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'
Sid and Nancy (1986)
7.1/10
Director: Alex Cox
Starring: Gary Oldman, Debby Bishop, David Hayman, Chloe Webb
A lacerating love story, "Sid & Nancy" chronicles the brief, intense attachment of two of punk's most notorious poster children, Sex Pistols bassist S... Read more
Silkwood (1983)
7.2/10
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher , Craig T Nelson
Meryl Streep plays Karen Silkwood in this true account of the mysterious circumstances under which Silkwood died while exposing the dangers of Plutoni... Read more
Silmido (2003)
7.2/10
Director: Kang Woo-Suk
Starring: Sung-kee Ahn, Kyung-gu Sol, Jun-ho Heo, Jae-yeong Joeng, Seong-jin Kang
In 1968, a group of North Korean commandos crossed the border in a failed attempt to assassinate South-Korean president Park Chung-hee. Outraged, Sou... Read more
Sing Sing (2023)
7.7/10
Director: Greg Kwedar
Starring: Colman Domingo
Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this st... Read more
Sink The Bismarck! (1960)
7.2/10
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Carl Mohner
One of the finest war dramas ever made, showing the true story of how the British Navy planned and executed the destruction of the mighty German WWII... Read more
Sister Smile (2009)
6.5/10
Director: Stijn Coninx
Starring: Jan Decleir, Sandrine Blancke, Cecile De France, Johan Leysen
Cecile de France stars in the true story of Jeannine Deckers, international '60s pop icon Soeur Sourire, or The Singing Nun. Jeannine's dull parents w... Read more
Snowden (2016)
7.3/10
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Melissa Leo, Nicolas Cage, Rhys Ifans, Tom Wilkinson, Timo...
A leak, in a study of civics, is defined as a discreet passage of classified information to the public that cannot be traced, and can be denied if it... Read more
Something The Lord Made (2004)
8.3/10
Director: Joseph Sargent
Starring: Alan Rickman, Mos Def, Kyra Sedgwick, Mary Stuart Masterson, Charles S Dutton, G...
The emotional and incredible true story of two medical pioneers - Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) Chief Surgeon at John Hopkins University and Vivien Th... Read more
Sometimes in April (2005)
7.9/10
Director: Raoul Peck
Starring: Idris Elba, Debra Winger, Carole Karemara, Pamela Nomvete, Michelle Rugema
In April 1994 a violent uprising between the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda led to one of the darkest periods in African history, and over the next 100 da... Read more
Song for a Raggy Boy (2002)
7.6/10
Director: Aisling Walsh
Starring: Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen, Marc Warren, Alan Devlin, Dudley Sutton
Based on a true story, this powerful and moving story takes place in a boy's Irish Reformatory School in 1939. William Franklin (Aidan Quinn) arrives... Read more