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'
Suskind (2012)
6.9/10
Director: Rudolf van den Berg
Starring: Karl Markovics, Jeroen Spitzenberger, Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Katja Herbers, Nasrdin...
Rudolf van den Berg directs this remarkable true story from the Netherlands. Amsterdam, Summer 1942. Walter Süskind (Jeroen Spitzenberger) can count h... Read more
Sweet Dreams (1985)
7.1/10
Director: Karel Reisz
Starring: Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ann Wedgeworth
The true story of Patsy Cline, the gifted, fun-loving queen of Nashville sound, charting the most dramatic years of her efforts to become a top countr... Read more
Swimming Upstream (2002)
6.4/10
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Tim Draxl, Jesse Spencer
Based on the true story of a youth from Brisbane, Australia, who overcame family dysfunction to become a world-class athlete, director Russell Mulcahy... Read more
Sylvia (2003)
6.3/10
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Jared Harris, Amira Casar, Blythe Danner, Michael...
Powerful true-life drama chronicles the troubled relationship between mentally unstable American writer Sylvia Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her husband... Read more
Sylvia (1985)
6.6/10
Director: Michael Firth
Starring: Eleanor David, Mary Regan, Nigel Terry, Tom Wilkinson
Absorbing story of author-educator Sylvia Ashton-Warner, who brought new educational techniques to the teaching of the Maori students in 1940's New Ze... Read more
Tag (2018)
6.8/10
Director: Jeff Tomsic
Starring: Brian Dennehy, Leslie Bibb, Jeremy Renner, Nora Dunn, Isla Fisher, Jon Hamm, Ed...
One month every year, five highly competitive friends hit the ground running for a no-holds-barred game of tag -- risking their necks, their jobs and... Read more
Take the Lead (2006)
6.7/10
Director: Liz Friedlander
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCosta, Alfre Woodard, Dante Basco, John Orti...
Inspired by a true story, Antonio Banderas plays Pierre Dulaine, a prize-winning ball-room dancer who volunteers his services at one of the toughest s... Read more
Taking Woodstock (2009)
6.7/10
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Demetri Martin, Dan Fogler, Imelda Staunton, Emile Hirsch, Eugene Levy, Henry Go...
Director Ang Lee detours into comic territory with this true story, based on Elliot Tiber's book, about how he, an in-the-closet Greenwich Village int... Read more
Tanna (2015)
6.9/10
Director: Bentley Dean, Martin Butler
Starring: Mungau Dain, Marie Wawa, Marceline Rofit, Chief Charlie Kahla
Filmed pre-Cyclone Pam on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu, this stunningly photographed film tells the star-crossed story of Wawa, a young woman who ha... Read more
Tanna ( Blu-ray ) (2015)
6.9/10
Director: Bentley Dean, Martin Butler
Starring: Marie Wawa, Mungau Dain, Marceline Rofit, Chief Charlie Kahla
Tanna, an extraordinary Australia/Vanuatu co-production, is a Romeo and Juliet story set in one of the world's last true tribal societies. It is the f... Read more