What is the best movie based on a true story?

From courtroom dramas to wartime heroics, these films blur the line between Hollywood and reality. Some surprised even the people they depicted — cast your vote!

The Social Network

David Fincher's razor-sharp dramatization of the founding of Facebook and the lawsuits that followed.

1/13

Schindler's List

Steven Spielberg's harrowing account of industrialist Oskar Schindler who saved over a thousand Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

2/13

Bohemian Rhapsody

The electrifying story of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, culminating in their legendary 1985 Live Aid performance.

3/13

12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen's devastating true story of Solomon Northup, a free Black man kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.

4/13

Goodfellas

Martin Scorsese's mob epic follows Henry Hill's rise and fall in the New York underworld, based on a true story.

5/13

The Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, the mathematical genius who cracked the Nazi Enigma code during World War II.

6/13

Hacksaw Ridge

The true story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for saving 75 men at Okinawa.

7/13

Spotlight

The Boston Globe's investigative journalism team uncovers a decades-long cover-up of clergy abuse within the Catholic Church.

8/13

Catch Me If You Can

Steven Spielberg's cat-and-mouse tale of Frank Abagnale Jr., one of the most successful con men in history, pursued by FBI agent Carl Hanratty.

9/13

Moneyball

Brad Pitt stars as Oakland A's GM Billy Beane, who revolutionized baseball by building a winning team using statistical analysis.

10/13

The Big Short

Adam McKay's frenetic retelling of the handful of outsiders who saw the 2008 financial crisis coming and bet against the big banks.

11/13

Erin Brockovich

Julia Roberts won an Oscar playing Erin Brockovich, a legal clerk who single-handedly built a case against Pacific Gas and Electric.

12/13

Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey's Oscar-winning portrayal of Ron Woodroof, an AIDS patient who smuggled unapproved drugs into the US to help fellow sufferers.

13/13