Biographical movies
"A biographical film, or biopic, is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and historical drama films in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a single person's life story or at least the most historically important years of their lives."
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- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsBen KingsleyJohn GielgudRohini HattangadiThe life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsAndrew GarfieldSam WorthingtonLuke BraceyWorld War II American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, serving during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.
- DirectorAaron SorkinStarsEddie RedmayneAlex SharpSacha Baron CohenThe story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
- DirectorTim Blake NelsonStarsDavid ArquetteVelizar BinevDavid ChandlerA Nazi doctor, along with the Sonderkommando, Jews who are forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz against their fellow Jews, find themselves in a moral gray zone.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJonah HillMargot RobbieBased on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.
- DirectorSeijirô KôyamaStarsTatsuya NakadaiKaoru YachigusaToshinori OmiThe true story about a dog's loyalty to its master, even after his death.
- StarsGreg KinnearBarry PepperKatie HolmesThe triumphs and tragedies of the most popular political family in American history.
- DirectorGabriela CowperthwaiteStarsKate MaraRamón RodríguezTom FeltonBased on the true life story of a young Marine corporal whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsVin DieselPeter DinklageRon SilverIn the late 1980s, a low level gangster named Jackie DiNorscio defends himself in court in what became the longest criminal trial in American judicial history.
- DirectorBrian WelshStarsDennis TaylorSteve DavisAlex HigginsThe story of the 1980s snooker rivalry between the flamboyant Alex Higgins and the methodical Steve Davis.
- DirectorFarhad SafiniaStarsMel GibsonSean PennEddie MarsanProfessor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGreg KinnearWillem DafoeMaria BelloThe life of TV star Bob Crane and his strange friendship with electronics expert John Henry Carpenter.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsRobert De NiroRobin WilliamsJulie KavnerThe victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
- DirectorDavid FrankelStarsJames CordenAlexandra RoachJulie WaltersThe true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night who became a phenomenon after being chosen for -- and ultimately winning -- Britain's Got Talent (2007).
- DirectorKyle Patrick AlvarezStarsEzra MillerTye SheridanBilly CrudupIn 1971, twenty-four male students are selected to take on randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison situated in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.
- CreatorJaffe CohenRyan MurphyMichael ZamStarsJessica LangeAlison WrightNaomi WattsAn anthology series centering on famous feuds, including Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and Truman Capote and the New York elite.
- DirectorBen LewinStarsJohn HawkesHelen HuntWilliam H. MacyA man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsRichard GereJoan AllenCary-Hiroyuki TagawaProfessor Wilson discovers a lost Akita puppy on his way home. Despite objections from his wife, Hachi endears himself to the family and grows to be Parker's loyal companion. As their bond grows deeper, a beautiful relationship unfolds.
- DirectorLaura ChinnStarsNico ParkerLaura LinneyWoody HarrelsonWhile caring for her brother along with her audacious mother, a teenager strikes up a friendship with an eccentric activist who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.
- DirectorChinonye ChukwuStarsDanielle DeadwylerJalyn HallFrankie FaisonIn 1955, after Emmett Till is murdered in a brutal lynching, his mother vows to expose the racism behind the attack while working to have those involved brought to justice.
- DirectorAmma AsanteStarsDavid OyelowoRosamund PikeTom FeltonThe story of King Seretse Khama of Botswana and how his loving but controversial marriage to a British white woman, Ruth Williams, put his kingdom into political and diplomatic turmoil.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsMontgomery CliftSusannah YorkLarry ParksAn examination of Czech-Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud's career when he began to treat patients diagnosed with hysteria, using the radical technique of hypnosis.
- DirectorEricson CoreStarsWillem DafoeJulianne NicholsonChristopher HeyerdahlThe story of Togo, the sled dog who led the 1925 serum run despite being considered too small and weak to lead such an intense race.
- DirectorRodrigo GarcíaStarsMila KunisCarla GalloGlenn CloseA mother helps her daughter work through four crucial days of recovery from substance abuse.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsAnthony HopkinsJohn HurtAnne BancroftA Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsAnne BancroftPatty DukeVictor JoryThe story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
- 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.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsDominic CooperLudivine SagnierRaad RawiA chilling vision of the house of Saddam. The world of Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was given a choice; either be the double for Saddam's sadistic son, or die.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorIan PalmerStarsJames Quinn McDonaghPaddy Quinn McDonaghMichael Quinn McDonaghAn epic 12-year journey into the brutal and secretive world of Irish Traveler bare-knuckle fighting. This film follows a history of violent feuding between rival clans.
- DirectorGarth DavisStarsDev PatelNicole KidmanRooney MaraA five-year-old Indian boy is adopted by an Australian couple after getting lost hundreds of kilometers from home. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsLiam NeesonLaura LinneyChris O'DonnellA look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior.
- CreatorRyan MurphyIan BrennanStarsEvan PetersRichard JenkinsMolly RingwaldThe story of a cannibalistic serial killer named Jeffrey Dahmer, a.k.a. the Milwaukee Monster.
- DirectorDavid MidellStarsFrankie FaisonSteve O'ConnellEnrico NataleBased on the true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers who were dispatched to check on him.
- DirectorJonathan TeplitzkyStarsColin FirthNicole KidmanStellan SkarsgårdA former British Army officer, who was tortured as a prisoner of war at a Japanese labor camp during World War II, discovers that the man responsible for much of his treatment is still alive and sets out to confront him.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsJack O'ConnellLaura DernEmily MeadeThe tragic and controversial story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was sentenced to death in Texas for killing his three children even after scientific evidence and expert testimony bolstered his claims of innocence.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsDenzel WashingtonNadine VelazquezDon CheadleTroubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsJamie FoxxRegina KingKerry WashingtonThe story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
- DirectorSteve RashStarsGary BuseyDon StroudCharles Martin SmithThe story of the life and career of the early rock and roll singer, from his meteoric rise to stardom, to his marriage and untimely death.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroAl PacinoJoe PesciAn illustration of Frank Sheeran's life, from W.W.II veteran to hit-man for the Bufalino crime family and his alleged assassination of his close friend Jimmy Hoffa.
- DirectorSean PennStarsEmile HirschVince VaughnCatherine KeenerAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
- DirectorCraig BrewerStarsEddie MurphyKeegan-Michael KeyMike EppsEddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
- DirectorStephen HopkinsStarsGeoffrey RushCharlize TheronEmily WatsonThe feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorMary HarronStarsGretchen MolLili TaylorChris BauerThe life of Bettie Page, a 1950s pin-up model and one of the first sex icons in America, who became the target of a Senate investigation because of her risqué bondage photos.
- 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.
- DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsJennifer LawrenceRobert De NiroBradley CooperJoy is the story of the title character, who rose to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty.
- DirectorAntonio CamposStarsRebecca HallMichael C. HallTracy LettsThe story of Christine Chubbuck, a 1970s TV reporter struggling with depression and professional frustrations as she tries to advance her career.
- DirectorDennis GanselStarsJürgen VogelFrederick LauMax RiemeltA high school teacher's experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsWarren BeattyAnnette BeningHarvey KeitelThe story of how Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel started Las Vegas.
- DirectorMarc RoccoStarsChristian SlaterKevin BaconGary OldmanAn eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.
- DirectorRichard LaGraveneseStarsHilary SwankImelda StauntonPatrick DempseyA young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsNick NolteSusan SarandonPeter UstinovLorenzo Odone, a Virginia 5-year-old, develops a degenerative nerve disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his parents decide to immerse themselves in research and tackle the problem themselves.
- DirectorSean AndersStarsMark WahlbergRose ByrneIsabela MercedA couple find themselves in over their heads when they foster three children.
- DirectorScott WalkerStarsNicolas CageVanessa HudgensJohn CusackAn Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.
- 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.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsWoody HarrelsonCourtney LoveEdward NortonThe story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsDaniel BrühlChris HemsworthOlivia WildeThe merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsMark RuffaloAnne HathawayTim RobbinsA corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
- DirectorDavid GriecoStarsMalcolm McDowellMarton CsokasRonald PickupA disgraced communist schoolteacher in Kyiv becomes a brutal, unfeeling serial killer. Based on the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsDenzel WashingtonRussell CroweChiwetel EjioforAn outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film.
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsRami MalekLucy BoyntonGwilym LeeThe story of the legendary British rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid (1985).
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksCatherine Zeta-JonesChi McBrideAn Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.
- DirectorPatricia RiggenStarsJennifer GarnerKylie RogersMartin HendersonBased on the incredible true story of the Beam family.
- DirectorNeil BurgerStarsKevin HartBryan CranstonNicole KidmanA comedic look at the relationship between a wealthy man with quadriplegia and an unemployed man with a criminal record who's hired to help him.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsTom CourtenayChristopher EcclestonEileen AtkinsThis drama reveals the controversial postwar 1950's London murder trial that sent an intellectually challenged young man to the gallows for a murder he did not commit.
- DirectorRobert LynnStarsDonald PleasenceSamantha EggarCoral BrowneThe real-life story of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who was hanged in London in 1910 for poisoning his wife so he could be with his young lover. But was he truly guilty of murder?
- DirectorChristine JeffsStarsGwyneth PaltrowDaniel CraigLucy DavenportStory of the relationship between poets Edward James "Ted" Hughes and Sylvia Plath.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsWillem DafoeRupert FriendOscar IsaacA look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
- DirectorCory FinleyStarsHugh JackmanRay RomanoWelker WhiteThe beloved superintendent of New York's Roslyn school district and his staff, friends and relatives become the prime suspects in the unfolding of the single largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsTony CurtisHenry FondaGeorge KennedyA series of brutal murders in Boston sparks a seemingly endless and increasingly complex manhunt.
- DirectorDan KraussStarsNat WolffAlexander SkarsgårdAdam LongA young American soldier in Afghanistan is disturbed by his commanding officer's behavior and is faced with a moral dilemma.
- DirectorMatthew WarchusStarsBill NighyImelda StauntonDominic WestU.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJim CarreyDanny DeVitoGerry BeckerThe life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman.
- 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.
- DirectorTim RobbinsStarsSusan SarandonSean PennRobert ProskyA nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.
- DirectorAaron SorkinStarsNicole KidmanJavier BardemJ.K. SimmonsFollows Lucy and Desi as they face a crisis that could end their careers--and another that could end their marriage.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsGary OldmanLily JamesKristin Scott ThomasIn May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
- DirectorBenjamin RossStarsHugh O'ConorAntony SherTobias ArnoldThis film is based on a true story about a British teenager who allegedly poisoned family, friends, and co-workers. Graham is highly intelligent, but completely amoral. He becomes interested in science, especially chemistry, and begins to read avidly. Something of a social misfit, he is fascinated by morbid subjects such as poisons and murder. His family environment is intolerable to him and, in particular, his stepmother torments him. He decides to poison those who annoy him, first with antimony and later with thallium. He smugly thinks himself cleverer than all those around him, but nevertheless he is caught and sentenced to 'rehabilitation' at a psychiatric institution. Once there, he undertakes to deceive the new eminent psychiatrist sent there to 'cure' him, thereby securing his release.
- DirectorThomas CarterStarsSamuel L. JacksonRick GonzalezRobert Ri'chardControversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.
- DirectorDestin Daniel CrettonStarsBrie LarsonWoody HarrelsonNaomi WattsA young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty.
- DirectorMichael ShowalterStarsJessica ChastainAndrew GarfieldCherry JonesAn intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
- DirectorSimon StoneStarsCarey MulliganRalph FiennesLily JamesAn archaeologist embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsCrispin GloverKeanu ReevesIone SkyeA high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
- CreatorAntonio CamposStarsColin FirthToni ColletteMichael StuhlbargTells the story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist accused of killing his wife Kathleen after she is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home, and the 16-year judicial battle that followed.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsKevin HartAlfre WoodardLil Rel HoweryA father brings up his baby girl as a single dad after the unexpected death of his wife who died a day after their daughter's birth.
- DirectorJim DonovanStarsKatie DouglasLeo PetrusJamie RobinsonOn the night she plans to take her own life, a 17-year-old girl is kidnapped and finds herself fighting to stay alive. She is released, but when she returns home, no one believes her story except for one detective.
- DirectorAlessio CremoniniStarsAlessandro BorghiMassimiliano TortoraMilvia MariglianoThe incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime but in just one week's time, a family is changed forever.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
- DirectorEd HarrisStarsEd HarrisMarcia Gay HardenRobert KnottA film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsAnthony HopkinsJoan AllenPowers BootheA biographical story of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, from his days as a young boy, to his eventual Presidency, which ended in shame.
- DirectorLydia Dean PilcherStarsSarah Megan ThomasStana KaticRadhika ApteIn the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency - SOE - to recruit and train women as spies.
- 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.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsJohn SavageJames WoodsFranklyn SealesAn LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsRobert De NiroLeonardo DiCaprioEllen BarkinThe story about the relationship between a rebellious 1950s teenager and his abusive stepfather, based on the memoirs of writer and literature Professor Tobias Wolff.