5 Times "Based on a True Story" Movies Really Happened & 5 Times We Were Lied To

5 Based on a True Story Movies That Really Happened and 5 That Were Made Up

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the films that faithfully depict real-life events and those that either distort the truth or fabricate it altogether. The grandson of the Warrens recently spoke out to proclaim that—despite the “Conjuring” series claiming to be based on a true story—the new film is just “complete fantasies” and there is “nothing real” about the franchise. So, where do we draw the line? Let’s jump in!

#5 Real: “The Big Sick” (2017)

Rom-coms are more likely to be based on a Nicholas Sparks book than on real life, but this movie is an exception. Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Emily V. Gordon, wrote the screenplay together, basing it on their actual romance. According to them, quite a few scenes happened pretty much exactly the way they appear in the film. They really did meet after Gordon heckled Nanjiani at a comedy show, and he actually kept their relationship secret while his parents tried to arrange a marriage to a Pakistani woman. This funny, heartfelt story was so authentic and relatable, the pair got an Oscar nomination for their screenplay.

#5 Made Up: “The Amityville Horror” (1979)

Here’s the one part of this story that we know is true: Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his parents and four siblings in their house in Amityville, New York in 1974. He confessed and went to prison for life. Just three years later, author Jay Anson published a book about the tragedy and the supposed supernatural events that took place in the house after it was bought by the Lutz family. That book was turned into a movie, which has since spawned an entire franchise. However, Ronald DeFeo’s lawyer, William Weber, later admitted that he and the Lutzes made everything up. He had hoped to use the publicity to get a new trial for DeFeo, while the Lutzes were just in it for the money.

#4 Real: “Goodfellas” (1990)

Director Martin Scorsese fell in love with the nonfiction book “Wiseguy,” a biography of Mafioso Henry Hill, written by Nicholas Pileggi. He loved it so much that he called up Pileggi out of the blue and convinced him to collaborate on a movie. The result was “Goodfellas,” which changes some names and details but is mostly true to the facts. For instance, Joe Pesci’s character Tommy DeVito was based on the real-life Thomas DeSimone. He really did shoot Spider the bartender in the leg and later killed him in an act of rage. Scorsese even brought actual gangsters onto the set as consultants. Now that’s dedication to realism.

#4 Made Up: “Hidalgo” (2004)

This epic drama follows Frank Hopkins, an American cowboy who travels to the Middle East to compete in a grueling 3,000-mile horse race. It’s loosely based on the real Hopkins’ memoirs, but many of the facts in those memoirs have been debunked by historians. There’s no record of Hopkins ever performing in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show or being part of the Lakota tribe. The 3,000-mile race across the desert never existed and probably isn’t even physically possible. One thing the filmmakers did get right is the depiction of Lakota culture. They brought in Lakota historians and elders to ensure that everything was accurate, and they did so well that screenwriter John Fusco was later adopted as an honorary member of the tribe.

#3 Real: “Fruitvale Station” (2013)

For director Ryan Coogler, it was important to get this one right. The movie portrays the last 24 hours of Oscar Grant’s life before he was shot by police at an Oakland train station. The tragedy happened in 2009, while Coogler was in grad school, and “Fruitvale Station” became his feature debut. He worked with Grant’s family and their attorney to ensure that the portrayal was true to life. The film even includes real cell phone footage of the incident, and it was shot at the actual Fruitvale Station. Coogler said later that he wanted audiences to get to know Oscar as a person, so they would understand what his death really meant.

#3 Made Up: “The Fourth Kind” (2009)

The creators of this movie went to a lot of trouble to convince audiences that it was based on a true story. The sci-fi horror follows a psychologist investigating alien abductions in Alaska. It opens with star Milla Jovovich talking directly to the camera, telling us that she’s playing a real person and that the events depicted actually happened. The movie also includes supposed archival footage of alien possessions. The marketing campaign even put out fake news articles about the abductions, but it foolishly put names of real Alaskan newspapers on those articles. Alaskan journalists sued the studio, which settled with them for $20,000. Some people did go missing in Alaska in the early 2000s, but investigators found no evidence of anything extraterrestrial.

#2 Real: “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (2018)

Ironically, this true-to-life biopic revolves around a writer who was mostly famous for committing forgeries. Melissa McCarthy plays Lee Israel, an author whose career hits a slump in the early 90s. In desperation, she starts forging letters from dead celebrities and selling them to dealers. She builds up quite a successful business before the FBI catches on. The movie started production in 2011, while the real Israel was still alive. The producers met with her, and wanted to make sure that her on-screen portrayal didn’t gloss over any ugly truths. The result is a beautifully authentic depiction of a flawed but sympathetic woman.

#2 Made Up: “The Greatest Showman” (2017)

This musical doesn’t claim to be historically accurate, but the way it portrays certain real people is pretty egregious. The actual P.T. Barnum was not a good dude. The first person he displayed in his circus was an enslaved woman named Joice Heth. Barnum claimed she was 160 years old, and when she died, he sold tickets to her autopsy. He also kidnapped Indigenous people to use in human zoos and committed horrific cruelty to animals. In the movie, Jenny Lind is a petty homewrecker. The real Lind was a beloved philanthropist who gave most of her money to charity and quit Barnum’s tour because she was uncomfortable with the commercialization. This movie manages to celebrate real-life jerks and slander the truly kindhearted people.

#1 Real: “12 Years a Slave” (2013)

Steve McQueen’s historical drama is based on the autobiography of the main character, a real man named Solomon Northup. He was born free in New York in the early 1800s and kidnapped into slavery in 1841, leaving behind a wife and two children. He was held in bondage for twelve years. The film follows his narrative pretty closely, and historians praised it as one of the most accurate cinematic depictions of slavery. McQueen doesn’t shy away from the violence and brutality, including some of the more shocking parts of Northup’s memoir. The film is a hard look at part of American history that many would rather forget.

#1 Made Up: “Braveheart” (1995)

The London Times named this movie the second most historically inaccurate of all time. The characters and battles share their names with real places and events, but that’s about where the similarities to reality end. The true William Wallace was a wealthy noble, not a farmer, and he favored executing peasants who refused to be drafted into the Scottish rebellion. England had only occupied Scotland for a year when he began his campaign, not a century as the movie says. Wallace never met Queen Isabella and he certainly didn’t have an affair with her – she was three years old and still living in France when the Battle of Falkirk happened. We will say one thing though – the movie is entertaining as heck.

Do you think it’s ok for filmmakers to mess with accuracy for the sake of entertainment? Let us know in the comments.