While it’s obvious that plenty of biopics, crime dramas, orhistorical period pieceswere inspired by true stories, others feel like they’re fictional, only for audiences to be shocked to hear the truth behind the film. Movies that were inspired by true stories are notably different than thosebased on true stories, as they merely serve to kickstart a writer, director, or actor’s creativity, and they are not burdened by needing to pursue an exact retelling of the facts. All these movies have their basis in truth, yet much of the actual narrative, characters, or motivations were fictional.
True stories inspired some of thebest movies of all time, as the truth is often much stranger than fiction in this world. Whether it be years-long instances of amnesia, a sting operation that saw over a hundred fugitives apprehended, or even a beach shark attack from 1916 that truly revolutionized modern Hollywood. These films all offer some insight into the strange inner workings of modern times, asthe best cinema often reflects reality back at viewers.
1050 First Dates (2004)
Inspired by a real-life case of amnesia
The films of Adam Sandler aren’t exactly known for their realism, as audiences have enjoyed watching him lose his mind as a golf pro or skip through life with a time-altering remote control for decades. However, one Sandler classic audiences will be shocked to learn was inspired by a true story wasthe real life case of amnesia that laid the groundwork for50 First Dates. While this rom-com starring Sandler and Drew Barrymore had plenty of fictional outlandish moments, the core idea about a young woman who was unable to form new memories was based on fact.
According to a piece inCosmopolitan,50 First Dateswas inspired by Michelle Philpots from Spalding in Lincolnshire, whose memory was wiped every day for 23 years, just like Barrymore’s Lucy. Dr. Peter Nestor, a neuroscience specialist at Cambridge University, explained that this type of memory erasure is rare but still possible and it occurred after she was involved in two vehicle crashes. While Michelle woke up every day thinking it was 1994, she still managed to carve out a marriage with her husband, Ian.
50 First Dates
Cast
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star in the 2004 romantic comedy 50 First Dates, which revolves around a womanizer’s attempts at winning over an amnesiac woman’s heart over and over, every day of her life. Frequent Adam Sandler collaborators Rob Schneider and Kevin James are part of the cast alongside Sean Astin, Dan Aykroyd, and Maya Rudolph.
9Rear Window (1954)
Inspired by a genuine series of murders
Alfred Hitchcock was never afraid to look to real-life instances to inspire his acclaimed movies, and most film lovers will be well aware that the novel that inspiredPsychowas based on the notorious serial killer Ed Gein. Yet, the real-life inspirations behind Hitchcock’s classicRear Windowactually took some cues from the deaths of Cora Henrietta Turner and Emily Kaye, as well as Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short storyIt Had to Be Murder.
Viewers will rememberJames Stewart’s iconic portrayal of the wheelchair-bound photojournalist L. B. “Jeff” Jefferiesslowly starting to suspect he was witnessing a would-be killer murder his wife while looking out the window of his apartment complex. However, once Hitchcock had decided to adapt Woolrich’s story, he also looked to newspaper clippings for more inspiration. It was from these sources that Hitchcock and his associates, like screenwriter John Michael Hayes, fine-tuned the story and created the murder-mystery classic viewers know today.
Rear Window
Rear Window: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this suspense film follows a wheelchair-bound photographer, played by James Stewart, who becomes convinced of a murder while observing his neighbors from his apartment window. Set in a New York City neighborhood, the narrative explores themes of voyeurism and suspicion.
8Trap (2024)
Inspired by the sting Operation Flagship
As a filmmaker who often works in the realm of the supernatural, M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thrillerTrapbrought things back to reality for a story about a serial killer trapped at a pop concert. With anexcellent performance from Josh Hartnett as the Philadelphia killer known as the Butcher, the plot revolves around this killer trying to evade the police while not ruining his teenage daughter’s enjoyment of the concert performed by her favorite artist, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan.) While this hilarious concept walked the fine line between humor and terror, it actually was inspired by a real sting operation.
When writing the script forTrap, Shyamalan took many cues from Operation Flagship, a sting jointly organized by the United States Marshals Service and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., in 1985 (viaVariety.) This ingenious plan used a fictional television network invite to lure wanted fugitives to the Washington Convention Center in order to claim tickets to a Washington Redskins football game. Not only did this clever plan work, but it actually led to the arrests of 105 wanted fugitives.
Trap
Trap is a film by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan under his Blinding Edge Pictures label. The film is part of a deal struck with Warner Bros for him to direct and produce several films under their banner.
7The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Inspired by the legend of Sawney Bean
Wes Craven was truly one of the all-time great horror filmmakers whose debut movie,The Last House on the Left,right through to ongoing franchises likeScreamleft their mark on the genre. One of Craven’s most iconic releases wasThe Hills Have Eyes, a chilling exploration of a family targeted by cannibals while stranded in the Nevada desert. With grotesque imagery and truly chilling characterizations, nobody in their right mind would assume this movie was based on a true story.
However, Craven did not shy away from taking influences from all sorts of places forThe Hills Have Eyes. While the initial concept featured elements ofHansel and Gretelas the Carter family got lost in the wilderness,what really sparked Craven’s creativity was the legend of Sawney Bean(viaSlash Film.) This shocking tale told of the leader of a Scottish clan who was supposedly responsible for the murder and cannibalization of more than one thousand people. As Bean’s clan was later arrested, tortured, quartered, burned, and hanged, Craven used this story to explore the hideous nature of retribution.
The Hills Have Eyes
The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 horror film directed by Wes Craven. The plot centers on a suburban family whose car breaks down in a remote desert area, leaving them vulnerable to attacks by a brutal clan of cannibalistic mutants. The film is noted for its intense scenes of survival and confrontation as the family fights to stay alive against a relentless and savage enemy.
6Hard Candy (2005)
Inspired by real-life cases of teenagers assaulting and mugging their would-be abusers
Hard Candywas a truly shocking story about a 14-year-old vigilante’s trapping and torture of a man whom she suspects is a sexual predator. With Eliott Page as the young Hayley Stark and Patrick Wilson as the 32-year-old photographer Jeff Kohlver,Hard Candytook the concept behindTo Catch a Predatorto a whole new levelas this despicable man was forced to confront the depraved realities of his unnatural impulses. WhileHard Candybecame so extreme, as Page tortured their victim with the threat of castration, this was actually based on a real news story about teenagers in Japan.
Hard Candytook its inspiration from a true story about a posse of Tokyo schoolgirls who lured businessmen to an apartment, promising them underage sex, and then proceeded to beat and rob them. This intense version of vigilante justice (viaABC) inspired Brian Nelson to write the script for Page’s breakthrough movie. AlthoughHard Candywas reimagined as a sole teenager taking on a predator alone, the core concept came from this news story.
Hard Candy
Hard Candy is a psychological thriller that follows the encounter between Hayley, a clever teenage girl, and Jeff, a fashion photographer. After meeting online and in a café, they return to Jeff’s house, where unexpected events unfold, challenging the notion of trust and intent in their interaction.
5Cocaine Bear (2023)
Inspired by the true story of the Cocaine Bear
While the concept behind Elizabeth Banks’s comedy horrorCocaine Bearsounds like it came straight out of a strange fever dream, the truth is it was based on fact. This mind-bogglingly intense story was loosely inspired by an American black bear that ingested several kilograms of a bag containing about 75 lb (34 kg) of lost cocaine (viaBackpacker.) The drugs appeared in Knoxville, Tennessee, after the paratrooper-turned-drug-smuggler Andrew Carter Thornton II lost the drugs that were strapped to his chest after his parachute failed as he jumped from a plane.
While the bear fatally overdosed on the drugs, the movieCocaine Bearreimagined its final hours and filled in the gaps of how they spent the time after ingesting the drugsbut before meeting an untimely end. As a truly chaotic film that saw the bear running wild and pursuing a group of humans, this wild story was an exciting return to form for Banks, whose previous directorial effort,Charlie’s Angels, flopped at the box office.
Cocaine Bear
Based loosely on the true story, Cocaine Bear follows an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a massive black bear stumbles upon and ingests a staggering amount of cocaine, setting the 500-pound bear on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow.. and blood.
4Nacho Libre (2006)
Inspired by the life of Fray Tormenta
Although Jack Black often imbues a lot of his own characteristics into the parts he plays, such as the rock n’ roll-loving accidental substitute teacher he portrayed inSchool of Rock, many will be shocked to learn thatNacho Librewas actually based on the life of a real man. This hilarious story of a Catholic friar and secret luchador told the heartwarming tale of a kind but eccentric man doing everything in his power to save his orphanage. With plenty of infectious energy,Nacho Librewas truly one of Black’s most underrated movies.
The real man behind the story ofNacho Librewas Fray Tormenta, the wrestling priest who moonlit on the wrestling team to make some money for children in need (viaMy Modern Met.)Fray’s real name is Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, and this kindhearted man of God found an unusual route to fund the orphanage that he founded. As a masked luchador who found an unusual way to contribute to his community, it’s heartwarming that Tormenta’s good deeds were immortalized in this cult favorite comedy.
Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre is a comedy film directed by Jared Hess that was released in 2006. Jack Black stars as Friar by day and Luuchador by night. Ignacio is a kind-hearted dreamer who wrestles at night to pay the bills at the orphanage he works at.
3The Straight Story (1999)
Inspired by the true story of Alvin Straight
The late filmmaker David Lynch was never a director that audiences associated with reality, as his surreal stories used dreamlike imagery to take audiences on a journey in the dark underbelly of American society. WhileLynch did tackle a true story early in his careerwith his classic movieThe Elephant Man, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he carved out a legacy in dreamlike realms categorized by odd logic. However, this changed in 1999 withThe Straight Story, a Walt Disney production from Lynch that told the true story of Alvin Straight.
While audiences at the time may have thought this story about a 73-year-old man in poor health and with terrible eyesight riding across America on a lawn mower was yet another fictional story from Lynch, Alvin genuinely made this grueling 240-mile journey in 1994. With as much ethereal beauty and strange idiosyncrasies as darker, fictional work,The Straight Storyis an essential part of this filmmaker’s esteemed legacy.
The Straight Story
The Straight Story, directed by David Lynch, is a biographical film depicting Alvin Straight’s journey across the Midwest on a lawn mower to reconcile with his ailing brother. Richard Farnsworth stars as the elderly Alvin, joined by Sissy Spacek as his supportive daughter, Rose. Based on a true story, the film explores themes of family, perseverance, and redemption.
2The Exorcist (1973)
Inspired by a real-life exorcism case from 1949
The Exorcistwas adapted from William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, although the author was heavily inspired by a real-life exorcism case from 1949. While the film and book told the story of 13-year-old Regan MacNeil, whose horrific demonic possession was so extreme it literally caused many viewers to faint while in the movie theater. As a true classic of horror and a movie that inspired countless other exorcism-based films, many will not know it was based on the Catholic Church’s several exorcism attempts on a young 14-year-old boy known under the pseudonym Roland Doe.
The case of Roland Doebegan in the 1940s, and many experts asserted the boy’s real name was Ronald Hunkeler. AsRonald’s family truly believed he was afflicted with demonic possession, they sought the help of the Catholic Church for the rattlings on the walls, strange noises, and flying objects they reportedly encountered. While there’s still plenty of mystery surrounding what exactly happened to Ronald, the wayThe Exorcisttook his story and created one of the most frightening pieces of media of all time was extraordinary.
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a supernatural horror film based on the novel released in 1971 and was directed by William Friedkin. When a young girl is passed by a powerful demon, two Catholic priests are brought to her home to attempt an exorcism to expunge the demon.
1Jaws (1975)
Inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916
Few Hollywood movies were more impactful than Steven Spielberg’sJaws, a major hit that signaled not only the director’s breakthrough film but also a watershed moment in the development of the summer blockbuster. As the story of beachgoers being terrorized by a murderous and unstoppable great white shark, the slow-moving, unknowable, and eerie presence of this killer creature got to the very heart of human anxieties. This terrifying tale became all the more nail-bitingly frightening with the knowledge it was partly inspired by a series of shark attacks in 1916.
In the summer of 1916,panic struck the Jersey Shore as several people met their end at the other side of a shark’s bite(viaSmithsonian Magazine.) With four fatalities and one person critically injured, this frightful occurrence likely served as an important influence on Jaws. As a true event that has had a major influence on society’s scared relationship with sharks, even though it happened more than 100 years ago, these attacks still send shivers down the spines of anyone who feels something strange moving around their feet while swimming in the ocean.
Jaws
Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows the residents of Amity Island as they face terror from a menacing great white shark. The town’s police chief, a marine biologist, and a seasoned shark hunter join forces to track and kill the predator threatening their coastal community. Released in 1975.
