United States and convince him that he is not a terrorist to win his wife back
The Road to Coronation Street (2010) – British dramatization of the creation of Coronation Street, the UK's longest-running television soap opera, from conception to its first transmission in December 1960[44]
The Robber (German: Der Räuber) (2010) – German drama based on a novel by Austrian author Martin Prinz the novel's character is based on Austrian bank-robber and runner Johann Kastenberger
The Round Up (French: La Rafle) (2010) – French film based on the true story of a young Jewish boy, the film depicts the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv), the mass arrest of Jews by French police who were accomplices of Nazi Germans in Paris in July 1942
The Runaways (2010) – drama based on the 1970s all-girl rock band The Runaways, focusing in particular on the relationship between rockers Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, adapted from Currie's memoir
The Silent House (Spanish: La Casa Muda) (2010) – Uruguayan Spanish-language horror film allegedly inspired by real events that took place in the 1940s
Striker (2010) – Bollywood action drama film set in a Mumbai ghetto in the mid-1980s, a story of triumph and human spirit over indomitable odds
Temple Grandin (2010) – biographical film about Temple Grandin, a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the inhumane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses
Times You Change (German: Zeiten ändern dich) (2010) – German biographical film based on Bushido's 2008 autobiography
Unstoppable (2010) – action thriller loosely based on the CSX 8888 incident, which tells the story of a runaway train carrying hazardous material, which puts cities and people in danger
The Way Back (2010) – true story of seven men who escape from prison in Siberia (after being held by Stalin), then walk through the Gobi Desert, Himalayas and all the way to Sikkim, India
The Whistleblower (2010) – thriller which tells the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska police officer who was recruited to serve as a U.N. peacekeeper with DynCorp International in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999
You Don't Know Jack (2010) – television film based in part on the book Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle To Legalize Euthanasia, focusing on the life and work of physician-assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian
A Funny Man (Danish: Dirch) (2011) – Danish biographical drama film about the Danish actor and comedian Dirch Passer
A Yell from Heaven (Japanese: 天国からのエール) (2011) – Japanese drama film inspired by the true story of Hikaru Oshiro, an Okinawan altruist who founded the "Ajisai Ongaku Mura", a music village that is open for all to use
Bernie (2011) – black comedy film based on the 1996 murder of 81-year-old millionaire Marjorie Nugent in Carthage, Texas, by her 39-year-old companion Bernie Tiede
Blackthorn (2011) – Western film based on the life of an aged Butch Cassidy living under the assumed name of James Blackthorn in a secluded village in Bolivia 20 years after his disappearance in 1908
Free Man (2011) – French war drama which recounts the largely untold story about the role that Algerian and other North African Muslims in Paris played in the French Resistance and as rescuers of Jews during the German occupation (1940–1944)
Girl Fight (2011) – made-for-television film inspired by a 2008 beating in Florida; a video of some of the beating, released by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, was used heavily by the news media and the story caused nationwide public outrage
Heleno (2011) – Brazilian biographical drama film telling the story of Heleno de Freitas, a legendary football star who played for Botafogo during the 1940s
Higher Ground (2011) – drama film following the true story of Corinne Walker and her vacillating relationship with Christianity
Hysteria (2011) - Set at the end of 1880, the film depicts the invention of the vibrator. Dr. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is a young physician who has difficulty with his occupation due to constant arguments over modern medicine. He gets a job assisting Dr. Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce), whose practice specializes in the treatment of "hysteria", a popular diagnosis for women of that time.
The Intouchables (2011) – French buddy comedy drama film based on the true story of a paralyzed man who develops a friendship with his caretaker
The Iron Lady (2011) – British biographical film based on the life of Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century
Janie Jones (2011) – drama film based on the story of a young girl who is abandoned by her meth-addicted former-groupie mother, who informs a fading rock star that she is his daughter
Monica (2011) – Indian Hindi-language film based on the true story of the murder case of Shivani Bhatnagar, a journalist working for the Indian Express newspaper
My Week with Marilyn (2011) – British-American drama film depicting the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl and focusing on the week during the shooting of the 1957 film when Monroe was escorted around London by Colin Clark after her husband Arthur Miller had returned to the United States
No One Killed Jessica (2011) – Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film based on real life murder case of Jessica Lall, a model in New Delhi who was working as a celebrity barmaid at a crowded socialite party when she was shot dead in April 1999
Play (2011) - Inspired by actual court cases, it portrays a group of black boys who rob a smaller group of white boys by means of a psychological game.
Puncture (2011) – independent film based on a true story about Mike Weiss, a young Houston lawyer and a drug addict
Red Dog (2011) – Australian comedy drama family film based on a true story about a Kelpie/cattle dog cross who was well known for his travels through Western Australia's Pilbara region
The Rite (2011) – supernatural horror film based on actual events as witnessed and recounted by American then-exorcist-in-training Father Gary Thomas and his experiences of being sent to Rome to be trained and work daily with veteran clergy of the practice
Sanctum (2011) – action-thriller film inspired by Andrew Wight's near-death experience after leading a diving expedition miles into a system of underwater caves, then having to find a way out after a freak storm collapses the entrance
Silenced (Korean: 도가니) (2011) – South Korean crime film drama film based on events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s
Silent House (2011) – independentpsychological horror film about a young woman who is terrorized in her family vacation home while cleaning the property with her father and uncle, based on an actual incident that occurred in a village in Uruguay in the 1940s
Soul Surfer (2011) – biographical drama film about Bethany Hamilton, a 13-year-old surfer who loses her arm in a shark attack, but is determined to get back in the water
Flight (2012) – action drama film inspired by the true incident of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, in which a Boeing MD-83 suffered vertical control malfunctions and plummeted 31,000 feet on January 31, 2000
The Girl (2012) – British made-for-television film based on Donald Spoto's 2009 book Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies, which discusses the English film director Hitchcock and the women who played leading roles in his films (Tippi Hedren)
Hannah Arendt (2012) – German-French-Luxembourger biographical drama film centering on the life of German-Jewish philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt
Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012) – Indian Tamil-language black comedy film based on a true story that involves a young man who experiences retrograde amnesia after a cricket incident two days before his wedding
National Security (Korean: 남영동) (2012) – South Korean prison drama based on the memoir by Kim Geun-tae, a democracy activist who was kidnapped and tortured by national police inspector Lee Geun-an for 22 days in 1985 during the Chun Doo-hwan regime
No (2012) – Chileanhistorical drama film based on the unpublished play El Plebiscito, focusing on how advertising tactics came to be widely used in political campaigns for the 1988 plebiscite
Sri Ramakrishna Darshanam (2012) – Singaporean-Indian biographical film based on the life and philosophy of 19th century Bengali mystic saint Ramakrishna
Vinmeengal (2012) – Indian Tamil-language semi-biographical film detailing the extraordinary struggle of a father, who is a magician, to give a normal life to his son who is born with Cerebral Palsy
The Vow (2012) – romantic drama film based on Kim and Krickitt Carpenter's story of Kim's memory loss following an accident
12 Years a Slave (2013) – biographical drama film based on Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free negro who was deceived and kidnapped in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery (1841–1853)
3096 Days (German: 3096 Tage) (2013) – German biographical drama film based on the story of Natascha Kampusch who was kidnapped at age 10 and held in captivity for 8 years
The Bling Ring (2013) – satirical crime film based on the Bling Ring, also known as the Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch, who broke into Hollywood Hills homes from October 2008 through August 2009
Dallas Buyers Club (2013) – biographical drama film telling the story of Ron Woodroof, an AIDS patient diagnosed in the mid-1980s when HIV/AIDS treatments were under-researched, while the disease was not understood and highly stigmatized
Empire State (2013) – crime drama film based on based on a true story of two childhood friends who rob an armored car repository and the NYPD officer who stands in their way
The German Doctor (2013) - The true story of an Argentine family who lived with Josef Mengele without knowing his true identity, and of a girl who fell in love with one of the biggest criminals of all time.
Gimme Shelter (2013) – independentChristian drama based on a true story about a runaway teenage girl who becomes pregnant and is placed in a home for pregnant girls
Hope (Korean: 소원) (2013) – South Korean film based on the true story of the infamous Cho Doo-Soon case in 2008, in which an 8-year-old girl, named "Na-young" in the South Korean press, was raped and beaten by a drunk 57-year-old man in a public bathroom
The Invisible Woman (2013) – British biographical drama film about the secret love affair between Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan, which lasted for thirteen years until his death in 1870
Jobs (2013) – biographical drama film based on the life of Steve Jobs, from 1974 while a student at Reed College to the introduction of the iPod in 2001
Like the Wind (Italian: Come il vento) (2013) – Italian biographical film telling the story of Armida Miserere, the first woman to direct a high security jail in Italy
Louis Cyr (2013) – Canadian biographical drama film about Louis Cyr, the 19th-century strong man still considered to be one of the strongest men to have ever lived
The Pardon (2013) - a woman who overcomes a tragic beginning but was executed for murder.
Philomena (2013) – British drama film based on the true story of Philomena Lee's 50-year search for her adopted son and Sixsmith's efforts to help her find him
Tracks (2013) – Australian drama film chronicling Robyn Davidson's nine-month journey on camels across the Australian desert
U Want Me 2 Kill Him? (2013) (stylised as Uwantme2killhim?) – British drama thriller film based on a true story and follows two teenage schoolboys who are drawn into a complicated world of online chatrooms, eventually leading to bizarre consequences
50 to 1 (2014) – drama based on the true story of Mine That Bird, an undersized thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2009 Kentucky Derby in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race
American Sniper (2014) – biographical war drama film based on the life of Chris Kyle who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War
Amour Fou (2014) – Austrian biographical film about the German writer Heinrich von Kleist and his lover Henriette Vogel in the final stages of their lives
An Honest Liar (2014) – biographical film about the life of former magician, escape artist, and skeptical educator James Randi, in particular the investigations through which Randi publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists
Bad Country (2014) – action film based on the true story of a veteran detective who infiltrates the most powerful criminal enterprise in the South
Che (Persian: چ) (2014) – Iranian biographical war film depicting 48 hours of the life of Mostafa Chamran, who was then defense minister of Iran
Desert Dancer (2014) – British biographical drama film based on the true story of Afshin Ghaffarian, a young, self-taught dancer in Iran, who risked his life for his dream to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban
Effie Gray (2014) – British biographical film based on the true story of John Ruskin's marriage to Euphemia Gray and the subsequent annulment of their marriage
Electric Slide (2014) – biographical crime film based on Los Angeles-based bank robber Eddie Dodson, who robbed 64 banks in 1983 before he was caught
Foxcatcher (2014) – biographical sports drama loosely based on the events surrounding multimillionaire John du Pont's 1986 recruitment of Mark Schultz and his older brother David, to help coach U.S. wrestlers for participation in Olympic competition, and the subsequent murder of David Schultz by du Pont in January 1996
Kid Cannabis (2014) – biographical comedy-drama based on the true story of a teen named Nate Norman who dropped out of high school to build a multimillion-dollar marijuana ring by trafficking drugs with his friends through the woods across the US-Canada international border
The Letters (2014) – biographical drama film based on the life of Mother Teresa and how Vatican priest Father Celeste van Exem was charged with the task of investigating acts and events following her death
Marie's Story (French: Marie Heurtin) (2014) – French biographical film based on the true story of Marie Heurtin, a girl who was born deaf and blind in late 19th century France
Mr. Turner (2014) – biographical drama film based around the last twenty-five years of the life and career of painter J. M. W. Turner
Noble (2014) – biographical film about the true life story of Christina Noble, a children's rights campaigner, charity worker and writer, who founded the Christina Noble Children's Foundation in 1989
Return to Zero (2014) – made-for-television drama film based on a true story of writer, Sean Hanish and his pregnant wife, only to have their lives devastated when they learn that the child has died in the womb
Bessie (2015) – made-for-television drama film about the American blues singer Bessie Smith, and focuses on her transformation as a struggling young singer into "The Empress of the Blues"
Captive (2015) – crime film drama thriller film based on the true story about Brian Nichols, who escapes from the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta on March 11, 2005, and holds Ashley Smith as a hostage
Code of a Killer (2015) – British police drama television series which tells the true story Alec Jeffreys' discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its introductory use by Detective David Baker in catching the double murderer Colin Pitchfork.
The Gamechangers (2015) – made-for-television biographical drama film based on the story of the controversies caused by Grand Theft Auto, a successful video game series, as various attempts were made to halt the production of the games
I Am Michael (2015) – biographical drama about Michael Glatze, a gay activist who renounces homosexuality and becomes a Christian pastor
Joy (2015) – biographical comedy-drama film about a struggling single mom of three children, Joy Mangano, who invented the "Miracle Mop" and became the President of Ingenious Designs, LLC
Kid Kulafu (2015) – Filipino biographical sports drama based on the life of the boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao during his childhood
The Lady in the Van (2015) – British comedy-drama film based on the true story of Alan Bennett and his interactions with Mary Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a dilapidated van on his driveway in London for 15 years
Last Cab To Darwin (2015) – Australian drama inspired by the true story of Max Bell, a taxi driver who traveled from Broken Hill to Darwin to seek euthanasia after he was diagnosed with a terminal illness
Legend (2015) – British biographical crime film thriller film about the Kray Twins which deals with their career and the relationship that bound them together, and follows their gruesome career to life imprisonment in 1969
Life (2015) – biographical drama film based on the friendship of Life photographer Dennis Stock and Hollywood actor James Dean
Persona Non Grata (Japanese: 杉原千畝 スギハラチウネ) (2015) – Japanese biographical drama film based on the life of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who was appointed a vice-consul and later a consul in Lithuania and served there from 1939 to 1940 and who saved lives of some 6,000 Jewish refugees by issuing transit visas to the Japanese Empire
Queen of the Desert (2015) – epic biographical drama based on the life of British traveller, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political officer Gertrude Bell
True Story (2015) – mystery drama film based on Christian Longo, a man on the FBI's most-wanted list accused of murdering his wife and three children in Oregon
Visaranai (2015) – Indian Tamil-language crime drama film dealing with the lives of two men before and after thrown into a kafkaesque scenario in which they get tortured for confession
The Walk (2015) – 3D biographical drama film based on the story of 24-year-old French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974
Aligarh (2016) – biographical drama film based on the true story of Ramchandra Siras, a professor of Marathi and the head of the Classical Modern Indian Languages Faculty at the famed Aligarh Muslim University, who was suspended on grounds of morality
Altamira (2016) – Spanish biographical drama film chronicling the groundbreaking discovery of Stone Age cave paintings in the Cave of Altamira in Cantabria, Spain, and the subsequent controversy by leading religious and scientific figures of the day
Amateur Night (2016) – biographical comedy film based on the early experiences of film writers Joe Syracuse and Lisa Addario in Hollywood
Anna (2016) – Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film based on the life of Indian social activist Anna Hazare
Apartment 407 (2016) - Selling Isobel, a thriller based on true events, featuring the real victim in true life playing the main character. It's about a woman who got locked in a soundproof wardrobe, drugged, held against her will and sold for sex to multiple men, for 3 days in an apartment in central London. It's a film about her fight for survival all the way to the resolution.
Azhar (2016) – Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film based on the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin
Brain on Fire (2016) – American-Irish biographical drama film telling the true story of a New York Post writer who begins to suffer a mysterious illness and would have been committed to the psychiatric ward and probably died of encephalitis, if it were not for the efforts and skills of Syrian-American neurologist Souhel Najjar
Cézanne and I (French: Cézanne et moi) (2016) – French biographical drama film based on the friendship between 19th century novelist Émile Zola and painter Paul Cézanne
Chocolat (2016) – French drama film loosely based on the real life of Rafael Padilla, a clown who performed in a Paris circus around the 1900s and son of a slave from Cuba, a Spanish colony at the time
Christine (2016) – British-American biographical drama film about Christine Chubbuck, a news reporter who struggles with depression, along with professional and personal frustrations as she tries to advance her career
Down by Love (2016) - Based on the life of Sorour Arbabzadeh and Florent Goncalves in 2010, a young woman, Anna Amari, is detained at a prison for women in Versailles, where she encounters Jean Firmino, the prison director. She is sentenced to nine years in prison and they begin an illegal relationship which brings the attention of the authorities onto them.
Fanny's Journey (French: Le Voyage de Fanny) (2016) – French-Belgianchildren'swar drama film inspired by an autobiographical book by Fanny Ben Ami, a girl escaping the Holocaust
Gold (2016) – crime film drama film based on the true story of the 1993 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia
I'm Gilda (Spanish: Gilda, no me arrepiento de este amor) (2016) – Argentine biographical drama film about the life of tropical singer and songwriter Gilda
The Infiltrator (2016) – biographical crime thriller film based on the eponymous autobiography by Robert Mazur, a U.S. Customs special agent, who in the 1980s helped bust Pablo Escobar's money-laundering organization by going undercover as a corrupt businessman
The Last Family (2016) - A Polish biographical film. The true story of the artistic Beksinski family: Zdzislaw, his wife Zofia and their talented yet trouble-making son Tomasz.
Lion (2016) – Australian-British biographical drama based on the true story of how Saroo Brierley, 25 years after being separated from his family in India, sets out to find them
The Lost City of Z (2016) – biographical adventure drama film based on the story of Percy Fawcett, who was sent to Brazil and made several attempts to find a supposed ancient lost city in the Amazon
Nelly (2016) – biographical-drama film based on Nelly Arcan, an award-winning Canadian author and former sex worker who committed suicide in 2009
Neruda (2016) – Spanish-language biographical drama film depicting the dramatic events of the suppression of Communists in Chile in 1948 and how the poet Pablo Neruda had to go on the run, eventually escaping on horseback over the Andes
Nina (2016) – biographical film about American musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone
The Odyssey (French: L'Odyssée) (2016) – French-Belgian biographical adventure film based on Jacques-Yves Cousteau, a French ocean-going adventurer, biologist, and filmmaker
Sarbjit (2016) – Indian biographical drama film based on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man who was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1991 and who consequently spent 22 years in prison for alleged terrorism and spying
A Street Cat Named Bob (2016) - The true feel-good story of how James Bowen, a busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger.
Strangled (2016) - True story of a serial killer in 1950-60s Hungary.
Sully (2016) – biographical drama about Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's January 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived—most suffering only minor injuries—and the subsequent publicity and investigation
Veerappan (2016) – Indian Hindi-language biographical crime film based on the real-life Indian bandit Veerappan and the events leading to Operation Cocoon, a mission to capture and kill him
The 12th Man (2017) - Norwegian historical drama film. Jan Baalsrud, who escapes from occupying Nazi Germans in Rebbenesøya, via Lyngen Fjord and Manndalen, to neutral Sweden in the spring of 1943.
Above the Law (French: Tueurs) – French-Belgiancrimethriller film based on the true story of a career criminal, who commits a bank heist with his crew, and is set up by corrupt police, for the murder of a judge investigating the 30 year old unsolved case of the mass murders of Brabant who had been duped into being at the getaway scene, and for killing bystanders who witness the murder[53]
Aftermath (2017) – thriller film based on events and persons surrounding the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision of a passenger airline with a cargo jet, although the names, places, nationalities, and incidents were changed
The Age of Pioneers (2017) – Russian historical drama film about cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to perform a spacewalk
All Saints (2017) – Christian drama about a small-town Tennessee preacher, Michael Spurlock, who attempts to save his struggling church as well as a group of refugees from Karen State, Myanmar, in Southeast Asia
The Big Sick (2017) – romantic comedy film loosely based on the real-life romance between Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, it follows an interethnic couple who must deal with cultural differences after Emily becomes ill
Bitter Harvest (2017) – romantic-action drama film based in Soviet Ukraine in the early 1930s
Bomb City (2017) – crime film based on the death of Brian Deneke, the homicide that revealed the cultural clash between the local jocks and the punk community in Amarillo, Texas, and the result from the subsequent court case sparked debate over injustice in the American judicial system
The Climb (2017) - A young man from the suburbs with no mountaineering experience decides to climb Mt Everest to show a woman he'd do anything for her.
Crown Heights (2017) – biographical crime film drama film depicting the true story of Colin Warner who was wrongfully convicted of murder, and how his best friend Carl King devoted his life to proving Colin's innocence
Final Portrait (2017) – British-American drama about the friendship between Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker Alberto Giacometti and American writer James Lord
First They Killed My Father (2017) – story on how they forced 7-year-old Ung, to be trained as a child soldier while my siblings were sent to labor camps
The Mercy (2017) – British biographical drama film based on the true story of the disastrous attempt by the amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst to complete the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968 and his subsequent attempts to cover up his failure
Papillon (2017) – biographical drama film telling the story of French convict Henri Charriere, nicknamed Papillon ("butterfly"), who was imprisoned in 1933 in the notorious Devil's Island penal colony and escaped in 1941 with the help of another convict, counterfeiter Louis Dega
A Prayer Before Dawn (2017) - Billy Moore, a young British boxer and troubled heroin addict, is arrested in Thailand after being charged with possession of stolen goods and a firearm.
Salyut-7 (2017) – Russian historical drama film about the 1985 Soyuz T-13 mission to the Salyut 7 space station
Same Kind of Different as Me (2017) – Ron Hall, a successful art dealer, comes to the home of Julio, a man he previously sold a painting to. Julio allows Ron to write a book about his life and a life-changing event he experienced
Sand Castle (2017) – film centering on Matt Ocre, a young soldier in the United States Army, who is tasked with restoring water to a village in Iraq, based on the true events and the experience of the film's writer Roessner during the Iraq War
Viceroy's House (2017) – British-Indian historical drama film telling the true story of the final months of British rule in India. Viceroy's House in Delhi was the home of the British rulers of India. After 300 years, that rule was coming to an end. For 6 months in 1947, Lord Mountbatten, great-grandson of Queen Victoria, assumed the post of the last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people
Victoria & Abdul (2017) – British biographical comedy-drama film based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Muslim servant Abdul Karim
War Machine (2017) – satirical war film depicting a fictionalized version of events surrounding Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in Afghanistan
Women Walks Ahead (2017) – biographical drama film about the story of Caroline Weldon, a portrait painter who travels from New York to Dakota to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull in 1890
A Private War (2018) – biographical war drama film about Marie Colvin, an American journalist for The Sunday Times, visiting the most dangerous countries and documenting their civil wars
The Angel (2018) – Egyptian-Israelispythriller film based on Ashraf Marwan, a high-ranking Egyptian official who became a double agent for both countries and helped achieve peace between the two
Billionaire Boys Club (2018) – biographical crime film drama film based on the real life Billionaire Boys Club from Southern California during the 1980s, a group of rich teenagers who get involved in a Ponzi scheme and eventual murder
Birds of Passage (Spanish: Pájaros de verano) (2018) – epiccrime film explores the rise of a Wayuu man and his family as they enter the drug trade, prosper, and slowly lose their traditions and former way of life
Burden (2018) – drama based on the story of Mike Burden, an orphan raised within the Ku Klux Klan who attempts to break away when the woman he falls in love with urges him to leave for a better life together
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) – biographical film based on the story of Lee Israel and her attempts to revitalize her failing writing career by forging letters from deceased authors and playwrights
Diary of My Mind (French: Journal de ma tête) (2018) – Swissmade-for-televisiontrue crime film about a school teacher who must confront the effects of having been made an unwitting accomplice to a murder committed by her student Benjamin, when he confesses to the murder and his motivations in a homework assignment he turned in to her just before committing the crime, based on a true crime story from European history
The Drug King (Korean: 마약왕) (2018) – South Korean crime film drama film depicting the true life story of Lee Doo-sam, a drug smuggler building his empire in Busan's crime underworld in the 1970s
The Front Runner (2018) – political drama film chronicling the rise of American Senator Gary Hart, a candidate to be the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, and his subsequent fall from grace when media reports suggested he was having an extramarital affair
I Can Only Imagine (2018) – Christian biographical drama based on the story behind the group MercyMe's song of the same name, the best-selling Christian single of all time
Indivisible (2018) – Christian drama based on the true story of Darren Turner. It follows an Army chaplain as he struggles to balance his faith and the Iraq War
Killed by My Debt (2018) – British made-for-television drama based on the life of Jerome Rogers who died by suicide aged twenty having accrued debts of over £1,000 stemming from two unpaid £65 traffic fines
King of Thieves (2018) - A British heist film,The film is based on the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary of 2015.
Leto (transl. Summer) (2018) – Russian musical film depicting the Leningrad underground rock scene of the early 1980s, drawing loosely from the lives of the Soviet rock musicians Viktor Tsoi and Mike Naumenko
Midnight Runner (2018) - One of the best runners in Switzerland tries to overcome the loss of his brother by robbing innocent women at night. Based on a true story.
No One Would Tell (2018) – made-for-television film based on the true story of Jamie Fuller, a 16-year-old high school student who murdered his 14-year-old girlfriend
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018) - computer-animated adventure film centering on the real-life Sergeant Stubby, a stray Boston Terrier.
On My Skin (Italian: Sulla mia pelle) (2018) – Italian drama based on the real story of the last days of Stefano Cucchi, a 31-year-old building surveyor who died in 2009 during preventive custody, victim of police brutality
Outlaw King (2018) – British-American historical action drama film about Robert the Bruce, the 14th-century Scottish King who launched a guerrilla war against the larger English army. The film largely takes place during the 3-year historical period from 1304, when Bruce decides to rebel against the rule of Edward I over Scotland, thus becoming an "outlaw", up to the 1307 Battle of Loudoun Hill
Sanju (2018) – Indian Hindi-language biogrophical comedy drama film depicting the life of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, his addiction with drugs, arrest for his association with the 1993 Bombay bombings, relationship with his father, comeback in the industry, the eventual drop of charges from the Bombay bombings, and release after completing his jail term
Soorma (transl. Warrior) (2018) – Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film based on the life of and return of hockey player Sandeep Singh
Stan and Ollie (2018) – biographical comedy-drama based on the later years of the lives of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy
Stockholm (2018) - The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm.
Tag (2018) – comedy film based on the true story that was published in The Wall Street Journal about a group of grown men who spend one month a year playing the game of tag
Traffic Ramasamy (2018) – IndianTelugu-language biographical film based on the real-life story of the veteran social activist K. R. Ramaswamy who received the nickname of Traffic Ramaswamy for his activism in controlling traffic related issues in Tamil Nadu
Unbroken: Path to Redemption (2018) – Christian drama that acts as a sequel to the 2014 film Unbroken, although none of the original cast or crew returns except the producer Matthew Baer, and actors Vincenzo Amato and Maddalena Ischiale. The film chronicles Louis Zamperini following his return from World War II, his personal struggles to adjust back to civilian life and his eventual conversion to evangelical Christianity after attending one of Billy Graham's church revivals
Vice (2018) – biographical comedy-drama film following Dick Cheney on his path to become the most powerful Vice President in American history
Welcome to Marwen (2018) – drama inspired by the true story of Mark Hogancamp, a man struggling with PTSD who, after being physically assaulted, creates a fictional village to ease his trauma
4x4 (2019) – Argentine-Spanishthriller crime film based on Ciro, a criminal who breaks into a 4x4 pickup truck owned by an obstetrician medic Enrique Ferrari to steal a car stereo[57]
1917 (2019) – American-Britishwar film based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, and chronicles the story of two young British soldiers during World War 1 who are given a mission to deliver a message. This warns of an ambush during a skirmish, soon after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich in 1917[60]
A Girl from Mogadishu (2019) – Irish-Belgian semi-biographical film based on the testimony of Ifrah Ahmed, who having escaped war-torn Somalia, emerged as one of the world's foremost international activists against gender-based violence[65]
The Aeronauts (2019) – biographical adventure film follows the balloon expedition of James Glaisher, whose life goal is to travel into the sky to predict the weather and breaks the world record for altitude after reaching a height of 36,000 feet[79][80]
Apache: The Life of Carlos Tevez (Spanish: Apache: La vida de Carlos Tevez) (2019) – Argentine miniseries about Carlos Tevez's rise as a football player amid the conditions in Argentina's Ejército de Los Andes, better known as Fuerte Apache[84]
The Battle of Jangsari (Korean: 장사리) (2019) – Korean action-war film telling the true story of a group of 772 student soldiers who staged a small diversionary operation at Jangsari beach in Yeongdeok to draw away North Korean attention from Incheon.[90]
Breakthrough (2019) – Christian drama film about St. Louis author Joyce Smith's son John who slipped through an icy lake in January 2015 and was underwater for 15 minutes before resuscitative efforts were started. Although being rescued, he is in a coma, and his family must rely on their faith to get through the ordeal[98]
Brotherhood (2019) – Canadian drama based on the true story of a group of youth at a summer camp on Balsam Lake in the Kawartha Lakes, who had to fight for survival when an unforeseen thunderstorm overwhelmed their canoe trip[103]
Capsized: Blood in the Water (2019) – biographical natural horror-survival film, based on the 1982 true story of a small boat crew aboard a private yacht who are stranded in shark infested waters, following a storm that overturns their vessel[104]
Dolemite Is My Name (2019) – biographical comedy film about filmmaker Rudy Ray Moore, best known for portraying the character of Dolemite in both his stand-up routine and a series of blaxploitation films, starting with Dolemite in 1975[120]
En el corredor de la muerte (2019) – Docudrama miniseries depicting the judicial case that began in 1994 when club owner Casimir Sucharski and dancers Sharon Anderson and Marie Rodgers were found shot to death in Sucharski's house in Miramar, Florida[124]
The Farewell (2019) – A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark. Based on Director Lulu Wong's real life.[128]
Fisherman's Friend's (2019) – British biographical comedy-drama based on a true story about Port Issac's Fisherman's Friends, a group of Cornish fishermen from Port Issac who were signed by Universal Records and achieved a top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties[130]
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil (2019) – Korean action thriller film based on a true story from 2005 three characters: a serial killer, the gangster who was almost a victim of the killer and the cop who wants to arrest the killer[133]
The Golden Glove (German: Der Goldene Handschuh) (2019) – German-French horror drama film depicting the story of German serial killer Fritz Honka who murdered four women between 1970 and 1975 and hid the parts of dead bodies in his apartment
The Great War of Archimedes (2019) – Japanese historical film about the building of the battleship Yamato and the political maneuvers, specifically around budget and cost issues, that led to the decision to build the ship.
Hustlers (2019) – crime film comedy-drama film which follows a crew of New York City strippers who begin to steal money by drugging stock traders and CEOs who visit their club, then running up their credit cards
Judy (2019) – biographical drama film about American singer and actress Judy Garland
Just Mercy (2019) – biographical legal drama film based on Bryan Stevenson's 2014 eponymous memoir, in which he explored his journey to making his life's work the defense of African American prisoners
Kardec (2019) – Brazilian drama about Léon Denizard Rivail, a French educator who, when studying the phenomenon of “Spinning tables”, discovers that there is the possibility of communicating with the spirits[139]
Kesari (2019) – Indian Hindi-language action-war film following the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897
The Kid (2019) – semi-biographical western action film centering around Rio Cutler who forms and unlikely alliance with local sheriff Pat Garret and infamous outlaw Billy the Kid in a mission to rescue his sister Sara from Grant Cutler, the boy's thuggish uncle and gang leader
Kingdom (Japanese: キングダム) (2019) – Japanese action adventure film that portrays the life of Li Xin, a general of Qin, from his childhood as an orphan through his military career during the Warring States period of ancient China
Lakshmi's NTR (2019) – Indian Telugu-language biographical drama film based on the life of former film actor and chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, N. T. Rama Rao
The Lighthouse (2019) – American-Canadian horrorpsychological thrillersurvival film about two lighthouse keepers start to lose their sanity when a storm strands them on the remote island on which they are stationed (based, in part, on the Smalls Lighthouse incident, which occurred in 1801)
Lillian (2019) – Austrian drama film inspired by the true story of Lillian Alling, an Eastern European immigrant to the United States who, in the 1920s, attempted a return by foot to her homeland. Starting in New York, she walked across the United States and Canada trying to cross the Bering Strait[143]
Mercy Black (2019) – horror film loosely based on the story was Mary Bell, who had murdered two toddlers when she was a child. Bell had been granted a new identity after being released from jail, but tabloid reporters discovered her new identity[145]
Moffie (2019) – South African-British biographical warromantic drama film revolving around two gay characters Nicholas van der Swart and Dylan Stassen who attempt to come to terms with their homosexuality
Mosul (2019) – Arabic-language war action film based on the 2016 Battle of Mosul, which saw Iraqi Government forces and coalition allies defeat ISIS who had controlled the city since June 2014[147]
My Name is Sara (2019) - An american biographical drama film.It is based on the life of Holocaust survivor Sara Góralnik.
NTR: Kathanayakudu (transl. NTR: The Hero) (2019) – Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the real life and acting career of N. T. Rama Rao
NTR: Mahanayakudu (transl. NTR: The Great Leader) (2019) – Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the real life and political career of N. T. Rama Rao
Official Secrets (2019) – British-American docudrama based on the life of whistleblowerKatharine Gun who leaked a memo detailing that the United States had eavesdropped on diplomats from countries tasked with passing a second United Nations resolution on the invasion of Iraq
Oh Mercy! (French: Roubaix, une lumière) (2019) – French crime film drama film inspired by the 2008 TV documentary Roubaix, commissariat central, directed by Mosco Boucault.[148]
Roe v. Wade (2019) - Dramatization of the 1973 landmark decision of the same name, rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions.
Seberg (2019) – Political thriller film about Jean Seberg, who in the late 1960s was targeted by the FBI because of her support of the civil rights movement and romantic involvement with Hakim Jamal, among others
The Shiny Shrimps (French: Les Crevettes pailletées) (2019) – French sportscomedy film about an Olympic swimming champion who makes a homophobic comment in a television interview, and is disciplined by the national swim team with the responsibility of coaching a gay water polo team who aspire to compete in the Gay Games, loosely based on Cédric Le Gallo's real-life water polo team[157]
Shooting Clerks (2019) – British-American biographical comedy-drama film detailing how Kevin Smith bankrolled his $27,000 first film with maxed-out credit cards and garnered career-making critical attention at the Sundance Film Festival when Clerks debuted there in 1994
Soldier Boy (Russian: Солдатик) (2019) – Russian drama film based on the real-life story of the youngest soldier in World War II, Sergei Aleshkov, who was only 6 years old [158]
Song Without a Name (Spanish: Canción sin nombre) (2019) – Peruvian drama film based on true event of an indigenous Andean woman whose newborn baby is whisked away moments after its birth in a downtown Lima clinic - and never returned[159]
Togo (2019) – drama about "two key figures in the 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy, in which dog-sled teams relayed to transport diphtheria antitoxin serum through harsh conditions over nearly 700 miles to save the Alaskan town of Nome from an epidemic sickness
Walk. Ride. Rodeo. (2019) – biographical film about the life of Amberley Snyder, a nationally ranked rodeobarrel racer who defies the odds to return to the sport after barely surviving a car crash that leaves her paralysed from the waist down
When They See Us (2019) – crime drama based on events of the 1989 Central Park jogger case and explores the lives and families of the five Black and Latino male suspects who were falsely accused then prosecuted on charges related to the rape and assault of a white woman in Central Park, New York City
^"Two Films Unveil a Lost Jazz Legend", National Public Radio, December 15, 2007. "By most accounts, a mix of alcohol and mental illness sent Bolden into an asylum in 1907; he stayed there until his death in 1931."