True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
Notorious (2009)
6.7/10
Director: George Tillman Jr
Starring: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith
In March 1997, not even a year since the slaying of Tupac Shakur, fellow rapper Christopher 'Biggie Smalls' Wallace was gunned down on his way home fr... Read more
October ( Ten Days That Shook The World ) (1927)
7.5/10
Director: Grigori Alexandrov, Sergei Eisenstein
Starring: Vasili Nikandrov, N Popov, Boris Livanov
Aka 'Ten Days That Shook The World'. Eisenstein's famous recreation of the October Revolution during which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Kerensky gover... Read more
October Sky (1999)
7.8/10
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Owen, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern
In Coalwood, West Virginia, 1957, coal mining is King and no one can escape life underground. But when high schooler Homer Hickman Jr. (Jake Gyllenhaa... Read more
Official Secrets (2019)
7.3/10
Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes
The true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Coun... Read more
Official Secrets (Blu-ray) (2019)
7.3/10
Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes
The true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Coun... Read more
Olivier Olivier (1993)
7.6/10
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Francois Cluzet, Brigitte Rouan, Gregoire Colin
A brooding, based-on-fact account of a country couple whose young son mysteriously disappears. Six years later he 'reappears' but is no longer the spe... Read more
Omagh (2004)
7.3/10
Director: Pete Travis
Starring: Brenda Fricker, Gerard McSorley
Director Pete Travis' extraordinary made-for-televison drama examines the human cost to those who survived the IRA bombing in Omagh on 15th August 199... Read more
On the Basis of Sex (2018)
6.7/10
Director: Mimi Leder
Starring: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates, Sam Waterston, Cailee...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a struggling attorney and new mother who faces adversity and numerous obstacles in her fight for equal rights. When Ruth takes... Read more
One Chance (2013)
6.8/10
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Colm Meaney, Julie Walters, Mackenzie Crook, James Corden, Alexandra Roach, Vale...
A rags-to-riches biopic starring James Corden as 'Britain's Got Talent' winner Paul Potts. "One Chance" charts Potts' rise to fame, from his humble be... Read more
Open City ( aka Rome, Open City ) (1945)
6.4/10
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Starring: Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi, Marcello Pagliero
Aka "Roma, Citta Aperta". A superb film based on the true story of Don Morosi, a priest and resistance worker shot by the Germans in wartime Rome. Fil... Read more