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39 Best Movies About Self-Discovery & Finding Yourself

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At some point in our lives, we are all compelled to embark on a journey to find ourselves.

We desire the following:

• To discover our highest potential
• To determine our life’s purpose
• To find opportunities where we can best use our abilities

During this period, we also begin the gentle process of accepting our flaws and limitations.

There are a lot of movies about the journey of self-discovery. They serve as a mirror through which we see how far we’ve come in manifesting who we are destined to be.

In today’s post, we’re sharing a collection of the best movies about finding yourself. May this list inspire you to stay on course in your journey, no matter how difficult the path.

We also hope these films can affirm the struggles and triumphs you face in discovering your true self.

Table of Contents

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This movie is about a newly divorced woman’s 94-day trek on the Pacific Crest Trail . During her journey, she meets several people and has experiences that renew her as a person.

2. Seven Years in Tibet

In this movie, we are introduced to a mountaineer who joins an expedition to scale the Himalayas. However, World War II halts the expedition and the young mountaineer finds himself in Tibet.

The turbulent times in that country teach him humility and to realize the most important things in life.

3. Eat, Pray, Love

This movie describes the journey of a woman who needs to find out what’s truly important to her. She leaves an unhappy marriage and travels around the world in search of enlightenment.

Her quest takes her to Italy, where she learns the value of being nourished.

Next, her sojourn to India teaches her to dive deeper into spirituality.

Finally, her trip to Bali brings her inner peace and true love.

4. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

In this movie, we meet Alice, a young widow. After the death of her husband, she decides to pursue her dream of becoming a singer.

Despite the obstacles in her way, Alice is determined to make her dream come true.

5. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Many people sacrifice their happiness for a secure job. In this movie, we meet Walter Mitty, a man who constantly daydreams in order to escape the tediousness of his job.

However, an opportunity for a real adventure presents itself in the form of a work assignment from his boss. Through this assignment, Mitty develops his courage and self-awareness .

6. This Beautiful Fantastic

This movie is about an unusual young woman named Bella who has OCD and dreams of writing children’s books. Her friends save her from eviction by teaching her how to tend to her garden.

In the process, Bella also learns to fully blossom into her full potential.

7. The Art of Getting By

This film is about a talented underachiever who decides one day that he’ll stop doing his homework and paying attention in class. He befriends a classmate who shows him that there are more exciting possibilities in his life.

8. Little Miss Sunshine

In this movie, we get to know a family who is working together in support of the youngest child, who wishes to join the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

The road trip to the pageant becomes a journey of self-discovery for the entire family. It is also an opportunity for the family to bond and get to know each other better.

9. Lady Bird

In this film we meet Christine, a senior high school student in a Catholic school who insists on being called Lady Bird. She is constantly in conflict with her equally strong-willed mother.

Things come to a head when Lady Bird decides to go to college on the East Coast, despite her mother’s financial struggles supporting the family.

In the end, Lady Bird’s actions and decisions bring her face to face with her true self , setting her on the road to maturity.

10. Kung Fu Panda 3

All of the Kung Fu Panda movies depict different aspects of self-discovery. The third installment is as exuberant as ever.

It teaches a powerful lesson. In this film, Po learns that ultimate power resides in fully accepting his true identity .

11. The Bucket List

This movie’s title refers to the proverbial “ bucket list ” — the things a person plans to do before they die.

In the film, we witness the adventures and misadventures of two men, Carter and Edward, one of whom is diagnosed with cancer and given a year to live. They escape the hospital to fulfill Carter’s bucket list before their time is up.

Along the way, they discover new things about themselves, as well as life’s true meaning .

12. The Kings of Summer

In The Kings of Summer , we witness the coming of age of a group of friends who desire independence from their overbearing families. The friends decide to build a house in the woods and live off the land.

Throughout the movie, we watch the characters learn new and profound things about the world and life itself.

13. The Truman Show

In this film, we witness the awakening of a person who, up to a certain point in the film, has lived a made-up life.

Harry Truman has lived his entire life as the main character in a live TV show. He isn’t aware of this until events around him gradually reveal that his entire life has been built on lies.

The film takes us on Harry’s own journey of self-discovery and his efforts to determine his own destiny.

14. I Feel Pretty

Many of us feel that if we’re attractive enough, fun enough, or confident enough, wonderful things will start happening in our lives.

This movie introduces us to a woman who does not have confidence in herself. However, after sustaining a bad fall, she wakes up believing that her physical appearance has magically changed.

This perception makes her extremely confident.

Throughout the film, we witness how her newfound confidence in her own beauty allows her to change aspects of her life for the better.

15. My Girl 2

This is a coming-of-age story about a young girl growing up in the mid-1970s. Thirteen-year-old Vada Sultenfuss wants to know more about her deceased mother. She travels alone to Los Angeles, hoping to find the information she needs. Her quest not only gives her insights in her mother’s life, but also reveals Vada’s own strength and the path to her dreams .

16. Into the Wild

This movie is inspired by the true and tragic life story of a young man named Christopher McCandless, who referred to himself as Alexander Supertramp.

In this movie, we get to know Chris as a young man who steps away from a life of comfort and security in order to find himself. His goal is to live in the Alaskan wilderness.

Although his journey, McCandless meets several people who give him insights about life and himself.

17. Life Is Beautiful

In the first half of this multi-awarded film, we witness how life blossoms beautifully for a Jewish bookkeeper named Guido. Before the Second World War, he married the woman he loves and they have a son.

In the second half of the movie, we witness Guido and his son captured and sent to a concentration camp. We also see how Guido does his best as a father to protect his son from the horrors of the Holocaust, using his imagination, resourcefulness, and humor .

18. How Stella Got Her Groove Back

In this film, we are introduced to a 40-something woman named Stella who seems to be constantly unlucky when it comes to love. During a trip to Jamaica, Stella gets to know herself better, listening more to her heart as she makes life-changing decisions.

19. Almost Famous

In this classic rock and roll film, we hop on a tour bus together with 15-year-old William Miller, a smart kid tapped by Rolling Stone magazine to write an article about an up-and-coming rock band called Stillwater.

Touring with the band, befriending a set of groupies who call themselves the “Band Aides,” and witnessing the ups and downs in the lives of the members of Stillwater serve as William’s own coming-of-age journey.

20. Dances With Wolves

In this film, we get to know a man who leaves his former life as a Civil War soldier to live simply with a band of Sioux Indians. In this setting, the former soldier finds himself and receives the name “Dances with Wolves.”

21. Silver Linings Playbook

In this film, we are introduced to Pat, a guy fresh out of a psychiatric facility. He is intent on “remaking” himself. Along the way, he befriends a widow and the two of them try their best to heal, overcome their past traumas , and (hopefully) find love.

In this movie, a daughter ponders how she can bring honor to her family.

Does it come from becoming a submissive bride to a suitable husband?

Or does it come from disguising herself as a soldier and running away from home to fight invaders in her father’s stead?

23. Chocolat

Finally, in this film we get to know the people of a village in the French countryside during the early 1950s. These villagers are sticklers for tradition, and self-expression is considered taboo.

A strange woman and her daughter arrive one day and challenge the traditions of the village. The mother and daughter set up a chocolaterie, helping the villagers discover who they truly are.

24. Billy Elliot

This touching movie is about a young boy who loves to dance and sets out to fulfill his dream of becoming a ballet dancer.

Although there are many male ballet dancers in the world, it isn’t easy for Billy Elliot to pursue his dreams. The people around him in the mining community where he lives can’t understand why he wants to be a dancer.

All the challenges Billy faces in pursuit of his dreams reveal his passion and, in the process, shape him into the person he wants to become.

25. Letters to Juliet

On a trip to Verona, Italy, with her fiancé, Sophie visits the alleged house of Juliet from Shakespeare’s famous play about star-crossed lovers.

During her visit, she discovers a letter from 50 years ago, left below the balcony of Juliet’s house.

The letter that Sophie finds changes her life in many ways, the most important of which is discovering who she truly is and having the courage to live life more meaningfully.

26. Under the Tuscan Sun

While the previous movie is set in Verona, this next one is set in Tuscany. This movie is based on the memoir of Frances Mayes, published with the same title as the film.

In this film, viewers are introduced to newly divorced writer Frances. With her friends’ encouragement, she goes to Italy and falls in love with a rundown villa.

Frances purchases the villa and moves to Italy to begin a new life. She is immersed in the villa’s renovations.

Little by little, the villa is restored to its glory. At the same time, Frances’ life is filled with new meaning.

27. Boyhood

This captivating movie took 12 years to make. It won critical acclaim and numerous awards for its groundbreaking approach to filmmaking.

Rather than follow a standard Hollywood coming-of-age formula, this movie takes viewers on a sublime journey of self-discovery through the life of a boy from age 5 to 18.

28. The Darjeeling Limited

This movie is about how grief transforms us. It is also a depiction of how often miscommunication happens among family members.

In the film, three brothers decide to reconnect a year after their father dies.

They decide to travel together across India. During their journey, not only do they get to know each other better, but they also learn to let go of baggage that no longer has meaning in their lives.

[ Here are some tips for letting go of the past and living in the present moment. ]

29. Garden State

In this film, viewers get to know Andrew, who comes home to his estranged family after the death of his mother.

During his homecoming, Andrew is confronted with different aspects of his former life, as well as opportunities for new friendships.

This movie is about healing old wounds and doing the best we can to move forward in life.

This witty movie is about how high school student Olive Penderghast earns a bad reputation in high school because of gossip.

Olive does not deserve her new reputation and is even ridiculed and ostracized for it. However, she uses her newfound reputation to help the outcasts at school become accepted by their more popular peers.

But how will she rediscover her real self?

31. Moonlight

Moonlight is about a boy growing up and finding his way to himself. It is a sometimes uncomfortable look at how unresolved trauma and personal issues influence who we are as adults.

In this movie, a young boy called Chiron faces different obstacles to his own self-expression. Viewers follow him through three key life events that shape his journey to self-discovery.

This movie is based on a true story. In it, we meet Joy Mangano, a woman who has over a hundred patents to her name for the household products she invents.

Through her resourcefulness and determination, she created a business empire.

33. The Way

The Camino de Santiago is an ancient trail considered to be one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage routes. Trekking the trail compels pilgrims to go on a journey of self-discovery.

In this movie, a father goes to Europe to claim the remains of his son who had died while walking the pilgrimage route. In honor of his son’s memory, the father decides to walk the route as well.

Along the way, the father meets other pilgrims. He slowly establishes friendship with some of them, learning more about them as he begins to appreciate his relationship with his deceased son.

34. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This film is about a teenager who approaches life as a bystander. However, meeting new friends and falling in love for the first time gives him a chance to finally become an active participant in his own life story.

The movie reminds us to accept others as they are. It is also an invitation to accept and love ourselves as we are.

35. Persepolis

In this movie, Marji Satrapi sits in an airport in France and recalls her childhood in Iran.

Wanting to avoid the restrictive society of the country, Marji’s family sends her to Europe. In Europe, she faces various hardships and situations that lead to her denying her roots.

This animated biographical film is about staying true to yourself and never forgetting your heritage, no matter how challenging that can be.

36. Fish Tank

In this film we get to know 15-year-old Mia. She is constantly in conflict with her verbally abusive mother and hellion of a sister.

Her situation at home and her social status mean she has no creative outlet for her love of hip hop dancing.

This movie is a heartbreaking reminder that there are those who do find themselves but, because of their personal circumstances, find it hard to fully express who they truly are.

37. Real Women Have Curves

This empowering coming-of-age story introduces us to Ana, a young woman who struggles to balance her duties as a daughter and following her dreams.

The path Ana decides to take will determine her place in the world.

This film focuses on the struggles of a teenager slowly coming to terms with her true identity. In it, we see a powerful young person choose her own path in life and decide to stand by her choice no matter what challenges she may face.

39. The Edge of Seventeen

This movie is a testament to how challenging it is to be a teenager, navigating through high school life, friendships, and relationships.

It also highlights the value of growing up and improving yourself now that you’re on your way to adulthood.

Final Thoughts on Movies About Self-Discovery

The films featured today depict the exciting and often arduous journey of finding yourself. Each of these movies reminds us that, as humans, we have an innate need to find meaning in our lives.

We hope you find what you’re looking for.

Meanwhile, here are more movie collections for specific topics for you to enjoy:

• 25 Best Movies to Watch About Overcoming Adversity
• 15 Motivational Movies All Students Must Watch
• 11 Best Inspirational Entrepreneur Movies of All Time
• 27 Best Movies About Teamwork and Working Together
• 17 Best Philosophical Movies of All Time
• 11 Best Movies About Happiness & Finding Life Satisfaction
• 11 Best Movies About Immortality & Maybe Living Forever

• Drama Movies
• Movie Themes

The 15 Best Movies About Self-Discovery and Finding Yourself

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On the one hand, we could argue that ALL films are "about self-discovery"—in that the whole point of the hero's journey is to learn a lesson, overcome an obstacle, and end the movie as a changed person.

But some films take it a little more literally: characters go on physical journeys that navigate their own inner ones.

Whether they're seeking change, healing, or adventure, these protagonists go on some sort of expedition to "find themselves."

Here are our picks for the best movies about self-discovery and finding yourself, which may inspire you to do the same.

15. The Kings of Summer (2013)

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Starring Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias

Adventure, Comedy, Drama (1h 35m)

7.1 on IMDb — 76% on RT

Coming-of-age movies are all about self-discovery and steering that rocky minefield of adolescence.

The Kings of Summer perfectly encapsulates this, telling the story of three boys (played by Nick Robinson, Moises Arias, and Gabriel Basso) who ditch home to live in the woods.

Their makeshift hut provides a haven of freedom away from the shackles of lame, overbearing parents.

Within the forest, they discover the true meanings of friendship, love, family, and where they really want to be headed in the world.

14. Captain Fantastic (2016)

Directed by Matt Ross

Starring Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler

Comedy, Drama (1h 58m)

7.8 on IMDb — 83% on RT

Many self-discovery movies involve leaving the office desk to bask in nature. For Ben Cash (played by Viggo Mortensen), there isn't any desk to leave; in fact, his problem is the reverse.

Ben and his wife have raised their six kids in the Washington wilderness ever since becoming disgruntled by right-wing capitalism. But they're not a pack of wolves! Ben's children are quite educated, self-sufficient, and encouraged to work creatively as a team.

When their mother dies, things get difficult as the family is forced to integrate with the outside world for her funeral.

Despite their intelligence, the kids have no social or material world skills, showing how we need a middle ground between being in touch with our communities and with the natural world.

This is a lesson that Ben has to learn, too, who's forced to rethink his anarchist mindset and discover a more balanced way of life.

13. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Directed by David O. Russell

Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro

Comedy, Drama, Romance (2h 2m)

7.7 on IMDb — 92% on RT

Recently diagnosed with OCD and bipolar disorder, Pat Solitano (played by Bradley Cooper) moves back in with his parents. His catchphrase is "Excelsior"—meaning "ever upward"—and he goes on many runs while trying to get his life back together.

Sadly, the incessant pursuit of self-improvement that modern society so emphasizes doesn't work. So, when Pat befriends the grieving and equally unfiltered Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence), they exchange favors and develop a connection.

An interesting and subtle point to note in Silver Linings Playbook is that Pat and Tiffany's mental health and quality of life don't improve until they stop obsessing over it to instead focus on helping each other. In other words, human connection and kindness are key.

Even though Pat's mental health problems will forever be there, his discovery of helping others and not pining after somebody who doesn't love him (i.e. his cheating ex-wife) makes it easier to bare.

12. Eternity and a Day (1998)

Directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos

Starring Bruno Ganz, Isabelle Renauld, Fabrizio Bentivoglio

Drama (2h 17m)

7.9 on IMDb — 95% on RT

Theo Angelopoulos's lyrical drama reflects on the universal topics of death, love, poetry, and regret.

After finding out he's terminally ill, Alexandros (played by Bruno Ganz) is pushed to look beyond the boundaries of his small life.

While trying to get his affairs in order, Alexandros manages to save a young boy from human trafficking and complete Dionysios Solomos' unfinished poem, as an avid lover of 19th century poetry.

Setting out on these adventures and projects brings back memories of his deceased wife—memories Angelopoulos takes us through gracefully, testing the boundary between life and death.

11. The Bucket List (2007)

Directed by Rob Reiner

Starring Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes

Adventure, Comedy, Drama (1h 37m)

7.4 on IMDb — 41% on RT

The threat of death spurs the need for more life in Rob Reiner's comedy-drama The Bucket List .

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star as two terminally ill men who share a hospital room. Despite living different lives, neither of them have managed to do what they've always dreamt of.

So, from skydiving to climbing Mount Everest, the two embark on a wild journey together. Through these experiences, Carter (played by Morgan Freeman) and Edward (played by Jack Nicholson) uncover what it means to really live .

As it turns out, the value of life has little to do with fancy cars and tourist attractions but rather the connections we make along the way.

10. American Beauty (1999)

Directed by Sam Mendes

Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch

Drama (2h 2m)

8.3 on IMDb — 87% on RT

American Beauty is a classic midlife crisis story, if a little perverted. Kevin Spacey leads as a disillusioned telesales operative who's hungry for a change of pace.

He quits his job to start flipping burgers, smoke weed, and work out instead—essentially, he reverts to the life of a teenage boy. And that means liking teenage girls, too.

After ditching all social expectations of himself, Lester (played by Kevin Spacey) is euphoric with liberation. And yet, he reveals something dark and twisted buried within.

Sam Mendes directs this Oscar-winning black comedy, which acts a satire of suburban American culture. Academics have frequently analyzed the film's take on identity, paternity, materialism, and modern life.

9. Big Fish (2003)

Directed by Tim Burton

Starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup

Adventure, Drama, Fantasy (2h 5m)

8.0 on IMDb — 75% on RT

Big Fish is a multi-layered narrative that can be reduced to two main plotlines. At the top, it's about a father and son reuniting after a cancer diagnosis, learning a valuable lesson in understanding and forgiveness.

Beneath that is the life story of Edward Bloom (played by Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney at different ages) and how he came to be the father of Will Bloom (played by Billy Crudup).

Although Will's lesson in forgiveness is a self-discovery campaign within itself, the bulk of Big Fish is made up of Edward's literal life journey, told as fantasy-infused flashbacks.

Joining the circus and fighting in the Korean War seem like minor points in Edward's story. What he's really trying to tell his son—something that Will takes a while to get—is to enjoy life.

Romanticize it, embellish it, and live it to the fullest, befriending everyone you can along the way.

8. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Directed by Wes Anderson

Starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman

Adventure, Comedy, Drama (1h 31m)

7.2 on IMDb — 69% on RT

Wes Anderson's vibrant movie takes us on a trip across India. When the death of their father reunites three estranged brothers, they decide to take the train ride as a chance to bond.

And through learning about each other (which isn't easy), they learn more about themselves.

Wes Anderson uses the colorful religious backdrop of Hindu temples, Himalayan convents, and more to explore the spiritual side of life—one that the three brothers have been neglecting.

Striking a perfect balance between humor and grief, The Darjeeling Limited starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman remains a firm favorite among Anderson fans.

7. Eat Pray Love (2010)

Directed by Ryan Murphy

Starring Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, James Franco

Biography, Drama, Romance (2h 13m)

5.8 on IMDb — 36% on RT

Eat Pray Love has all the ingredients of a good "finding yourself" flick: meditation, religious retreats, street food, and travel.

The biographical romance-drama stars Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert, who has everything she's supposed to want in life. The job, the car, the husband... yet, somehow, it's just not enough for her.

Elizabeth makes the bold decision to leave her comfort zone and travel the world—something all of us have probably dreamed of doing at some point in our lives.

Director Ryan Murphy provides us a nice breath of fresh air in this movie (as one of the lighter movies featured in this list).

6. Wild (2014)

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffman

Adventure, Biography, Drama (1h 55m)

7.1 on IMDb — 88% on RT

Jean-Marc Vallée directs Reese Witherspoon in his adaptation of the memoirs by Cheryl Strayed.

It's summer, 1995, and Cheryl decides to hike the 1,100-mile Pacific Crest Trail. But why? She's certainly no fitness freak. Well, we soon learn that Cheryl's journey is one with a much deeper purpose: to heal.

Bad weather conditions and lack of supplies don't stop Cheryl from pushing on, determined to redeem the trauma she faced earlier in life.

Wild is your classic template for a self-discovery movie. There's even a recurring spirit animal! The red fox symbolizes to Cheryl the guidance of her mother, who sadly passed away from cancer.

5. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Directed by Gabriele Muccino

Starring Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandiwe Newton

Biography, Drama (1h 57m)

8.0 on IMDb — 67% on RT

In The Pursuit of Happyness , Will Smith plays Chris Gardner who's in pursuit of many things: a career, a salary, a home, and a family. He's in pursuit of a full life, which he simply doesn't have.

Director Gabriele Muccino takes a look into what it really means to be broke and how difficult it is for people to get out of it.

As a struggling salesman who can't even make rent, Chris doesn't have the luxury of "finding himself" on a fancy vacation halfway across the world. Instead, Chris must live on the streets with his five-year-old son (played by Jaden Smith) while juggling an unpaid internship.

That said, he learns a lot about himself and the real values worth holding onto in life. His rough and painful labors ultimately make victory taste that much sweeter.

4. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Directed by Ben Stiller

Starring Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Jon Daly

Adventure, Comedy, Drama (1h 54m)

7.3 on IMDb — 52% on RT

Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty , which is definitely a one-of-a-kind movie.

A unique blend of fantasy and realism grabs our attention from the offset, taking us on a breathtaking visual roller coaster. It tells the familiar story of a man who ditches the monotony of his office job to walk on the wild side. At least, he daydreams of it.

It's not until one famous photojournalist's photo goes missing that Walter actually does anything about it. His fantasy world suddenly comes to life, leading him through mountains, volcanoes, and shark-infested waters.

3. The Truman Show (1998)

Directed by Peter Weir

Starring Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney

Comedy, Drama (1h 43m)

8.2 on IMDb — 95% on RT

Played by Jim Carrey, Truman Burbank's moment of discovery is quite drastic compared to anything experienced by most.

In The Truman Show , Truman finds out that his whole life is actually a huge reality TV show. From birth, his entire life has been broadcast live through secret cameras across the nation. While Truman is the star, he's also the only person who doesn't know the truth.

Lighthearted rom-coms and feel-good family dramas present life discoveries as simplified realizations, like "we should live more in harmony with nature and with each other." Movies like The Truman Show , however, take a deeper and more philosophical approach.

Truman's simulated reality raises questions about free will, ethics, and the illusions of reality, whether spiritual, societal, or scientific.

The iconic shot of Truman climbing the sky stairs at the edge of (his) world is a great symbol of how closed-minded we are about the power we hold to substantially change our own lives.

2. Wild Strawberries (1957)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Starring Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin

Drama, Romance (1h 31m)

8.1 on IMDb — 94% on RT

Age can do a lot to a person's mentality and sense of self. Artists, writers, and professors are particularly susceptible to the agonizing realization that life is slipping past them. There's a desire to find meaning in it, as they spend their whole lives thinking.

Professor Isak Borg (played by Victor Sjöström) is 78 when he takes an unexpected dip into his past.

Traveling from Stockholm to Lund for an honorary award, Isak is troubled by dreams and hitchhikers, who put his lonely, egotistical life into perspective. Isak's conclusion? What a waste!

Wild Strawberries feels like a Swedish version of A Christmas Carol , if we actually dove deep into the psyche of Ebenezer Scrooge instead of meeting up with a couple of ghosts.

Director Ingmar Bergman was a legendary filmmaker in critical, commercial, and artistic circles, known for his profoundly intelligent reflections on the soul. Wild Strawberries is a perfect example.

1. Into the Wild (2007)

Directed by Sean Penn

Starring Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener

Adventure, Biography, Drama (2h 28m)

8.1 on IMDb — 83% on RT

Into the Wild is the most potent movie on this list because, first, it's based on a true story, and second, it's unbearably tragic.

The malnourished corpse of Christopher McCandless was found in Denali National Park in September 1992. He was only 24 years old. With this film, director Sean Penn ensures that Christopher won't only be remembered for that.

Poetically narrated by Jena Malone, Into the Wild is a passionate account of Chris's life, who decided to cut and run from society as soon as he graduated school.

Across a series of flashbacks and flashforwards, we witness Christopher's desperate search to find peace and fulfillment in nature, adventure, and change.

But his extremes prove to be too much. On the brink of death, he writes down his final revelation: "Happiness is only real when shared."

The 15 Best Biopics of All Time

Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, and Robert De Niro star in some of the most enduring and enjoyable biopics.

That’s largely because the genre has gone through some pains to get here. For years, biopics were paint-by-numbers affairs, drawn up to make a quick buck and maybe score an Oscar nomination or two.

Now, most filmmakers have figured out that there are better, more cinematic ways to tell these stories. Some of the best biopics on our list still tell a person’s story from birth to death (or close to it) but do so with a grandness that reflects the way their life was lived. Others focus on a specific period, moment, or event in a person’s life and demonstrate its importance, which encourages reflection on how that particular story still resonates in the present.

This biopic renaissance didn’t happen overnight. Throughout film history, directors have taken risks that paid off in the form of timeless biopics that pushed the genre forward. These are 15 of our favorites.

Related: The Real People Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro Portray in Killers of the Flower Moon • The Tragic True Story of the Ferrari Movie • Why Michael Oher Doesn’t Like The Blind Side

Director Spike Lee takes the approach of sharing a large percentage of the life of one of America’s most well-known and impactful civil rights leaders : Malcolm X . It’s an approach that has failed more often than not, but over three hours, Lee and star Denzel Washington are able to give Malcolm’s life the richness and attention to detail it deserves in this 1992 film. The result is a fully three-dimensional portrait that follows the man from childhood to his 1965 assassination and many places in between.

Tick, Tick…Boom!

The layers in the feature film debut of director Lin-Manuel Miranda are truly one of a kind. The 2021 movie introduces us to Jonathan Larson (played by Andrew Garfield), who became best known for writing the broadway musical Rent . But in Tick, Tick…Boom! , he’s both struggling to break into the musical industry and, in a parallel but future-looking story, acting in the musical he wrote before Rent . That musical? Tick, Tick…Boom! about a writer struggling to break into the musical industry. It all makes sense—somehow—on the screen, and it’s both wildly entertaining and tinged with tragedy for people who know Larson’s fate. (He’d never get to see Rent premiere.)

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I’m Not There

Most biopics feature one primary actor depicting the portions of an individual’s life that are best known to the general public. Many others might feature a younger or older actor showing the subject at a different phase of their life. I’m Not There , meanwhile, tells the story of Bob Dylan using six very distinct actors to portray the iconic singer-songwriter in various eras of his life. Among the six in this 2007 release are Christian Bale , Richard Gere , the late Heath Ledger , and, improbably, an Oscar-nominated Cate Blanchett .

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Here, the biopic turns into a horror movie (with one of the most uncomfortable but appropriate musical scores of the last decade), as we follow former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (played by a never better Natalie Portman ) in the immediate aftermath of her husband’s assassination in 1963. In this 2017 film, Chilean director Pablo Larraín takes you deep into what was a national tragedy, but he does so in a uniquely personal way. In one of the film’s most devastating scenes, we see Kennedy trying to wash her husband’s blood off her body . From there, it flips, and we see her put in painstaking work to shape the way history will remember the 35th U.S. president .

The Wind Rises

A rare animated biopic, this 2013 stunner from Japanese legend Hayao Miyazaki (of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke fame) is an interesting companion piece to this summer’s hottest biopic, Oppenheimer . It depicts the life and career of Jiro Horikoshi, an engineer whose aircraft designs were eventually adopted and used by Japan during World War II. While his work advanced his field tremendously, the film shows him wracked with guilt over the way it was used, while he also deals with personal tragedy. It’s a tremendous achievement that takes advantage of its presentation to become arguably the most fanciful biopic ever.

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Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most well-known figures in American history, but books and speeches can only do so much to show the person behind the ideas. Director Ava DuVernay ’s 2014 film centers around the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, explicitly showing it wasn't the act of one man but so many, including people killed in acts of racial violence. Still, where it stands out is in its portrayal of King, who carries the hopes, fears, and memories of all these individuals on his shoulders at all times, whether he’s sitting at home with his family, in an Alabama jail cell, or in the Oval Office. The result is a portrait of an icon who’s flawed, overwhelmed, and occasionally unsure of himself.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Similar to DuVernay’s work on Selma , director Marielle Heller peels back the veil on a person famous for their goodness in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood . Her focus is Fred Rogers , the famous children’s television star, but what’s especially interesting about Tom Hanks ’ portrayal of him in the film is that his on- and off-screen personas aren’t dramatically different. The film is centered on a journalist profiling Rogers who assumes someone presenting as this kind must have another side. But in this 2019 film, we learn that while Rogers might have had feelings of sadness, anger, and anxiousness, he actively chose kindness every day, which in turn made everything else feel insignificant.

One of the more fictionalized biopics on the list, this 1984 Oscar-winning epic, adapted from a Tony Award–winning play, takes the unique approach of showing the life, work, and peculiarities (that laugh!) of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart through the eyes of one of his lesser-known contemporaries, Antonio Salieri. As played by F. Murray Abraham, Salieri is consumed by jealousy, revulsion, and deep, deep admiration for his rival composer. As he gets closer to Mozart, he sees a similarly tortured soul, and for viewers, Mozart’s layers of caricature fade away.

Another biopic out of the tumult that was the United States in the 1960s, this 2001 masterpiece from director Michael Mann crosses between sports and politics with a hand as deft as its subject’s left. We see Muhammad Ali , played with remarkable complexity by Will Smith , from his first title fight to his famous knockout of George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle.” All the while, we’re shown the unforgettable details that made him one of the greatest icons of the 20th century—notably, the grace with which he moved around the ring and the acid on his tongue in a pre-fight interview—as well as the almost unbearable heaviness he carried on his shoulders that came with being Muhammad Ali.

Raging Bull

Staying in the boxing ring, this is arguably the quintessential biopic and one of the most admired films by one of cinema’s most admired directors, Martin Scorsese . In it, Robert De Niro plays Jake LaMotta , the world middleweight champion from June 1949 to February 1951. The 1980 film explores the ups and downs of his fighting career, his mob connections (including an infamously thrown fight in 1947), and the always tumultuous, often rage-filled, and violent relationships he had with his wife, Vikie, and his brother and manager, Joey. De Niro won his second Oscar for playing LaMotta—a performance for which he gained 60 pounds to play an older version of the fighter.

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In the 1960s, big, booming historical epics were all the rage. Lawrence of Arabia , Dr. Zhivago —if it had a musical overture and an intermission, people were there and all about it. (It was kind of weird.) But one biographical film that came a little later (in 1981) stands out as an especially successful epic with a number of historical figures criss-crossing at a monumentally important historical event: the start of the Russian Revolution. Among the figures profiled in the underrated Reds are Jack Reed ( Warren Beatty , who also directed the film), a journalist and activist who wrote one of the defining portraits of this period; Louise Bryant ( Diane Keaton ), his counterpart and on/off romantic partner; famous American playwright Eugene O’Neill ( Jack Nicholson ); and feminist and anarchist Emma Goldman (Maureen Stapleton). And throughout, all of the individuals featured and events chronicled are given color through real-life interviews with men and women who were actually there.

Marie Antoinette

This 2006 biopic is straight vibes. Set in pre-Revolutionary France, it features Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette not even pretending to have an accent. Converse sneakers are famously seen in the background of a shot. And the soundtrack, featuring The Strokes and The Cure among others, couldn’t sound less appropriate for the period. But by severing the connection with the time period as harshly as—well, nevermind—director Sofia Coppola crafts something that’s able to gently remind viewers this movie is a relatively simple story about a young girl who embraces the luxury around her because she’s in an otherwise impossible situation.

Julie & Julia

This 2009 Nora Ephron –directed biopic earns inclusion on this list first and foremost thanks to a truly iconic performance from the great Meryl Streep as the beloved chef, author, and television personality Julia Child . She injects tremendous heart into the role without losing some of the quirky gestures that made so many people fall in love with Child, among them blogger Julie Powell ( Amy Adams ), whose journey with Child’s cooking elevates the film further into the pantheon of best biopics. It’s a unique approach that demystifies its subject by both showing us her life and showing someone else wrestling with it.

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An Angel at My Table

Janet Frame might not be a household name in America like other biopic subjects on this list, but hers was a life so full that a young New Zealand director named Jane Campion turned it into a true cinematic effort in 1990 in just her second feature film. Frame eventually became a renowned literary figure, and the film is based on three separate autobiographies she wrote covering different periods in her life, from childhood to adulthood. She suffered a number of personal tragedies early in her life and was later diagnosed (inaccurately) with schizophrenia. In the film’s most dramatic and pivotal scene, she learns that her first collection of short stories will be published just days before she’s scheduled to undergo a lobotomy.

Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin dissect one of the most influential individuals of the past century (you’re quite possibly reading this article on one of his devices) in this 2015 biopic. When you picture Steve Jobs in your head, you probably imagine him in black on a stage introducing a product, and this film takes place on three such days across a roughly 15-year span. But while he looks the part, Michael Fassbender’s Jobs is instead shown as vain, short-tempered, and vindictive. It’s a harsh juxtaposition, but as a biopic, it’s a fascinating experiment that is also very well-acted and relentlessly paced.

John Gilpatrick is a freelance writer and film critic from the Lehigh Valley, PA. He loves movies about space and movies about oil drillers (especially when they go together). He also thinks the Star Wars prequels are mostly OK and that Ivan Reitman's Draft Day is a low-key masterpiece. He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS). You can read more of his reviews and columns at JohnLikesMovies.com .

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10 Best Biographical Movies of All Time, According to IMDb

From 'Malcolm X' to 'Braveheart', these figures have certainly left us with quite an impression.

It's in our nature to show interest in prominent figures who have shaped the world we live in today. Whether those people are world leaders, musical prodigies, boxers, or activists, they have influenced and shaped our world in some way, shape, or form.

RELATED: 10 Best Biopic Movies of the 21st Century (So Far)

Over the years, filmmakers have taken a particular interest in retelling the stories of widely-known public figures to those who might not have known about their incredible impact and the stories that lie behind these legends or simply as a tribute to honor them.

‘Amadeus’ (1984) — 8.4/10

Released in 1984, Amadeus is a biographical film loosely based on the life of the Austrian musical prodigy , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . The film focuses on the personal struggles Mozart ( Tom Hulce ) faced in alcoholism, and his marriage, while simultaneously dealing with an envious rival, Antonio Salieri ( F. Murray Abraham ), who wants to destroy him at all costs.

Though there were many dramatized and fictionalized aspects of the film, the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri is loosely based on rumors dating back to the 1770s . Throughout the years, however, many published works suggest that historians have not been able to find any evidence of any signs of rivalry. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, of which it won eight, including the highly regarded Best Picture. It also won an additional 32 awards from other associations.

‘Gandhi’ (1982) — 8.1/10

Gandhi is a biographical film based on the events that occurred in the life of the adored Indian leader, Mohandas Gandhi (more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi). After spending most of his life experiencing India under British rule, Gandhi ( Ben Kingsley ) tries to stand up for his country. Owing to his extensive accomplishments for India and the world, it's no wonder the film has a longer than average running time of 191 minutes (3 hours and 11 minutes).

His non-violent approach through civil disobedience and efforts against the British eventually led to India’s long-awaited independence and earned him an international reputation as one of the most beloved world leaders today. The film was nominated for numerous awards and won many, including eight wins from the Academy Awards.

‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962) — 8.3/10

Lawrence of Arabia tells the story of a British Lieutenant T. E. Lawrence ( Peter O’Toole ), who, with extensive knowledge of Bedouin tribes (nomadic Arab tribes), is sent to Arabia to serve as the link between the Arabs and the British in their battle against the Turks. Against the order of his superior officer, Lawrence, along with Sherif Ali ( Omar Sharif ), commences on a long desert journey with the plan of attacking a Turkish port.

With a running time of nearly four hours (3 hours 42 minutes to be exact), most of the general audience would likely not want to commit to watching the film, but the film's commercial success has that proven wrong. Renowned film critic Roger Ebert noted that despite the lengthy running time, Lawrence of Arabia “is not dense with plot details. It is a spare movie in clean, uncluttered lines, and there is never a moment when we doubt the logistical details of the various campaigns.” The film won many accolades, including seven Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and more.

RELATED: Elvis: 6 Best Music Biopics To Watch After Baz Luhrmann’s New Film

‘Schindler’s List’ (1993) — 9.0/10

Steven Spielberg ’s epic historical drama Schindler’s List is set in the Polish city of Kraków during World War II. The film is based on the heroic acts of a German industrialist, Oskar Schindler ( Liam Neeson ), and his vigorous attempts to save more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. When he sees how many refugees are ruthlessly killed by the heartless SS Amon Göth ( Ralph Fiennes ) in Kraków, Schindler begins to employ the Polish-Jewish refugees to work in his factories.

In 2018, The Los Angeles Times published an article titled “Why ‘Schindler’s List’ remains brilliant and troubling 25 years after its release”, noting that despite its brilliance, some were concerned about “whether it’s morally defensible to dramatize unspeakable horror and trauma via the language of mass entertainment.” Many stories, however, are asked to be told in a dramatized way movies are a more approachable and exciting medium for the general population to learn about history.

‘Malcolm X’ (1992) — 7.7/10

Spike Lee ’s self-titled biographical film, Malcolm X , is a tribute to the African-American activist Malcolm X (or Malcolm Little). The film explores X’s ( Denzel Washington ) whole life , from growing up in a poor household in rural Michigan to being arrested for performing robberies alongside his friend Shorty (Spike Lee) and a woman named Peg ( Debi Mazar ). While imprisoned, he meets another convict Baines ( Albert Hall ), who becomes a mentor to him and eventually converts him to Islam and consequentially as a member of the religious and political organization, the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm becomes highly invested in the group and idolizes its lifestyle teachings, such as resenting White people for mistreating his race. After being paroled from prison, Malcolm begins preaching and, years later, becomes the spokesperson of the Nation of Islam. However, after speaking out controversial statements and finding out that the group leader Elijah Muhammad ( Al Freeman Jr. ) is somewhat a hypocrite and has numerous children out of wedlock, he announces his loss of faith in Islam. Malcolm becomes the founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which is an organization that focuses on tolerance instead of racial separation.

‘Raging Bull’ (1980) — 8.2/10

The Hollywood biographical classic Raging Bull follows the story of an Italian-American middleweight boxer, Jake LaMotta ( Robert De Niro ). LaMotta's struggles were reflected in his career as a middleweight boxer. At age nineteen in 1941, he fell in love with a fifteen-year-old girl named Vickie ( Cathy Moriarty ), whom he married four years later in 1945.

LaMotta was always worried that Vickie was sleeping with other men, and this anxiety sent him into a downward spiral because that was the start of his uncontrollable rage. Ultimately, his life crumbles, leaving him with nothing but despair. Raging Bull has often been described as one of director Martin Scorsese ’s best directorial works , and the same goes for Robert DeNiro — one of his best performances as an actor.

RELATED: 10 Best Lookalike Actors In Biopics

‘The King’s Speech’ (2010) — 8.0/10

The King’s Speech is a historical drama film about Prince Albert and his journey to becoming King George VI ( Colin Firth ), who wanted to improve his speech impediment, a stammer. His wife, Queen Elizabeth I ( Helena Bonham Carter ), resorts to an Australian speech and language therapist, Lionel Logue ( Geoffrey Rush ), who she believed was the best person to help her husband.

Throughout the process, many doubted whether anyone would take his throne seriously, but with persistence and trust from the future King and Logue, they defied all odds. The future King finally gave his first radio wartime broadcast speech flawlessly. A first-class script, followed by the strong performances by Firth and Rush, led The King’s Speech to win 70 out of a staggering 185 nominations, including four Academy Awards, seven BAFTAs, and a Golden Globe Award.

‘GoodFellas’ (1990) — 8.7/10

GoodFellas follows the story of a mob associate named Henry Hill ( Ray Liotta ), who, having grown up in an environment amongst the mobs, becomes one himself. He begins working for a member of the Mafia, Paul Cicero ( Paul Sorvino ), along with his associates, Jimmy “the Gent” Conway ( Robert DeNiro ) and Tommy DeVito ( Joe Pesci ). Hill’s upbringing and those around him perhaps blur his moral values, and despite being a man who enjoys his money and the luxuries that come with it, he chooses to ignore the affliction he has caused others.

His morality worsens after struggling with drug addiction, and his carelessness causes him to lose everything he ever knew and had; money, luxury, self-respect, identity, and family. Master filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas has stood the test of time and earned the reputation of being one of the best gangster films ever made.

‘Braveheart’ (1995) — 8.4/10

The 1995 biographical film, Braveheart , is based on the history behind the late 13th-century Scottish warrior Sir William Wallace ( Mel Gibson ), who led his fellow Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against England’s King Edward I ( Patrick McGoohan ). Wallace’s motivation started from a young age when King Edward I conquered Scotland and treated the Scottish disrespectfully. The English King later also executed Wallace's newly-married wife, Murron MacClannough ( Catherine McCormack ), after threatening to expose his soldiers who raped her.

Wallace’s long-pursued battle for Scottish independence led him to become the historic legend he is today. Braveheart went on to win many prestigious awards, including four Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

RELATED: 10 Best Award-Winning Historical Movies of All Time (in Chronological Order)

‘Patton’ (1970) — 7.9/10

Patton focuses on the life of the controversial American General, George S. Patton ( George C. Scott ). The film explores his accomplishments, starting from his first glory in the Battle of El Guettar in Tunisia and subsequently gaining the respect of the army officials and generals. It was his outspokenness and the controversial statements he made, however, which determined the consequential end to his career. He was removed from command for criticizing the US post-war military strategy and further comparing American politics to Nazism.

The epic historical drama became a cinema classic and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in the United States and the Academy Film Archive. Patton was nominated for ten Academy Awards, of which it won an impressive seven, and many more awards from other respected accolade associations.

KEEP READING: 7 Critically-Acclaimed Movies That People Might Not Realize Are Autobiographical

10 great autobiographical films

As Joanna Hogg dramatises her own experience as a young filmmaker with The Souvenir, we take a look back at 10 other great cinematic autobiographies.

29 August 2019

By  Tom Huddleston

The cinema screen is a window, but it can also be a mirror. Every filmmaker takes inspiration from the world around them; just a few have the honesty, audacity and/or ego to turn their life stories into art. As  Joanna Hogg  releases her starkly autobiographical new work  The Souvenir  – and in the wake of  Pedro Almodóvar ’s equally self-examining Pain and Glory (2019) – we take a look at some of the most notable films taken directly from a filmmaker’s own experience.

Dramatised autobiography in early cinema was relatively rare – the first audiences wanted spectacle, not everyday reality. And even when filmmakers did draw on their own histories these tended to be heavily stylised, as with  Jean Vigo ’s groundbreaking  Zéro de conduite  (1933), a deeply misunderstood film in its time.

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But three decades later Vigo’s masterpiece would prove a vital influence on one of the most widely seen autobiographical movies,  Les Quatre Cents Coups .  François Truffaut ’s frank evocation of his own childhood arrived right on the cusp of the Me Generation, joining popular works of art, music and literature in taking inspiration from the self; attempting to make the personal universal.

In the decades since, autobiographical dramas and documentaries have only increased in popularity – for younger filmmakers they’re a direct route to self-expression; for more experienced directors they can be the perfect cap on a storied career. And while these films can fall prey to indulgence, autobiography has produced more than its share of masterpieces. Here are 10 of the very best.

Zéro de conduite (1933)

Director: Jean Vigo

Opening with white titles over a soundtrack of schoolkids bellowing like animals, Jean Vigo’s 40-minute epic is looser and more free-spirited than almost any other film of its era. But Zéro de conduite (or Zero for Conduct, the mark given by teachers for bad behaviour) is also more intimate and personal than was fashionable at the time, drawing directly on the young writer-director’s years at a French boarding school and basing the four central characters on his friends and himself.

Depicting childhood as a time of anarchistic rebellion against repressive authority, Vigo’s film was immediately controversial – one review compared it to “lavatory flushing”, while the French Ministry of the Interior banned it for 12 years, citing the film’s potential for “hindering the maintenance of order”. Vigo would create one more extraordinary film – the 1934 classic L’A talante – before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 29.

My Childhood (1972)

Director: Bill Douglas

On the evidence of his unflinching trilogy of autobiographical dramas –  My Childhood ,  My Ain Folk  (1973) and  My Way Home  (1978) – it’s a marvel that Scottish filmmaker  Bill Douglas  survived at all, let alone went on to a successful career in cinema. Shot in the grainy, austere monochrome of wartime news footage and told with the simplicity of a religious parable, My Childhood follows 10-year-old Jamie, the child of an absentee father and a mentally damaged mother, growing up in the coalfields of Newcraighall near Edinburgh (later films would see Jamie consigned to a childrens’ home, before finding solace in friendship and self-expression).

This is autobiography as expiation, a chance for Douglas to confront and exhume the grim spectres of his past. But these stories are universal too, and powerfully political: taken together, the trilogy is both a compassionate call to action and a lament for all the world’s abandoned children.

American Graffiti (1973)

Director: George Lucas

Barely a decade had elapsed between the events depicted in  George Lucas ’s wistful  second feature  and the film’s production. But already, the early 60s had come to seem like the distant past, a pre-Vietnam, pre-revolutionary era of innocence and freedom (at least for straight, white American boys).

Loosely fictionalising his own high school graduation night, Lucas recreates the drag-strip culture of Modesto, California in 1962, where diner waitresses wear rollerskates, the Beach Boys are permanently blasting from tinny car stereos and the worst trouble you could possibly get into is a dust-up with a greaser gang. Shot on a shoestring but a massive hit with audiences, the film single-handedly sparked a wave of baby-boomer nostalgia that led to everything from Happy Days to Showaddywaddy. Its success also gave Lucas a blank cheque for his next project, a little space movie for kids.

Mirror (1975)

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Widening the concept of autobiography to include members of his own family – his poet father Arseny Tarkovsky, his mother Maria Vishnyakova – and ultimately the entire Russian populace in the 20th century,  Andrei Tarkovsky ’s most oblique and wondrous film is aptly named. Here the idea of the lens as a reflective surface reaches its apotheosis – but this mirror is a broken one, the film a shattered series of reflective fragments tied together with strands of poetry and haunting images of a dying man.

The result is unique and gripping as Tarkovsky unites the personal and the political, shifting from colour to monochrome, from the present to the past, from dream to reality. Of all the autobiographical films on this list,  Mirror  most perfectly evokes the actual experience of memory – its unpredictability, its ungraspable beauty, its poignancy.

The Big Red One (1980)

Director: Samuel Fuller

Independent maestro  Samuel Fuller  drew on his experiences as an infantryman in the Second World War for this abrasive episodic  epic . Named for the emblem of the US First Infantry, the film follows a platoon of American soldiers from the relative innocence of the North Africa campaign through the battlefields of Sicily, Normandy and the Rhineland to the liberation of the concentration camps.

Carelessly re-edited for its initial release and only restored three decades later, it’s an unforgiving and often unsettling watch, flipping from hardboiled humour to heroic action to abject horror, caught somewhere between admiration for the men who fought, regret for their sacrifice, respect for the achievements of the US military and outright disgust at humanity’s ruthlessness. It also contains some of the most surreal and striking scenes in cinema, from a pitched battle in an active mental ward to the birth of a baby in the belly of a marooned tank.

The Long Day Closes (1992)

Director: Terence Davies

Taking inspiration from the great Bill Douglas,  Terence Davies  is another British filmmaker whose best work is inspired by his personal history. From his breakthrough feature  Distant Voices, Still Lives  (1988) to Liverpudlian love-poem  Of Time and the City  (2008), Davies mined his childhood as a working-class boy from a tight-knit Catholic family for every ounce of pathos.

A loosely structured companion piece to Distant Voices,  The Long Day Closes  is a more evocative, experiential film than its predecessor, immersing us in its young hero’s sensual world; what he sees, touches and especially what he hears (this is a film filled with music, from grand opera to film musicals to singalongs in the pub). Davies knows every inch of these streets, every thread of every gown, every note of every tune – and the result isn’t so much autobiography as recreated reality.

The Alcohol Years (2000)

Director: Carol Morley

Am I the person I believe myself to be? That was the question posed by  Carol Morley  as she embarked upon  The Alcohol Years , a brutally honest documentary in which she explores her own misspent youth with the aid of friends from the time, many of them rediscovered via a series of personal ads placed in the Manchester press. Morley wanted to know – needed to know – if she was as much fun to be around as she thought she was at the time or, as she suspected, just a messy drunken nightmare.

The process of discovery is what drives the film – this is autobiography as detective work, as Morley pieces together a period of her own past that she’s managed to almost entirely forget. It’s also a fascinating depiction of Manchester in the post-industrial, pre-Hacienda 80s – a city that, like Morley herself, has fought to escape its past.

This Is England (2006)

Director: Shane Meadows

Shane Meadows  had flirted with autobiography before – both  TwentyFourSeven  (1997) and  A Room for Romeo Brass  (1999) were inspired by his Midlands childhood – but  This Is England  was more direct than either. The main character’s name is a slight giveaway: Shaun Fields is a lonely suburban adolescent who finds friendship with a gang of good-natured skinheads, only to be drawn into a subculture of white nationalism and mob violence.

What makes This Is England fascinating is that Meadows didn’t stop there, spinning off three additional long-form TV series in which the characters – initially based loosely on real people – took on lives of their own, the focus shifting until his alter-ego Shaun became almost a side-player in his own story. The result is something far more ambitious and affecting than simple autobiography – an epic but still fiercely personal examination of working class lives in the 1980s.

Persepolis (2007)

Directors: Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi

Autobiographical animation is relatively rare, but in 2007-08 a pair of films – French-Iranian coming-of-age tale  Persepolis  and Israeli war memoir  Waltz with Bashir  – turned traumatic memories into expressive animated art. Of the pair, Persepolis is perhaps the more approachable, recounting the story of rebellious, middle-class Iranian adolescent Marji as her family are uprooted and driven into exile by the Islamic revolution.

Based on co-director  Marjane Satrapi ’s own comic book, the film utilises the same monochrome graphic style – but for added realism, Satrapi would act out every scene for her team of animators, giving them a physical framework to work from while ensuring that the film remained as directly autobiographical as possible. The result drew inevitable condemnation from the Iranian government and protests in Tunisia, plus, bizarrely, complaints from American parents, who found its depiction of religious oppression too harrowing for their precious offspring.

The Beaches of Agnès (2008)

Director: Agnès Varda

Reinventing and revitalising the autobiographical documentary,  Agnès Varda ’s late-period films are playful, poignant and richly imaginative, almost a genre unto themselves.  The Beaches of Agnès  is as much a junk-shop collage as a documentary, mixing up old photos, home footage, movie images and digicam travelogue to examine the director’s own past, from childhood holidays in Belgium to (modest) fame as a photographer, artist and new wave filmmaker.

In the hands of a less skilful, more self-important director – as opposed to a self-described “little old lady, pleasantly plump” – this might have been insufferable. But Varda is a joy to spend time with, roving the thrift markets of Paris and setting up a mirrored art-show on the beach, revisiting the tiny port where she and her family sheltered on a houseboat during the war, while generously opening up her overstuffed memory-box and inviting us to rifle inside.

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20 Best Biopic Movies of All Time

Hollywood and other film industries have always been fascinated with the lives of famous people. That’s why we have so many biopics made right since the beginning of cinema. Not all of them are great, but we certainly have seen a fair share of really good biopic movies. From Gandhi to Zuckerberg, Hollywood has tried its hand on making biopics on people from all strata of life. Now, let’s look at the list of top biopic movies of all time. You can watch several of these best biopic movies on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

20. Nixon (1995)

Hopkins had quite a run after he won the Academy Awards for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991), but the boldest work of his career was as President Richard Nixon in this outstanding bio from Oliver Stone . As one of the most polarizing figures of the seventies, Nixon was a true statesman, but a flawed and paranoid man, doomed as a world leader. He captures the wounded soul of the disgraced President in every way. Looking nothing like him, he instead captures his essence and speech pattern and becomes Nixon before our very eyes.

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19. Bugsy (1991)

Warren Beatty was always an interesting actor, but with his work here as murderous gangster Benjamin Siegel, he proved he was a great one. With movie star good looks, Siegel landed in Hollywood and quickly took over all gangland related activities and when visiting the desert, he had a vision of what became Las Vegas. Obsessed with his Flamingo Hotel in the desert, he failed to see his girlfriend was stealing from the mob, which brought Siegel down. Beatty is terrifying in his rages, deluded in his belief he can kill Mussolini, yet gentle and kind with his family and friend Meyer Lansky.

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18. Chaplin (1992)

A brilliant actor ready for the performance of his lifetime, stuck with a weak script, a cowardly director not willing to show his subject warts and all, Robert Downey Jr. still gave one of the great performances of all time, beautifully capturing Chaplin and his artistry. Sadly neither the director nor script took advantage of Downey being so far into character; the actor was gone, Chaplin remained. With an edgy actor such as Downey, why explore the more controversial aspects of his life? They had an actor ready to cut loose and they failed him.

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17. Downfall (2005)

Is it possible to humanize Hitler, possibly the most hated and evil man to ever exist? Bruno Ganz did that very thing in the superb German film ‘Downfall’, which explores the last days Hitler was alive in his bunker, the Soviets not far from the heart of the city. Hands shaking, frail, obviously drugged heavily, he knows the end is near and what is coming; he knows what the reaction will be to his Death Camps. Often gentle and kind with those around him, other time he flies into a rage when his orders are not followed. In the end, the monster was all too human, just a man. An astounding, brave performance.

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16. Lincoln (2012)

The moment we laid eyes on him in the opening moments of the film, and he spoke in that surprising high reedy voice, audiences felt they were encountering Abraham Lincoln, possibly the greatest American who ever lived. Daniel Day-Lewis poured over books, found descriptions of his voice, his gait, the manner in which he spoke and the deep melancholy he carried with him and brought it with him to his performance. His co-stars claimed they never met Day-Lewis until the film’s premiere; they knew only President Lincoln. This profoundly fine performance won the actor his third Academy Awards for Best Actor.

Read More: Best Women Centric Movies of All Time

15. The Aviator (2004)

As the young Howard Hughes during his Hollywood years, before the madness set in, Leonardo DiCaprio is truly outstanding. Blessed with a brilliant, inquisitive mind, he is always looking to the skies, even in his first film, ‘Hells Angels’ (1930), which he re-shot after the advent of sound. Fascinated with aviation, he built planes, making them bigger and faster, crashing one of them in downtown LA, forever damaging himself. It is a bold, outstanding performance that beautifully explores a troubled mind. The genuine fear in his eyes when he has one of his spells is truly frightening because he is never really sure if he can snap out of it.

Read More: Best Bond Movies of All Time

14. The Last King of Scotland (2006)

In portraying the purely evil yet charismatic Idi Amin Dada, actor Forest Whitaker gave a performance for the ages, winning every single award available to him that year. As self appointed President, actually dictator of Uganda, he takes a young Scottish doctor under his wing and it is through that man’s eyes we see the monster appear. Whitaker is brilliant, seething with anger and contempt for those who defy him, believing himself to be a God. Terrifying.

Read More: Best Sequels of All Time

13. Patton (1970)

As one of the greatest warriors in the history of the United States military, General George S. Patton did as he pleased often defying his superiors’ orders. George C. Scott is magnificent as Patton, one of the screen’s greatest performances and refused the Oscar he won for Best Actor. That iconic image that opens the film — Scott dwarfed by a massive flag — once seen can never be forgotten.

Read More: Best Horror Movies of All Time

12. My Left Foot (1989)

On the rise as an actor when he made this lovely, gritty film about Irish artist/writer Cristy Brown, afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth, Day-Lewis won the Academy Award and several other awards in announcing himself as a major new acting force. His eyes ablaze with intellect and purpose; his body betraying him with constant shaking, twitching, everything out of control except his left foot. The actor brings us the fierce mind that was trapped in that wretched body. Despite his affliction, he was gifted, horny and a heavy drinker. Day-Lewis is a miracle in the film.

Read More: Best Superhero Movies of All Time

11. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

As stock swindler Jordan Belfort, who became obscenely wealthy before the FBI brought him down, Leonardo DiCaprio gives a brilliant performance – the best of his career. The young actor brings a furious energy to the performance and brash confidence, moving through the film like a young rock star. Whether stoned on drugs , smashed out of his mind, or arguing with his gorgeous wife, the actor is a revelation and force of nature. He is electrifying from beginning to end, always in motion, scheming, descending slowly into his own hell.

Read More: Best Action Movies of All Time

10. The Social Network

Made at a time when Facebook had reached meteoric height’s, ‘The Social Network’ works as a powerful commentary on modern times and feels utterly fresh, even after six years. It deserves a place on every such list because of the treatment by David Fincher . Led by powerful performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield , it is a deeply personal tale which works on so many levels, and is a study on the nature of friendship , ambition and power.

Read More: Best Comedy Movies of All Time

Helmed by Bennett Miller (who also directed ‘Foxcatcher’), ‘Capote’ chronicles the life of Truman Capote during the period when he was writing his non-fiction novel, ‘In Cold Blood’. Superbly constructed, the film feels bleak and sublime at the same time, as it tries to convey the horrors of the killings. But the movie stands out chiefly because of the honest and riveting performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman , which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. It is sad that we’ve lost a truly great artist.

Read More: Biggest Hollywood Hits Movies of All Time

8. Malcolm X

At a run time of 200 minutes, ‘Malcolm X’ is a long movie. But it never seems long, thanks to a phenomenal performance by Denzel Washington , and nuanced direction by Spike Lee . The film dramatizes chief events of the life of African American activist Malcolm X. The film received much skepticism and criticism even before it actually hit the screen, mainly because of the sensitive nature of the subject. But it received overwhelming critical acclaim upon release. Denzel Washington was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his standout performance, but lost out to Al Pacino , which many think was unfair on the Academy’s part.

Read More: Best Movie Villains of All Time

7. The Pianist

Roman Polanski is a director known for his technical prowess, edgy direction and excellence in handling the noir genre of cinema. But in ‘The Pianist’ , the visionary director takes his skills and gives us a devastating biographical drama. ‘The Pianist’ is the moving life-story of Władysław Szpilman, a Polish pianist and composer, portrayed by Adrien Brody , who loses his family during the Holocaust. Polanski paints a bleak, harrowing landscape – drawing from his own experiences of the war – and gives us a terrifying, yet human tale of hope and survival .

Read More: Best Time Travel Movies of All Time

Richard Attenborough’s enduring masterpiece ‘Gandhi’ is still fresh in the hearts of the millions of Indians who watched it at the time when it was released. Made on a very large-scale and featuring actors from both Hollywood and Bollywood, this biographical drama feels fiercely authentic. The direction is quite traditional, and is exactly what a biopic of this scale needed; after all, it was about an ordinary man who did extraordinary things. Sir Ben Kingsley’s commanding presence as Mahatma Gandhi is one of the pioneering examples of biopic performances.

5. The Elephant Man

David Lynch is a master of his craft, and is a tough director to watch. His body of work – original and largely cerebral – proves that beyond a shadow of doubt. But in ‘The Elephant Man’, the visionary director outdoes himself and shows us an intensely moving tale about a disfigured man trying to find his place in society. It is based on the life of Joseph Marrick, a man suffering from severe deformity. The film depicts his life in a Victorian freak show and his relation with Dr. Frederick Treves, who tends to him later, and provides him shelter. Technically brilliant, and at times quite bleak – considering the nature of the subject – the film is especially noted for the make-up done on John Hurt for him to look the part. It is historically quite significant because the Academy was criticized for failing to recognize the efforts gone in the make-up process, and only after this film was the category for Best Make-up introduced.

Read More: Best Overrated Movies of All Time

4. Raging Bull

There are boxing movies and then there is ‘Raging Bull’ . This Martin Scorsese gem is the biographical account of the boxer Jake LaMotta, his rise to fame and his personal struggles. Scorcese pours his heart out in this picture, which is so perfectly crafted that it works both as a sports movie , and as a tragic drama. Robert De Niro gave an explosive and riveting performance as Jake LaMotta, rightfully taking home the Best Actor Oscar for this role. Shot entirely in Black and White , the movie came out in the same year as ‘The Elephant Man’, competing for the Best Picture award. Unfortunately, neither of the two won the award, which went to ‘Ordinary People’.

Read More: Biggest Box Office Disasters of All Time

3. Goodfellas

Hailed by many as the second best gangster movie ever, (first being ‘The Godfather’ ) ‘Goodfellas’ is a riveting crime drama based on a non fictional book Wiseguy, chronicling the rise and fall Henry Hill, a crime family associate. Plumbing the obscene depths of crime, ‘Goodfellas’ is an enduring tale about loyalty, betrayal and the corrupting nature of power. Martin Scorsese delivers perfection in this ageless film, which boasts of marvelous performances by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and the swashbuckling Joe Pesci (who took home the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for his performance.)

Read More: Best Heist Movies of All Time

2. Schindler’s List

I won’t say much about ‘Schindler’s List’ here. Widely regarded as one of the best pictures in the history of cinema, ‘Schindler’s List’ is Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, and is truly a work of art. With the Second World war as the backdrop, with the Nazi terror achieving terrible heights, ‘Schindler’s List’ is a moving tale about one man’s change of heart, and how he becomes a messiah. But, oh, it still doesn’t occupy the top spot on this list. Wonder why? Well, scroll down to find out which film holds that honor.

Read More: Best Visually Stunning Movies of All Time

1. Lawrence of Arabia

A film so grand and epic in scope that it commands multiple viewings. Really, get a Blu-ray and watch it on a big screen TV. Made in 1962, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is David Lean’s magnum opus. It is a riveting saga about the life of British archaeologist T.E Lawrence and the role he played during the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Everything about this movie is beautiful in a terrific, haunting way, crafted by a film-maker at the peak of his powers. The melodious score by Maurice Jarre, the authentic, breathtaking cinematography by F.A Young (the desert never looked so mesmerizing ), and a powerful performance by the-then newcomer Peter O’ Toole , make this movie one of the greatest films of all time . Its influence can still be felt in modern biopics.

Read More: Best Screenwriters of All Time

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15 Movies That’ll Help You Reach Your Self-Improvement Goals This Year

We look for forms of inspiration in different places — books, music podcasts. But, if you're avid movie buff — and a visual person — it might be a film that brings you the boost you're looking for when you're trying to achieve something and better yourself. There are films that can be transformative in the way you look at health, wealth, and wellness, or even give you access to a more creative side of yourself. Whether it's a biopic that inspires you to turn the world upside down for the betterment of society or a documentary that helps you declutter your life, certain movies can serve as catalysts for personal change. These 15 films will help you reach your self-improvement goals this year.

Experiencing different stories can ignite new ideas for your self-improvement. Maybe your goal is to eat healthier. Maybe you have aspirations to travel more, or foster healthy relationships. Maybe you'll discover something you hadn't even thought of, and go after it.

Some of these films may seem like unusual sources of inspiration, (yes, Bird Box has the capability to make you a better person), and others may be a little more obvious. But improving yourself, in whatever matter you choose, is what life's all about, right?

So grab your notepad, put on one of the movies below, and start writing down your short and long term visions for this year.

1. Minimalism

Want to declutter and live a minimalist lifestyle in the new year? Living with a surplus of items, in many ways, may seem like the American Dream — and that’s what our society has thrived on for so long. Minimalism explores the way material items and consumption can't and don't provide us with long-lasting happiness.

Stream it on Netflix.

2. Southpaw

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a boxer who sets out to get his life back on track after experiencing a personal tragedy. There’s little here you haven’t seen in other boxing movies, but it's the type of film that will get you back on your feet after facing personal defeat.

3. The Greatest Showman

Yes, this is the year to continuously declare that you are who you are! If one of your goals is to live fearlessly and be in control of your own thoughts, this is for you. Be inspired to be you even in the face of someone or something who criticizes your personality.

Stream it on HBO Go.

In the pursuit of personal happiness? Directed by Robo Belic, Happy looks at what makes individuals happy on all levels, including the scientific.

5. Living On One Dollar

Setting financial goals can help you examine your spending. Living on One Dollar follows four friends in rural Guatemala, who battle illness and hunger as they experiment with living on just a dollar a day for eight weeks.

Stream it on Amazon.

6. Private Life

Do you have struggles that you've been afraid to share with other people? Or feel alone in your daily battle to get what you desire? Private Life is a movie that will help you shift your thoughts on the difficult things you want so badly. Whether or not you can relate to this couples' experience with fertility issues, this movie will put things into perspective.

7. Bird Box

Yes, you've read that right. Let me submit for your consideration the deeper messages that Bird Box includes: The film honestly speaks on multiple levels about confronting your worst fears, trusting your gut, walking by faith, and shutting out the noise of the negative.

8. The 15:17 To Paris

This movie is all about true-life heroism: during a 2015 Thalys terrorist train attack, three American passengers (which are the stars of the film) leapt into action. This movie will motivate you to stand up for whats right this year, no matter the cost.

9. Fittest On Earth

This documentary follows some of the world’s fittest athletes as they compete in the CrossFit Games, to prove that they are the best at what they do. This documentary will light a fire under your feet to get moving.

10. My Left Foot

This is a true story of Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis), a boy diagnoses with cerebral palsy, who grows up to become a famous author and painter. Christy learned to use the one body part he could control for almost everything, so this film with remind you that what you have is exactly what you need to reach your goals.

11. I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore

This movie will definitely increase your faith in humanity, especially if getting to know the people around you is a 2019 goal. A fearful nursing assistant (Melanie Lynskey) teams up with her neighbor to hunt down the robbers who broke into her house.

12. Julie & Julia

This film will inspire you to pick up one of Julia Childs' cookbooks and learn some new skills in your kitchen.

13. The Intouchables

When a Parisian aristocrat becomes a quadriplegic after a paragliding accident, he hires a young man to be his live-in caretaker and the two end up developing a very close friendship and challenge one another to live better lives. The plot might look a little familiar to you because the remake, The Upside featuring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston, just released this year.

14. A Good Year

If you're looking for a change in scenery, this movie will inspire you to broaden your horizon. A Good Year follows a London-based banker Max Skinner (Russell Crowe) who inherits his uncle's (Albert Finney) vineyard in Provence, Italy.

15 . Never Back Down

A young man named Jake (Sean Faris) moves to a new city to live with his mother (Leslie Hope) and brother (Wyatt Smith). When he goes to his new school he gets pushed into a fight and humiliated. But, he finds a new found confidence when he takes on martial arts to stick up for himself.

Stream it on Hulu.

This is the year to push past fear, fight for what you want, and empower others, all while you accomplish your own goals. So do your part, and open yourself up to newer and deeper resolutions by watching these inspirational films.

Best Biopics Ever Made, Ranked

The silver screen is a faithful servant to good biographical films, as the genre is undisputedly the darling of both the Academy Awards and Hollywood.

The silver screen is a faithful and loyal servant to a good biographical film; the genre is undisputedly the darling of both the Academy Awards and Tinsel Town, with over a dozen biographical dramas winning Best Picture and numerous actors winning for their portrayals of real-life historical figures. Biopics are a tried and true style of movie-making that are more often than not slam dunks with both the box office and critics alike. Despite the genre being brought to the big screen more frequently in recent years, their effectiveness and impact remains consistent.

Update August 8, 2023: In honor of the release of Oppenheimer, this list has been updated by Callum Jones with even more great biopics.

Whether depicting the life of an esteemed physicist, Wild West outlaws , or even United States President Abraham Lincoln himself, biopics are the cream of the crop in Hollywood cinema. Many of these films helped skyrocket the careers of both their directors and their actors , serving as stepping stones in their lucrative and successful careers. These are some of the best biopics ever made.

Depicting the fascinating life of worldwide film icon Charlie Chaplin, 1992’s Richard Attenborough biopic Chaplin stars Robert Downey Jr. as “The Little Tramp” in a searing performance. The film features an elderly Chaplin as he recollects his incredible life journey for his autobiography, from his poverty-stricken roots to worldwide success. With a talented supporting cast including Dan Aykroyd, Marissa Tomei, and even Chaplin’s real life daughter Geraldine Chaplin, the movie was released on the fifteenth anniversary of the beloved star’s death.

Despite mixed reviews for the biopic itself, Downey Jr.’s performance was lauded and garnered critical acclaim. It is arguably his finest role to date and won him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor, along with an Academy Award nomination. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Downey becomes Chaplin, re-creating his character and his chilly soul so precisely that even the comedian’s daughter Geraldine, a featured player here, was both impressed and unnerved.”

14 The Theory of Everything

2014’s critically acclaimed biopic The Theory of Everything is a poignant portrayal of the relationship between renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife, Jane. The film was adapted from Jane Hawking’s 2007 memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, and she provided input and insight for the script. The Theory of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as the famous couple, with the former spending six months researching Hawking’s life and mastering his accent and speech patterns. The biopic was a massive hit both commercially and critically, with Redmayne specifically receiving immense praise and winning the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Leading Actor.

13 Walk the Line

Telling the story of famous American country musician Johnny Cash, James Mangold 's 2005 biopic, Walk the Line , sees Joaquin Phoenix take on the role of the "Ring of Fire" singer. The film uses two of Cash's autobiographies as the basis for the script - 1975's Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words and 1997's Cash: The Autobiography - and details the late singer-songwriter's rise to fame, his two marriages, and his addiction to drugs.

Co-starring Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Robert Patrick, the movie was a box office hit and gained rave reviews from critics. It also earned five Academy Award nominations, with Phoenix taking home the award for Best Actor. Indeed, though the film, in general, is solid, like many biopics, it's the performance of the leading man that makes Walk the Line truly great. Phoenix completely transforms into Cash, even managing to expertly imitate the singer's infamous voice. It is a subtle yet charismatic performance that stands out as among the best of the Phoenix's career .

12 The Elephant Man

1980's The Elephant Man tells the real-life story of an English man, Joseph Merrick, who adopted the cruel nickname "The Elephant Man" owing to his severe facial deformities as a result of a rare genetic disease. Set in Victorian London, the film portrays the friendship between Merrick (played by John Hurt) and Frederick Treves, a surgeon who rescues Merrick from a freak show and who sees the disfigured man for the kind-hearted and intelligent person he truly is.

Directed by David Lynch , the film garnered critical acclaim upon its release and went on to receive eight Academy Award nominations at the 53rd annual ceremony. Hurt's performance, in particular, was lauded by critics, with Vincent Canby of The New York Times calling his portrayal "Truly remarkable". The Elephant Man a haunting yet beautifully moving tale of compassion, acceptance, and seeing beyond another's appearance.

11 Straight Outta Compton

When it was released in cinemas in 2015, F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton almost instantly became a financial success and a modern-day classic. Set in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, the film revolves around the formation and break-up of hip hop group N.W.A, whose members consisted of rappers Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella. Titled after the group's debut album, it depicts their early success in the music industry, their rise to mainstream popularity, and the feuds, disputes, violence, and deaths that surronded the group.

Related: Best Biopics About Black Music Icons, Ranked

Straight Outta Compton is different from your average musical biopic. In fact, it's better . With N.W.A members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre serving as producers, along with Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, the film is raw, honest, and provocative, and doesn't shy away from the more unpleasant aspects of hip-hop culture. Ultimately, though, it is acted and superbly directed celebration of the genre.

10 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Starring two of Hollywood’s most talented and revered actors, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, 1969’s American western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was initially met with a mixed response but, over time has become a distinguished classic. Loosely based on Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker (Butch Cassidy) and Harry Longabaugh (the “Sundance Kid”), it features the infamous duo on the run from a crack US posse after an extensive string of train robberies. Numerous A-list actors were initially tied to the picture, such as Jack Lemmon, Warren Beatty, and Steve McQueen, but it was Newman and Redford who nabbed the roles and dished up iconic performances as the American legends.

9 Oppenheimer

Acclaimed director, Christopher Nolan, is no stranger to taking on films that deal with real-life figures or events. After all, he previously directed 2017's Dunkirk , which told the story of the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II, as well as 2006's The Prestige that, although largely a fictional story, featured real-life inventor Nikola Tesla, among its main characters. 2023's Oppenheimer , however, can be classed as Nolan's first true biopic.

Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus , by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film depicts the life and career of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) - the inventor of the nuclear bomb. Told across several different timeframes in a non-linear style, it follows the titular character's early life in academia, his recruitment to the Manhattan Project and the development of the nuclear bomb, the bomb's use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and subsequent hearings that see Oppenheimer accused of communist sympathies.

A three-hour R-rated biopic about the father of the nuclear bomb should've been alienating to a general audience. However, with Nolan's attachment, an all-star cast , rave reviews, and its link to the social media phenomenon known as "Barbenheimer ," Oppenheimer has become one of the highest-grossing biopics ever. Fortunately, it lives up to the hype.

Detailing the life of the lawyer who would go on to become the famed leader of the nonviolent revolts against British rule, 1982’s Gandhi stars Ben Kingsley in the titular role. The biopic focuses on Mahatma Gandhi’s life from a defining moment in 1893, in which he was thrown off a South African train for being in a whites-only compartment. The film concludes with his tragic assassination and subsequent funeral in 1948.

The stunning picture was praised for its historical accuracy upon its release, as was Kingsley's outstanding performance and production values. It received 11 Academy Award nominations and won eight, including Best Actor (for Kingsley), Best Picture, and Best Director. Gandhi is a deeply moving and enlightening epic that features an emotionally driven performance by Ben Kingsley and beautifully depicts the civil rights leader’s riveting life.

7 The Social Network

When David Fincher's The Social Network was released in 2010, the social media platform, Facebook, had only been around for six years. In that time, the website had amassed an impressive 500 million global users and had become the third-largest web company in the US. A film that documented the company's meteoric rise was, therefore, a no-brainer. With a script by Aaron Sorkin , the movie depicts Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), who initially develops a website called "Facemash" that allows users to rate the attractiveness of female students on campus. This soon grows in popularity, spreading to other colleges and attracting the attention of wealthy investors.

Related: The Social Network: 5 Reasons Why it Should Have Won the Best Picture Oscar

The Social Network is a gripping story that is surprisingly small and contained, given the scale of its subject matter. Though a few artistic liberties were clearly taken, Fincher's direction, Sorkin's script, and Eisenberg's lead performance ensure the film is an expertly crafted and entertaining one, even if it's not always historically accurate. And with an Academy Award-winning score by Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network is undoubtedly one of the best biopics of the twenty-first century that still has a lot of relevance today .

6 Malcolm X

Spike Lee’s epic biography Malcolm X portrays the life of the controversial and highly influential Black Nationalist leader, from his beginnings as a small-time gangster to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam. The dynamic Denzel Washington stars as the infamous African-American activist and features the additional talent of Hollywood greats Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, and Al Freeman Jr.

Spike Lee told The New York Times that he never envisioned any other actor in the lead role, saying that Denzel “really captured Malcolm” in his Off-Broadway portrayal of him. Largely based on the 1965 book The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the film earned rave reviews, with famed critic Roger Ebert raving that the biopic was “one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the sweep of an American life that bottomed out in prison before its hero reinvented himself.”

Heavily regarded as one of the most diverse and gifted actors of all time, Daniel Day-Lewis added another feather to his impressive cap when he starred as United States President Abraham Lincoln. Known famously for his method acting approach, Day-Lewis spent a year preparing for the role, reading over 100 books on Lincoln and speaking in his voice throughout the entire shoot. The dynamic star teamed up with renowned director Stephen Spielberg for Lincoln , which was lauded upon its release, with Day-Lewis and Field garnering particular praise. The actor’s dignified and regal portrayal of the 16th president was impressive and inspiring, and he would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

4 Goodfellas

Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece biographical crime film Goodfellas narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill, covering his relationship to wife Karen Hill and his ill-fated ties with mob partners Tommy DeVito and Jimmy Conway. Some of the silver screen’s finest stars headline the film, with Ray Liotta portraying Henry Hill, Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito, and Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway.

Depicting 25 years of the mobster’s life from 1955 to 1980, Goodfellas is jam-packed full of suspense, degradation, and intense violence that is critical to the authenticity of the biopic. The powerful performances of its talented cast and Scorsese’s masterful storytelling and directing were celebrated, and Goodfellas is heavily regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.

3 Raging Bull

The biographical sports drama Raging Bull is another Martin Scorsese knockout that is considered the gifted director’s magnum opus. The classic film depicts the life of boxer Jake LaMotta, an Italian-American middleweight whose temper and violence led him to extreme success in the ring but destroyed his life outside it. Robert De Niro iconically leads the drama as LaMotta, and trained extensively with the real-life boxer in preparation for the role.

Related: Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro Movies: A Ranking of Their 9 Collaborations

Frequent future Scorsese collaborator Joe Pesci co-stars as Jake’s younger brother and manager Joey LaMotta; Pesci, at the time, was a struggling actor and was scouted by De Niro himself. Raging Bull debuted to an initial lukewarm response, mostly due to its violent content. Despite such a reception, De Niro’s performance garnered widespread acclaim, and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

2 Schindler’s List

Steven Spielberg’s heart-wrenching 1993 historical drama Schindler’s List is based on the Thomas Keneally novel Schindler’s Ark and follows German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who helped save more than a thousand manly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. Spielberg approached Schindler’s List as a documentary and shot the film in black and white, despite his reservations on whether he was mature enough to create such a picture. The esteemed director famously forwent a salary for the project, declaring it “blood money.” Liam Neeson took on the lead role of Oskar Schindler and was cast in part because he was a relative unknown; Spielberg did not want an actor’s star quality to overpower the character.

Schindler’s List received universal critical acclaim with its atmosphere, directing, performances and tone heralded. It was the recipient of seven Academy Awards and is considered one of the best films in cinema history, with The New Yorker calling it a picture that “will take its place in cultural history and remain there.”

1 Lawrence of Arabia

The 1962 epic British historical drama Lawrence of Arabia details the life of T.E. Lawrence, an English officer who triumphantly united and led the often tumultuous Arab tribes during World War I. Acting great Peter O’Toole stars as Lawrence, and the film stunningly depicts his emotional struggles with the violence of war and his conflicted allegiance with his home of Britain and his Arabian comrades. Lawrence of Arabia was an adored phenomenon among critics and viewers alike, with its screenplay, visuals, and performance by O’Toole all lauded.

The groundbreaking biopic is considered a cinematic masterpiece and rightfully won seven Academy Awards. It is regarded as one of the most influential films ever crafted, with O’Toole’s portrayal touted as one of the finest in all cinema history, perfectly tapping into what makes a biographical performance great.

The Best Biographical Movies Of 2021

The best 2021 biopics entertain you while also giving you a better sense of who a celebrity or historical person was in real life.  Judas and the Black Messiah  gives insight into the chairman of the Black Panther Party in the the late '60s as well as the FBI's plan to take him down.  United States vs. Billie Holiday  is another 2021 biographical film that shows a historical figure going toe to toe with an entity of the federal government. These are just a few of the great biographical films that are coming out in 2021 and there are bound to be a few Oscar contenders on the list below.

But which one deserves to be at the top of the list? You get to help decide by voting up your favorite 2021 biopics and voting down the ones that you think fellow cinephiles should skip this year. Be sure to check back for new and upcoming biopics as they are added to the list once they are released.

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24 Most Inspirational Movies

Whether it’s a new year or just time for a new you, here’s 24 of the most inspirational movies for 2024, to fill up your motivational watch list as you’re looking to become more active, make time for loved ones, learn new hobbies and skills, engender change at work, improve mental health, and travel more.

(Photo by Amazon Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection)

MOVIES TO ENERGIZE HEALTHY HABITS

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019) 88%

Chariots of Fire (1981) 83%

Fight Club (1999) 80%

Rocky (1976) 92%

(Photo by Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)

MOVIES TO INSPIRE CAREER GOALS & SUCCESS

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 75%

Office Space (1999) 81%

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) 67%

Up in the Air (2009) 90%

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MOVIES TO IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH & HEART

The Big Lebowski (1998) 80%

Good Will Hunting (1997) 97%

Groundhog Day (1993) 94%

Yes Man (2008) 46%

(Photo by A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection)

MOVIES TO REMIND YOU TO CHERISH THE MOMENTS

Big Fish (2003) 75%

Click (2006) 34%

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) 93%

The Intouchables (2011) 76%

(Photo by Open Road Films/Courtesy Everett Collection)

MOVIES TO ENCOURAGE LEARNING A NEW SKILL

Chef (2014) 87%

Julie & Julia (2009) 78%

The School of Rock (2003) 92%

The Visitor (2007) 90%

(Photo by Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection)

MOVIES TO MOTIVATE NEW ADVENTURES

Forrest Gump (1994) 76%

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) 52%

The Truman Show (1998) 94%

Wild (2014) 88%

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3 Movies That Actually Portray Mental Health Realistically

These three movies get the psychologist's badge of approval. have you seen them.

Posted May 11, 2024 | Reviewed by Ray Parker

Have you ever started watching a film hoping it would capture the reality of mental health struggles, only to feel let down by Hollywood’s glossed-over portrayals? Far too often, movies sensationalize, trivialize, or outright misrepresent the complex realities of living with psychological issues. However, if you know where to look, there are some cinematic gems that break away from stereotypes to authentically depict the human experience.

While we hope for a day when such realistic portrayals become the industry standard, these three films offer a glimpse into what it’s truly like to live with mental health issues. Beyond their brilliant production and narratives, these movies also showcase something refreshing: the raw, bitter-sweet, and gut-wrenching reality of everyday problems.

1. The Father (2020)

The Father is a poignant drama that delves into the complexities of dementia and its impact on relationships. The story is told from the perspective of a father with dementia, creating a disorienting and immersive experience for the audience. As his memory deteriorates, the film navigates his shifting perceptions of time, place, and people—gloomily blurring the lines between reality and imagination .

Trivialized portrayals of Alzheimer’s and dementia often resort to stereotypes and oversimplifications that misrepresent the true nature of the condition. These depictions typically present dementia as a simple case of memory loss or confusion and reduce its complex behavioral patterns to mere forgetfulness. Patients are frequently portrayed as absent-minded elderly individuals who become the subject of light-hearted humor or plot devices.

In contrast, real research on dementia and Alzheimer’s showcases the awful and dynamic nature of the condition—characterized by progressive cognitive decline , impaired reasoning, disorientation, and personality changes. Such studies highlight the profound emotional and psychological impact on patients and their caregivers, with implications for long-term care, legal decisions, and end-of-life planning.

The Father stands out as a film that accurately portrays the realities of dementia—one of the leading causes of death in the US—without reducing it to a single trope. It is lauded for its sensitive and honest portrayal of the impact of dementia on both individuals and their families, offering a gritty and realistic depiction of the condition’s challenges. This authenticity is why it is a must-watch; it transcends trivialization to offer a realistic portrayal that educates and evokes empathy.

2. Beautiful Boy (2018)

Beautiful Boy is a biographical drama that portrays the devastating impact of drug addiction on a family. The story follows a father as he navigates the challenges of parenting his teenage son, who becomes addicted to methamphetamine. As he cycles through periods of sobriety and relapse, the film illustrates the tension between a father’s hope and despair—as well as the profound love and heartbreak that arise from watching a loved one battle addiction.

Portrayals of addiction in film often present an exaggerated and distorted view of substance abuse and recovery. Addiction is frequently depicted as extreme and sensational, with dramatic scenes of overdose, criminal activity, and violent behavior. These kinds of films tend to focus on the most extreme aspects of addiction, often ignoring the underlying factors that lead to substance abuse. Recovery is also often depicted as a simple, linear process, which egregiously downplays the complex and long-term nature of overcoming addiction.

In reality, research on addiction reveals that it is a chronic and relapsing condition influenced by a variety of factors. It involves not only the physiological dependence on a substance but also the psychological and behavioral patterns that reinforce addictive behavior. Recovery from addiction is almost always a long journey with setbacks and relapses and requires ongoing support, therapy , and commitment.

What makes Beautiful Boy stand out is its focus on the human aspect of addiction—the struggles and setbacks without glorification or sensationalism. It’s a realistic and compassionate depiction of addiction and its impact on family dynamics that resonates with many. Through its unrefined and heartfelt storytelling, it manages to depict what recovery truly looks like, the support systems that are vital for healing, and the enduring bond between father and son.

3. Manchester By The Sea (2016)

Manchester by the Sea is a compelling drama that explores themes of grief , loss, and family dynamics. The film follows a man grappling with an inexplicable personal tragedy and the burden of unresolved grief. Through an additional unexpected tragedy, responsibility forces him to confront his painful past and the events that led to his self-imposed isolation.

Dramatized portrayals of grief present the experience through a series of exaggerated emotions and dramatic scenes, emphasizing heightened expressions of sadness, anger , or catharsis. These depictions tend to follow a linear progression through the “stages of grief,” suggesting that grief has a clear timeline and that individuals eventually find closure or resolution in a tidy fashion. This severely minimizes the complexity and unpredictability of grief and reduces it to a narrative device that ultimately serves the story’s emotional arc.

However, research on grief proves it to be a deeply personal and nonlinear experience. It’s not just a progression of stages but a complicated mix of emotions and reactions that vary from person to person. It encompasses ebbs and flows of shock, disbelief, sadness, anger, guilt , longing and isolation. Many studies indicate that grief can persist for years, with individuals experiencing periods of intense emotion followed by moments of calm, only for the grief to resurface unexpectedly.

What sets Manchester by the Sea apart is its raw and realistic depiction of grief. It does not shy away from the darker, challenging, and unexpected aspects of mourning. It is acclaimed for its honest depiction of grief and the complex emotions that accompany profound loss. The gut-wrenching performances and delicate storytelling illustrate the diverse impacts of trauma , the enduring ties of family, and the journey toward acceptance and forgiveness .

A version of this post also appears on Forbes.com.

Mark Travers, Ph.D., is an American psychologist with degrees from Cornell University and the University of Colorado Boulder.

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9. Schindler's List

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14. Napoleon

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25. The Big Short

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35. Michael

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38. The Pianist

39. A Complete Unknown

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