Sometimes, we encounter real events that feel like fiction. Other times, we’re faced with stories too insane to be true. How Hollywood captures these moments and brings real-life stories to the screen is what draws our attention, encouraging us to reflect, question, and feel different emotions.
Movies based on true events remind us that the truth can often be stranger and harsher than fiction, and if that’s something you love exploring, my top pick here is a truly unbelievable, must-see Oscar winner.
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127 Hours (2010)
A survival story with harrowing consequences
This movie is why I will never go explore anything alone. Directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later), 127 Hours is an intense survival story about a man who, in April 2003, became trapped by an 800 to 1,000-pound boulder in a remote Utah canyon and was forced to do the unthinkable to survive.
James Franco stars as Aron Ralston, an avid mountaineer and outdoorsman who set out on a day of adventure in remote southeast Utah, alone and without telling anyone where he was going. At 2:41 p.m. on April 26, 2003, a massive, 800-pound rock shifted and pinned his right hand against a wall in Bluejohn Canyon. Over the course of 127 hours, with no jacket and only a liter of water, he remained stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no one coming for help.
Knowing he’d die there if he didn’t do something, Ralston freed himself by breaking his radius and ulna bones, cutting off his arm with a dull multi-tool knife, severing nerves, tendons, and blood vessels, then rappelling a 60-foot cliff and hiking seven miles before being rescued.
Per The Guardian, Ralston worked closely with Boyle and Franco and described the movie as “remarkably true to life,” praising its authenticity. Most people couldn’t imagine making such a decision, but when you’re trapped and alone, with no way out, and death is surely imminent, the unthinkable is bound to happen. Aron Ralston survived his harrowing ordeal and today lives his life as a motivational speaker advocating for wilderness protection.
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Catch Me If You Can (2002)
The race to catch a teen-aged con man
A criminally underrated dramedy, Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can follows two riveting storylines — that of a brilliant, young master of deception who grows to become one of the United States’ most successful forgers, con artists, impostors, and escape artists; and that of the FBI agent who made it his life’s mission to capture him.
Set in the 1960s, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Frank Abagnale, Jr., a runaway teen and shapeshifting con man full of wit, charm, and smarts, who masters the art of forgery. He claimed to have forged millions of dollars’ worth of checks by successfully impersonating a Georgia doctor, a Louisiana prosecutor, and a co-pilot for a major airline, all before his 19th birthday. During his spree, Frank captured the attention of FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who, in turn, spent years working to bring him to justice. However, Frank was always literally one step ahead of him … until he wasn’t.
It sounds almost impossible, but the movie is based on the real-life con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. and his semi-autobiographical book of the same name, in which he openly divulged his criminal exploits. After his capture, Abagnale Jr. went on to help the FBI for decades by investigating other scams and con artists, eventually becoming an expert on embezzlement, forgery, and fraud prevention. He also became a sought-after consultant for major banks, corporations, and government agencies.
He notes on his website that he co-wrote the book and was only interviewed “about four times,” further noting that his co-author “also overdramatized and exaggerated some of the story” due to editorial pressures. “He was just telling a story and not writing my biography.” While some elements of the screenplay are fictionalized, the evolution of a 16-year-old teenager becoming one of the best forgers and con men in U.S. history is absolutely true.
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BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan
BlacKkKlansman is a must-see biographical true-crime drama directed by Spike Lee, telling the true story of the first Black detective to successfully infiltrate the KKK. In fact, the movie earned Lee his first competitive Oscar and was selected as one of the top films of 2018 by the American Film Institute. Was it controversial? You bet, and here’s why.
Set in 1972, Ron Stallworth (Tenet‘s John David Washington) is the first Black detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, he bravely embarks on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. After recruiting his more seasoned, white colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation, the two team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.
Based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth, the movie is wholeheartedly terrifying and shocking, I know. Many of the most unbelievable elements are true, such as Stallworth responding to a KKK ad and successfully infiltrating the group, speaking on the phone numerous times to Grand Wizard David Duke (who claimed he could distinguish white voices from Black voices), using a white colleague to portray him in person, and acting as Duke’s personal bodyguard during a trip to Colorado Springs.
The movie does take creative liberties for dramatic effect, like the bombing of a local gay bar, but it’s important to note the movie does depict real KKK violence and threats during that time. For any doubters out there about his story, Stallworth reportedly carries a laminated KKK card in his wallet.
These types of movies remind us that some of the most powerful stories don’t originate in the imagination but in real events that have shaped lives in unimaginable ways. They shock us, move us, and keep us returning for more, much like true-crime documentaries do.