The 29 best Netflix movies based on true stories

22 July (2018)

Paul Greengrass, an expert at making fact-based docu-thrillers like Bloody Sunday (2002) and United 93 (2006), helmed this gruesome but riveting account of the deadliest terror attack in Norway’s history since WWII: when Anders Behring Breivik (Anders Danielsen Lie) murdered 77 people at a children’s summer camp in 2011. Greengrass’ harrowing epic, divided into three chapters and chronicling everything from Breivik’s massacre to his sentencing, is not an easy watch. It is, however, timely and necessary, and by the end, it is somehow rather hopeful. —Declan Gallagher

Where to watch 22 July: Netflix

Director: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Jon Øigarden

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)

Chiwetel Ejiofor directed this lovely adaptation of William Kamkwamba’s memoir, chronicling his upbringing as a young African boy who, after being forced to leave his beloved school due to his family’s impoverished condition, sets about constructing a windmill that he hopes will save his community from famine.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is reminiscent of those wonderful Disney movies from the ’60s and ’70s, which told stories for younger audiences yet still delighted older viewers. Ejiofor’s adaptation spins a heartwarming story that doesn’t shave off its harder edges but is always entertaining and consistently feel-good. —D.G.

Where to watch The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Netflix

Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor

Cast: Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lily Banda

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Craig Brewer’s excellent biopic profiles Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy), who directed a grindhouse passion project based around a character he created named Dolemite, inadvertently crafting one of the most iconic bad movies of all time in the process.

Brewer’s film is a fine-tuned combination of period drama and behind-the-scenes comedy. It’s also notable for giving future Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph her earliest scene-stealing performance; her penultimate scene with Murphy is the film’s most radical and moving. In its story of outsiders banding together to fulfill their dreams, the movie is quietly but effectively heartwarming. —D.G.

Where to watch Dolemite Is My Name: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Craig Brewer

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Keegan-Michael Key, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Mike Epps

First They Killed My Father (2017)

Angelina Jolie directed and co-wrote this adaptation with Loung Ung, based on the latter’s memoir about her experiences throughout the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia during the 1970s. Jolie is a director for whom overstatement is as essential in her craft as camera movement, but here, she tempers her more outrageous instincts and delivers a film that’s more powerful for its subdued nature, comfortable in its quietness and content to let audiences fill in some of the more horrific details for themselves. —D.G.

Where to watch First They Killed My Father: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Angelina Jolie

Cast: Sreymoch Sareum, Kompheak Phoeung, Socheata Sveng, Dara Heng, Kimhak Mun

The Founder (2016)

There has been a recent trend of docudramas chronicling the creation of iconic brands, including Air, Tetris, and BlackBerry (all, coincidentally, released in 2023). Some are inevitably more interested in delving into the flawed nature of their protagonists, as is the case with The Founder, an engrossing biopic centering on businessman Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) and his ruthless process of seizing the McDonald’s brand. As EW’s critic writes, „Beneath his surface folksiness lies a man driven to the point of mania and increasingly disconnected from his humanity.“ —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch The Founder: Netflix

Director: John Lee Hancock

Cast: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellini, Laura Dern

The Good Nurse (2022)

Some films are made more disturbing with the knowledge that the events depicted really happened. The Good Nurse is one of them. Jessica Chastain stars as Amy Loughren, an ICU nurse who befriends a recently hired nurse named Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). Working the night shift together, Amy is alarmed when one of their patients mysteriously dies, leading to an investigation that suggests the death may have been deliberate — and Charles is the main suspect. Bolstered by Chastain and Redmayne’s committed performances, EW’s critic calls The Good Nurse „a methodical and smartly wrought psychological thriller.“ —K.J.

Where to watch The Good Nurse: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne

The Highwaymen (2019)

Retired Texas Rangers — the upright Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) and hard-drinking Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson) — are called back to duty by former governor Miriam „Ma“ Ferguson (Kathy Bates) to hunt down the notorious Bonnie Parker (Emily Probst) and Clyde Barrow (Edward Bossert).

John Lee Hancock’s forceful procedural does a terrific job of complementing Arthur Penn’s 1967 classic Bonnie and Clyde without spoiling any of that film’s pleasures, wisely keeping Parker and Barrow in the background and telling a different side of the true-crime saga altogether. —D.G.

Where to watch The Highwaymen: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: John Lee Hancock

Cast: Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates, John Carroll Lynch, Kim Dickens

Hit Man (2024)

Glen Powell cemented his A-list status with this jovial, fact-based comedy-thriller from director Richard Linklater based on an infamous Texas Monthly article about Gary Johnson, a mild-mannered professor who contributed to nearly 70 arrests by posing as a hitman.

Hit Man is a terrific showcase for Powell’s comedic and leading man talents and one of the most unabashedly fun films Linklater has made in decades. Paired here with Adria Arjona, Powell is graced with a costar more than capable of curating a fizzy, classic romance, reminding one of the halcyon days of Hepburn and Tracy or Bogart and Bacall. —D.G.

Where to watch Hit Man: Netflix

Director: Richard Linklater

Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta

I’m Still Here (2024)

This 2025 Oscar winner for Best International Feature follows one woman’s resilience through the Brazilian military dictatorship of the 1970s. Fernanda Torres stars as Eunice Paiva, a real-life activist who doggedly pursued answers following the enforced disappearance of her politician husband. Torres delivers a tremendously moving performance — for which she rightfully won a Golden Globe and received an Oscar nomination — as a woman who must maintain her strength for the benefit of her children, becoming an admired figure in her fight for justice in the process. —K.J.

Where to watch I’m Still Here: Netflix

Director: Walter Salles

Cast: Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Fernanda Montenegro

The Irishman (2019)

As much as we love a Martin Scorsese gangster epic, part of us hopes he’ll never make another after this rigorous epic charting the rise and fall of real-life gangster Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), who claims to have had a hand in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

Scorsese’s picture sidesteps any hint of conspiracy that Hoffa’s story typically carries, delivering a somber, lived-in portrait of organized crime members as mid-level businessmen. The film is nearly three and a half hours long, but is so packed with history and incident that you’ll hardly notice the length. —D.G.

Where to watch The Irishman: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin

The King (2019)

David Michôd helmed this highly entertaining historical epic starring Timothée Chalamet as Henry V, Prince of Wales, who is thrown into a dark world of betrayal and violence after inheriting the throne from his assassinated brother.

Michôd’s picture is a refreshing entry in the genre, functioning just as well as an action picture as a moody, thoughtful coming-of-age drama with impossibly high stakes. An all-star cast — including Robert Pattinson, Thomasin McKenzie, Lily-Rose Depp, and ​​Ben Mendelsohn — helps the director bring a suitably muddy and brutal image of the 15th century to life. —D.G.

Where to watch The King: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: David Michôd

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson, Joel Edgerton, Lily-Rose Depp, Ben Mendelsohn

Kneecap (2024)

Some music biopics involve the artist in pre-production, getting their permission on what (and what not) to include in representing their life story. This rousing musical dramedy about the Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap takes it a step further by having them play themselves, a bold choice that’s also perfectly in line with the group’s unique and creative spirit. As the film explores, Kneecap gained notoriety with their embrace of the Irish language and politically minded lyrics, providing an undercurrent of dramatic stakes and urgency not always seen in similar music-based dramas. —K.J.

Where to watch Kneecap: Netflix

Director: Rich Peppiatt

Cast: Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, Josie Walker, Michael Fassbender

Lion (2016)

This moving, Oscar-nominated drama tells the extraordinary true story of Saroo Brierley. As a 5-year-old boy living in Khandwa, India, Saroo was accidentally separated from his family after falling asleep on a moving train. Arriving in Calcutta, Saroo went through the orphanage system and was adopted by an Australian couple. In adulthood, he took great efforts to locate his original home to reunite with his birth family. Told with sincerity and nuance, Lion is an emotional triumph full of stellar performances, particularly by Sunny Pawar and Dev Patel as the younger and older versions of Saroo, respectively. —K.J.

Where to watch Lion: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Garth Davis

Cast: Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, Nicole Kidman

Maestro (2023)

Bradley Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein in this warts-and-all exploration of the famed composer, which he wrote, directed, and stars in alongside Carey Mulligan as Bernstein’s long-suffering wife, Felicia Montealegre.

Cooper’s film is much more an examination of Bernstein’s marriage than his career, and all the better for it. Rather than run through Bernstein’s accomplishments as many biopics would, it isolates incidents from his and Montealegre’s life together, which inevitably paints a well-rounded portrait of euphoria and sorrow. If there was any doubt after he took A Star Is Born to new heights, Maestro proves Cooper to be one of the most finely tuned filmmakers of his generation. —D.G.

Where to watch Maestro: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Bradley Cooper

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman

Mank (2020)

David Fincher’s black-and-white dissection of Citizen Kane‘s inception stars Gary Oldman as the titular Herman „Mank“ Mankiewicz in one of the actor’s best (and quietest) later-era roles. Approached by Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to write a script for the young director’s magnum opus, Mank returns to memories of his aborted friendship with William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) and his beloved Marion Davies (a brilliant, Oscar-nominated Amanda Seyfried). 

Mank, from a long-gestating script by the director’s late father, Jack Fincher, is a celebratory exploration of filmmaking. There are moments at which he indulges a satirical cynicism that will be familiar to his fans, but overall he seems to be in unironic awe of the art form to which he’s devoted his life. —D.G.

Where to watch Mank: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Tom Burke, Lily Collins, Charles Dance

Maria (2024)

Like director Pablo Larraín’s previous biopics about famous 20th-century women (2016’s Jackie and 2021’s Spencer), this drama about renowned opera singer Maria Callas is less a traditional recounting of her life and more an examination of her damaged psyche. Angelina Jolie stars as Callas in the last seven days before her death, reminiscing about her tumultuous life and career fluctuations. It’s a marvelous showcase for Jolie, who, as EW’s critic writes, „employs her mystique to convey Maria’s own air of detached mystery while also digging deep into the diva’s psychological wounds.“ —K.J.

Where to watch Maria: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Pablo Larraín

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Marriage Story (2019)

Noah Baumbach’s superb portrait of a once-loving marriage in decline, inspired in no small part by his own divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh, stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as warring spouses who suffer myriad indignities throughout 137 minutes, most notably being forced to relocate to Los Angeles. 

Baumbach is a master at crafting highly watchable films around fairly repugnant characters, so it’s something of a surprise that Marriage Story contains the highest volume of empathetic people in any of his works to date. This is probably Baumbach’s least caustic and most heartfelt work, a movie that paints realistic subjects in situations that are authentic, and, at times, harrowing. —D.G.

Where to watch Marriage Story: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta

The Mauritanian (2021)

This harrowing drama recounts the harrowing true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian man held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly 15 years without being charged following the events of 9/11. The film details the torture and abuse Slahi (Tahar Rahim) experienced while detained, and the efforts of lawyer Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster, in a Golden Globe-winning performance) to secure him a fair trial. EW’s critic notes, The Mauritanian „reaches for something not many Hollywood productions do: Telling a story centered not just on the moral quandaries its Western characters face, but on the soul of the man at the center of it all.“ —K.J.

Where to watch The Mauritanian: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch

Molly’s Game (2017)

Aaron Sorkin made his directorial debut with this flashy adaptation of Molly Bloom’s book of the same name, which documents her lucrative career running a poker game for Hollywood’s elite. Jessica Chastain gives a commanding performance as Bloom, and though Sorkin’s visual direction is fairly straightforward, he surrounds himself with an unbelievably talented cast who know exactly how to deliver his wry, rapid-fire dialogue and focus our attention so that we need not look anywhere else. —D.G.

Where to watch Molly’s Game: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Aaron Sorkin

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong

Nyad (2023)

Annette Bening has specialized in prickly characters throughout her career, from the shrewd real estate agent Carolyn in American Beauty (1999) to the headstrong doctor Nic in The Kids Are All Right (2010). The Oscar-nominated actress added Diana Nyad to the list in 2023, portraying the renowned swimmer in her painstaking efforts to swim from Cuba to Florida at the age of 60. The rousing film is bolstered by Bening’s deeply committed performance, as well as that of costar Jodie Foster, her best friend and coach. —K.J.

Where to watch Nyad: Netflix

Directors: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

Cast: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans

Priscilla (2023)

This quiet, mesmerizing look into the internal life of Priscilla Presley is like the sobering B-side ballad to the previous year’s flashier Elvis (2022). Writer-director Sofia Coppola skillfully tracks Priscilla’s (Cailee Spaeny) coming of age as she — at age 14 — meets 24-year-old Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi), and is forced to grow up too soon as the wife of one of the world’s most celebrated artists. Like a bird trapped in a gilded cage, Spaeny subtly portrays Priscilla’s growing frustration; as EW’s critic writes, „With heartbreaking clarity, Spaeny showcases the ways in which Priscilla becomes an image of love and marriage for Elvis to project to the world.“ —K.J.

Where to watch Priscilla: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Sofia Coppola

Cast: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi

Roma (2018)

Inspired by his own childhood, Alfonso Cuarón’s gorgeously designed, emotional portrait of a Mexico City family and their live-in domestic worker is remarkably intimate and astoundingly relatable, regardless of the audience’s ages or where they grew up. Much like Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017), Roma tells a focused story about a specific time and place, which somehow paints a broad portrait of the entire world at this moment. It’s a bold and invigorating piece of cinema that conjures and sustains a mysterious, warm yet dangerous mood for its duration. —D.G.

Where to watch Roma: Netflix

EW grade: A

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Jorge Antonio Guerrero

Rustin (2023)

Colman Domingo received a much-deserved Oscar nomination for his turn here as Bayard Rustin, a key adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. (Aml Ameen) who dedicated his life to the Civil Rights movement but was largely erased from history due to his homosexuality. Domingo and director George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) take a rousing and rather imaginative approach to the material, which has been covered in many other projects but never quite from this perspective. Framed around King’s famous „I Have a Dream“ speech at the 1963 March on Washington, Wolfe’s film is both an all-encompassing portrait of Rustin and that of the cause to which he dedicated his life. —D.G.

Where to watch Rustin: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: George C. Wolfe

Cast: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright, Glynn Turman, CCH Pounder

Scoop (2024)

An Emmy nominee for Outstanding Television Movie, Scoop dissects how the BBC program Newsnight landed its earth-shattering interview between Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) and Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) over the now disgraced royal’s long-standing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Scoop is a compelling dramatization of an unbelievable true story that’s still fairly recent history. It’s a breathless newsroom thriller that clocks in at a perfectly modulated 102 minutes. Anderson steals scenes, but Billie Piper carries the film as Newsnight booker Sam McAlister, who works her bum off to secure Andrew’s public self-immolation. —D.G.

Where to watch Scoop: Netflix

Director: Philip Martin

Cast: Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes, Billie Piper, Rufus Sewell

Shirley (2024)

John Ridley’s galvanizing biopic stars Regina King as Shirley Chisholm, the first Black congresswoman in the United States who launched a 1972 bid for president. King’s powerhouse performance, Ridley’s keen visual direction, and the subject’s exceptional mettle set Shirley apart from other biopics that struggle to find life. This is a vibrant and exceptionally lively film that celebrates Chisholm’s singular accomplishments as it explains them to a new generation of viewers perhaps unfamiliar with her historical career. —D.G.

Where to watch Shirley: Netflix

Director: John Ridley

Cast: Regina King, Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Terrence Howard

Society of the Snow (2023)

J.A. Bayona’s harrowing film — about the infamous 1972 plane crash that stranded a Uruguayan rugby team in the Andes mountains — is a chilling account of the lengths one will go to live another day and a hopeful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. 

Bayona also directed 2012’s The Impossible, which chronicled a family’s attempts at reunion after being separated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Much like that film, Society of the Snow finds tremendous compassion in the most extreme circumstances. He grounds this picture with genuine heart, rewarding his viewers for what can at times be a gruesome watch that’s among the most visceral and authentic survival pictures in recent memory. —D.G.

Where to watch Society of the Snow: Netflix

Director: J.A. Bayona

Cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Felipe González Otaño, Luciano Chatton

Tick, Tick… BOOM! (2021)

This Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed bio-drama profiles Rent scribe Jonathan Larson in an all-singing, all-dancing celebration of art and life itself which ranks among the finest works much of its cast has participated in. Larson penned the musical of the same name in 1990, six years before he died of an aortic dissection on the eve of Rent’s Off-Broadway debut. Played here by Andrew Garfield, Larson is given something of a second life through Miranda’s film, in which he’s able to live out the success and adulation that eluded him during his lifetime. —D.G.

Where to watch Tick, Tick… BOOM!: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Vanessa Hudgens

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Aaron Sorkin’s second directorial project (which, of course, he also wrote) details the infamous 1969 trial in which seven defendants were charged with conspiracy by the United States after participating in protests at the Chicago Democratic National Convention.

More visually dynamic and emotionally nuanced than Molly’s Game but equally thrilling, Chicago 7 is an ambitious work that straddles satire and genuine sentiment. But this Sorkin project has a superior relevance and heft as, more than 50 years after the events depicted, the country continues to find itself in flux. —D.G.

Where to watch The Trial of the Chicago 7: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Aaron Sorkin

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance

The Two Popes (2019)

Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins each earned Oscar nominations for their turns as Cardinal Bergoglio (the future Pope Francis) and Pope Benedict XVI, respectively. Following the Vatican leaks and Benedict’s tainted legacy, Bergoglio aims to deliver his resignation but is met with resistance by the acting Pope, who has other plans for the Cardinal.

With heavy dialogue and closed settings, Fernando Meirelles’ film is clearly adapted from a play (Anthony McCarten’s The Pope, to be exact), but it never feels unduly contained or claustrophobic. The Two Popes is a masterclass in performance from two veterans of the form, one wise enough to clear the aisles so they may do what they do best without any distraction. —D.G.

Where to watch The Two Popes: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins