# The best movies based on true stories

Stories that really happened: the best films based on real events according to Ámbito, Risbel Magazine and Moviebase, from Schindler's List to Spotlight.

- 79 votes · 15 items
- Apr 7, 2026 · Julieta Romero Benítez
- https://even.best/en/l/3847/the-best-movies-based-on-true-stories

## Top 15

1. **In the Name of the Father (1993)** (9 · ▲9 ▼0) — Daniel Day-Lewis and the Guildford Four case.
2. **Schindler's List (1993)** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — Oskar Schindler saves over a thousand Jews; seven Oscars.
3. **City of God (2002)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Crime in a Rio favela from the 1960s to the 80s.
4. **Spotlight (2015)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Boston Globe reporters expose abuse in the Church; Best Picture.
5. **Goodfellas (1990)** (4 · ▲6 ▼2) — Henry Hill and the Mob, from Martin Scorsese.
6. **12 Years a Slave (2013)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Solomon Northup, kidnapped and sold into slavery.
7. **The Pianist (2002)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Władysław Szpilman survives in Warsaw.
8. **Catch Me If You Can (2002)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Leonardo DiCaprio as con man Frank Abagnale.
9. **The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Leonardo DiCaprio as stockbroker Jordan Belfort.
10. **Sully (2016)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Tom Hanks and the Hudson River landing.
11. **Hotel Rwanda (2004)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Paul Rusesabagina shelters hundreds during the genocide.
12. **The Impossible (2012)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — A family in the 2004 tsunami, from J. A. Bayona.
13. **The Theory of Everything (2014)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde; Oscar for Eddie Redmayne.
14. **Apollo 13 (1995)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — The mission NASA brought back to Earth.
15. **Green Book (2018)** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — A pianist and his driver in the segregated South; Best Picture.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.