5 Best Movies You Won't Believe Are Based on True Stories

It has been a long time since we watched some of the most incredible real life stories put on film and after going through a lot of effort on highlighting only 5 of them may seem to be unfair. The movies listed below are just some of the most amazing movies that we have seen in the last few years. These movies are based on a real situation/person and their stories touched our hearts, inspired us and even shocked us.

12 Years A Slave

There’s a reason why this film won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture this year. The mostly unknown (well, not anymore!) true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man who was abducted and sold into slavery, was one incredibly powerful film. Nothrup suffered cruelly under his master, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). But despite that cruelty (which made the movie quite uncomfortable to watch at times), Northup fought not only to survive, but to preserve his dignity. The movie garnered multiple awards over the season as well as the Best Actor Oscar nomination for Ejiofor and his costar, Lupita Nyong’o won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as slave girl, Patsey.

Argo

Also a Best Picture Oscar winner (for 2013), Argo is based on the real-life CIA operation run by Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck, who also directed the film) during the Iran hostage crisis in November 1979 to rescue six Americans trapped in the Canadian embassy. Knowing that the Americans faced certain death is discovered, Mendez came up with the audacious plan of having them pose as a film crew (complete with a script and a Hollywood producer) to get them out. Even knowing the outcome of the operation did not diminish in the nail-biting tension of the film. Outstanding film work.

The Impossible

This film follows one family’s fight for survival in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day (December 26) Tsunami in Thailand. Viewers are taken on a harrowing emotional rollercoaster as Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons struggle to stay alive. Along the way, their despair is paired with moments of incredible bravery, compassion and kindness that elevated this film from a mere disaster movie to one that also took us on a journey to the core of the human heart.

Philomena

Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent, Martin Sixsmith, Philomena, tells the story of Philomena Lee (Dame Judi Dench) who embarks on the search for the son she was forced to give up for adoption many years ago. She crosses the Atlantic to the US with Sixsmith (played by Steve Coogan who also wrote the screenplay) in the hope of locating her son. The movie that follows is hilarious, heartbreaking, gentle and unforgettable.

Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto both won Oscars for their respective roles in this film – McConaughey for Best Actor and Leto for Best Supporting Actor, and both men won for a very good reason. They both brought to incredible life the story of one individual’s resilient will to survive. That individual of McConaughey’s Ron Woodroof. It’s 1985, HIV is still a taboo subject and Woodroof is now being told that he has it and has only 30 days to live. After the initial denial, he then goes on a crusade for alternative treatments that can prolong his life (whether they were legal or illegal) when he discovers that the conservative medical establishment is pretty much clueless. Along the way, his crusade opens his eyes to the world he used to disdain and enriches the remaining years of his life in ways he could never have imagined.