Many movies pull on our heartstrings, but often the most affecting films are those that are based on true events. There’s something about knowing that what you’re watching is someone’s real pain, real struggle, that really hits home. Even though we all know that the events of these movies are completely dramatized and characters are often created out of thin air, we still love them for what they are. And, when they’re done right, they can help heal and movie on from personal struggles. It’s always nice to know that you’re not alone in going through hardship.
Here are 15 films that are emotionally devastating, and are also based on true stories.
‘Alpha Dog’ (2006)
Set in the affluent and reckless surburbs of Southern California, Alpha Dog follows how a botched kidnapping spirals into a disaster. Johnny Truelove, a young drug dealer with a crew of wannabe gangsters, abducts 15-year-old Zack Mazursky over a debt owed by Zack’s half-brother. But when Zack starts bonding with his captors, Johnny fears legal consequences and orders his execution.
A Crime With No Rewind
A powerful and unsettling movie that tracks the events leading up to the real-life murder of Nicholas Markowitz with a documentary-like structure, this one doesn’t flinch from the moral vacuum of its characters. The cast (Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis) brings raw energy, but it is Anton Yelchin’s tender, confused, and heartbreakingly hopeful portrayal of Zack that lingers. It’s just kids playing gangsters until it’s too late, and that’s why it’s a tough watch.
‘Boys Don’t Cry’ (1999)
Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) arrives in a small Nebraska town with a vibe, confidence, and a secret. Assigned female at birth but living as a young man, Brandon quickly wins over the locals, especially Lana, a quiet girl with her own bruises. But when Brandon’s identity is reveal, the fallout is brutal and violent.
A Life Lived on Borrowed Time
Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry is an examination of the deep-rooted intolenance of rural America and the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. Swank’s Oscar-winning turn is at the center of it all, the cinematopgraphy is intense, and the emotional impact is lasting. Based on the true story of Brandon Teena, the movie is a love story, a tragedy, and a portrait of someone simply trying to live.
‘Hotel Rwanda’ (2004)
In 1994, as Rwanda sinks into genocide, hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina uses his position at the Hôtel des Mille Collines to shelter over 1,200 Tutsi refugees from the Hutu militia. With limited resources, mounting threats, and international indifference, Paul negotiates, bribes, and pleads his way into keeping the guests alive.
A Heroic Stand Against Genocide
Directed by Terry George, Hotel Rwanda is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, and it’s anchored by Don Cheadle’s incredible performance. The movie does not rely on graphic violence, and instead, builds tension through moral stakes and emotional urgency. Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, and Nick Nolte round out a strong cast, and the meticulous attention to detail makes it a must-see for those seeking to understand the power of compassion in the face of unimaginable evil.
‘Grave of the Fireflies’ (1988)
Grave of the Fireflies is set in the final months of World War II, and it follows teenager Seita and his younger sister Setsuko as they struggle to survive after their city is firebombed. Orphaned and displaced, they move in with relatives who grow hostile, eventually forcing them to live in an abandoned shelter. Despite the bleakness, the siblings find fleeting joy in catching fireflies and sharing candy. But hunger, illness, and isolation take thier toll.
War Through the Eyes of Children
Directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli, this classic is based on Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical short story. It is often cited as one of the most devastating and powerful animated movies ever made, and for good reason. The animation is delicate, the pacing is gentle, and the weight is immense. The fireflies, both literal and symbolic, become a motif for fleeting beauty in a collapsing world.
‘One Life’ (2023)
In One Life, we meet Nicholas Winton, a young London broker who visits Prague in 1938 and becomes thoroughly involved in rescuing Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. With the help of local activists, Winton organizes trains to carry the children to safely in England, saving 669 lives. Decades later, an older Winton reflects on the children he could not save. And when a BBC show reunites him with survivors, the moment is profound.
Legacy Built on Courage
One Life moves between past and present, stitching together a portrait of heroism. Directed by James Hawes and based on Barbara Winton’s biography of her father, it is as much about memory as it is about action. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary. His scenes are loaded with emotion, especially when he’s confronted with the faces of those he saved. The younger cast, including Helena Bonham Carter and Romola Garai, anchor the 1938 timeline. Overall, both eras are graceful, elegant, and moving.
‘Alive’ (1993)
On October 13th, 1972, an Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crashed in the Andes mountains, and the 1993 film Alive tells the story of that crash and how, against all odds, some of the players managed to survive. The resulting film is brutal, but is entirely rooted in fact. The film was based on Piers Paul Read’s 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors.
Survival Comes at a Cost
Alive depicts in terrifying detail the crash itself, including the splitting of the plane and how the survivors eventually had to eat the dead to stay alive, before eventually finding a way back to the world. Ethan Hawke’s performance is understated but powerful, and the ensemble cast brings authenticity. It is deeply disturbing, and yet based entirely on a true story.
‘Changeling’ (2008)
Imagine sending your son to the movies, only for him never to return. The news spreads nationwide, and the LAPD follow up on numerous leads. Five months later he is returned – but you, as the son’s mother, are positive it’s not actually your son. This is the true story depicted in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, featuring a fantastic Angelina Jolie as the increasingly upset, frantic, and eventually vindicated Christine Collins, mother of young Walter Collins.
A Mother’s Truth Against the System
The story of Changeling easily qualifies as a ‘stranger than fiction’ story, albeit one with a devastatingly emotional story. In both the film and the true story, rather than ever admit to their mistakes or believe Ms. Collins, the LAPD resented her insistence that her son was still out there, and accused her of being a terrible mother and trying to make fools of the police, culminating in her being committed to a psychiatric ward. It’s a terrifying story, because, of course, Christine Collins was right. The imposter eventually admitted he was not her son, and she was released, only to find out that Walter, her actual child, was a victim of sadistic serial killers.
‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)
It was impossible that Stephen Spielberg wouldn’t make this list, but Schindler’s List might as well be its mascot. The movie follows Oscar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. The film, which was presented in black and white, depicts the despicable treatment of human beings by the Nazis in numerous soul-churning scenes, while also focusing on the ground-level and messy heroics of one deeply flawed man trying to do what he can against an evil most of us can’t possibly imagine.
A Towering Achievement
There have been questions about the specific accuracy of the film to actual events, but these criticisms seem to miss the point. Films exist to contextualize truth within a story that we, as the audience, can digest, understand, and even empathize with the main character. Schindler’s List is a deeply moving, devastating film, based on the real-life actions of a few against an unimaginably enormous enemy. It won seven Academy Awards and remains one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time.
‘Fruitvale Station’ (2013)
Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler and kicking off many collaborations between him and Michael B. Jordan, portrays the last day in the life of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old man who was shot and killed by a police officer in Oakland early on New Year’s Day in 2009. Rather than focusing on the aftermath of the shooting, which included protests and trials, the film chooses to focus on the mundane and poignant moments of the day before Grant met his demise.
Intimate and Unpretentious
Coogler worked closely with public records, news stories, and Grant’s family to portray a realistic account of the day he met his tragic fate. Rather than focus on the shooting and the outrage that followed, the movie chooses to realistically humanize the man who, sadly, has since become another name in a long line of people of color who have met their end at the hands of police officers. Watching Oscar play with his daughter or text his mom feels ordinary, but the movie’s aim is to remind us of how quickly even the ordinary can be lost.
‘Braveheart’ (1995)
Mel Gibson’s Braveheart tells the story of William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. It shows his introduction to the atrocities committed against his people by the English, his secret romance to avoid the King’s doctrine of prima nocta, and his reluctant transformation into an unstoppable warrior and leader of armies before his eventual capture, torture, and execution.
A Sweeping Epic
While many, many aspects of this film are embellished to create a dramatic arc for its hero, the fact is that William Wallace did exist, and did inspire the revolution that eventually freed the Scots from British rule. The film is beautiful and brutal, and features one of the most chill-inducing cries of the word “freedom” ever captured on screen. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, and became monumental for portraying the intensity of Wallace’s journey.
