Best Historically-Based/Biography Movies
List activity
183 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
47 titles
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsBenedict CumberbatchKeira KnightleyMatthew GoodeDuring World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
- DirectorJames MarshStarsEddie RedmayneFelicity JonesTom PriorStephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.
- DirectorDexter FletcherStarsTaron EgertonJamie BellRichard MaddenA musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.
- DirectorAlfonso Gomez-RejonStarsBenedict CumberbatchOliver PowellSophia AllyThe dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas A. Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world.
- DirectorDome KarukoskiStarsNicholas HoultLily CollinsColm MeaneyTolkien's novels were inspired by his mom's storytelling, falling in love with another orphan, Edith, forming a brotherhood with 3 other misfits at school, the trench war of WWI and later telling stories to his own kids.
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsEmma ThompsonTom HanksAnnie Rose BuckleyAuthor P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.
- DirectorPeter FarrellyStarsViggo MortensenMahershala AliLinda CardelliniA working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
- DirectorDenis DoStarsBérénice BejoLouis GarrelColette KiefferThe survival and the struggle of a young mother during the Khmer Rouge revolution, to find her 4-year-old son, torn from his family by the regime.
- DirectorThomas KailStarsLin-Manuel MirandaPhillipa SooLeslie Odom Jr.The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.
- DirectorAva DuVernayStarsDavid OyelowoCarmen EjogoOprah WinfreyA chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
- DirectorJames FrancoStarsJames FrancoDave FrancoAri GraynorWhen aspiring actor Greg Sestero meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsAldis HodgeGreg KinnearSherri ShepherdA football player's dreams to play in the NFL are halted when he is wrongly convicted and sent to prison. Years later, he fights to clear his name within an unjust system.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsMeryl StreepHugh GrantSimon HelbergThe story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.
- DirectorGavin O'ConnorStarsBen AffleckAl MadrigalJanina GavankarJack Cunningham was a high school basketball phenom who walked away from the game, forfeiting his future. Years later, when he reluctantly accepts a coaching job at his alma mater, he may get one last shot at redemption.
- DirectorJay RoachStarsCharlize TheronNicole KidmanMargot RobbieA group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.
- DirectorTom HarperStarsFelicity JonesEddie RedmayneHimesh PatelA balloon pilot and a scientist find themselves in a fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a gas balloon in the 1860s.
- DirectorKeiichi HaraStephanie ShehMichael SinterniklaasStarsYutaka MatsushigeAnne WatanabeErica LindbeckThe life and works of Japanese artist and ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai, as seen from the eyes of his daughter, Katsushika O-Ei.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsMark RuffaloAnne HathawayTim RobbinsA corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
- DirectorTaika WaititiStarsRoman Griffin DavisThomasin McKenzieScarlett JohanssonA young German boy in the Hitler Youth whose hero and imaginary friend is the country's dictator is shocked to discover that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsMatt DamonChristian BaleJon BernthalAmerican car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference and the laws of physics to build a revolutionary race car for Ford in order to defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.
- DirectorMarielle HellerStarsMatthew RhysTom HanksChris CooperBased on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel.
- DirectorMira NairStarsMadina NalwangaDavid OyelowoLupita Nyong'oA Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
- DirectorKasi LemmonsStarsCynthia ErivoJanelle MonáeLeslie Odom Jr.The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.
- DirectorRupert GooldStarsRenée ZellwegerJessie BuckleyFinn WittrockLegendary performer Judy Garland arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
- DirectorLulu WangStarsShuzhen ZhaoAwkwafinaX MayoA Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
- DirectorJon S. BairdStarsSteve CooganJohn C. ReillyShirley HendersonLaurel and Hardy, the world's most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song: a grueling theatre tour of post-war Britain.
- DirectorDavid LoweryStarsRobert RedfordCasey AffleckSissy SpacekBased on the true story of Forrest Tucker and his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public.
- DirectorRobin BissellStarsTaraji P. HensonSam RockwellBabou CeesayCivil rights activist Ann Atwater faces off against C.P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1971 Durham, North Carolina over the issue of school integration.
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsBrad PittRobin WrightJonah HillOakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
- DirectorTheodore MelfiStarsTaraji P. HensonOctavia SpencerJanelle MonáeThe story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.
- DirectorStephen MerchantStarsDwayne JohnsonLena HeadeyVince VaughnA former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues around the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment.
- DirectorVictor SalvaStarsScott MechlowiczNick NolteAmy SmartDan, a college student and a world-champion gymnast, is disturbed and wants to add some meaning to his life. A chance encounter leads him to discover an enlightened way ahead.
- DirectorMark HermanStarsAsa ButterfieldDavid ThewlisRupert FriendThrough the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
- DirectorMimi LederStarsFelicity JonesArmie HammerJustin TherouxThe true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
- DirectorPatricia RiggenStarsAntonio BanderasRodrigo SantoroJuliette BinocheBased on the real-life event, when a gold and copper mine collapses, it traps 33 miners underground for 69 days.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittCharlotte Le BonBen KingsleyIn 1974, high-wire artist Philippe Petit recruits a team of people to help him realize his dream: to walk the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.
- DirectorNora TwomeyStarsSaara ChaudrySoma ChhayaNoorin GulamgausIn 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
- DirectorMarc WebbStarsChris EvansMckenna GraceLindsay DuncanFrank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsAmy AdamsChristoph WaltzDanny HustonA drama about the awakening of painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsLeonardo DiCaprioKate WinsletBilly ZaneA seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
- DirectorRyan MurphyStarsJulia RobertsJavier BardemRichard JenkinsA married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".
- DirectorDK WelchmanHugh WelchmanStarsDouglas BoothJerome FlynnRobert GulaczykIn a story depicted in oil painted animation, a young man comes to the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingClaire FoyJason ClarkeA look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
- DirectorMarielle HellerStarsMelissa McCarthyRichard E. GrantDolly WellsWhen Lee Israel falls out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.
- DirectorGeorge Tillman Jr.StarsAmandla StenbergRegina HallRussell HornsbyStarr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.
- DirectorSunao KatabuchiStarsNonAva PickardKenna PickardA spirited 18-year-old woman is married off to a man she barely knows as she combats the daily struggles of living in Hiroshima during World War II.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsTom HanksAustin ButlerOlivia DeJongeThe life of American music icon Elvis Presley, from his childhood to becoming a rock and movie star in the 1950s while maintaining a complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.