Are you looking to take a break from fiction and wondering; what movies are based on true stories on Netflix? Stay put, as we are here to present you with some of the best true story movies on Netflix that you can watch in Canada right now!
True stories are deeply rooted in cinema and Hollywood tends to present real-life events with an added spice of fun, entertainment, and cinematic effects to make them look even more realistic. Movies with real-life plots ignite true interest and completely change the watching experience with added curiosity and connection with the scenes displayed on your screen.
In fact, some of the best movies on Netflix Canada are based on true stories. With titles like the recent blockbuster The Irishman and the evergreen drama flick The Pursuit of Happiness, Netflix has an incredibly diverse catalog of the best movies based on true stories.
If you are weighing your options to watch true stories on Netflix, you can add our recommended titles to your watchlist. These titles are fun to watch and will definitely give you an entertaining binge-watching experience.
Let’s explore the best true story movies on Netflix.
16 Best True Story Movies on Netflix to watch in Canada (2022 Updated)
What is the best movie based on a true story? Frankly speaking, it’s difficult to choose from a number of impressive titles. However, we have tried to pick some of the best of the lot. From biography, crime, and historical drama, to adventure, mystery, and motivational stuff, here are the 16 best true story movies on Netflix to watch in Canada:
The Irishman (2019)
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Charles Brandt, Steven Zaillian
Cast: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Al Pacino, Ray Romano, Joe Pesci
Runtime: 3h 29m
What can you expect from Martin Scorsese? Nothing less than a blockbuster. And The Irishman is yet another feather in Scorses’s hat. Featuring an ensemble cast, The Irishman follows Frank Sheeran, a mentally preoccupied man. The retired labor union officer and a hitman, Frank mastered killing while he was deputed in Italy during World War II.
Now he recalls his past, his association with the Bufalino cabal, and the crime secrets kept by him as a close aide to the gang. Irishman is one of the best crime movies out there.
Molly’s Game (2017)
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Molly Bloom, Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Michael Cera, Idris Elba, Jeremy Strong, Kevin Costner
Runtime: 2h 20m
Molly Bloom is a young beautiful Olympic-grade skier. She runs the most exclusive and high-stake poker game of a decade before getting arrested. 17 FBI agents come in the middle of the night, carrying automatic weapons to arrest her.
Her single ally siding with her was her lawyer Charlie Jaffey, a criminal defense special. Molly’s game is one of the best drama movie you can watch in Canada right now.
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Director: Felicity Morris
Writer: Felicity Morris
Cast: Josh King Jetset Madrid, Pernilla Sjöholm, Simon Leviev, Kristoffer Kumar, Cecilie Fjellhøy
Runtime: 1h 54m
Swipe, scroll, swipe! It is not an easy task to fall in love online, so when a girl named Cecilie matches with an attractive playboy billionaire, she cannot believe her luck that he is exactly like the man she always dreamed of.
But in reality, it is not as it seems and by the time Cecile gets the truth about this multinational businessman, which he is not, it was too late. He took everything from her. Where this fantasy love story ends, an act of revenge begins.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, History
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alex Sharp, John Carroll Lynch, Sacha Baron Cohen
Runtime: 2h 9m
A supposed peaceful protest happening at the 1968 Democratic National Convention suddenly became extra violent, with a clash between the National Guard and the police. The group that organized the protest–Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, and Jerry Rubin–were arrested on the charges of conspiring to encourage a riot. The trial following that charge went down in history as one of the most scandalous court proceedings. It is one of the best movies to watch if you love thriller genre movies.
Fatherhood (2021)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director: Paul Weitz
Writer: Paul Weitz, Matt Logelin, Dana Stevens
Cast: Kevin Hart, Melody Hurd, Alfre Woodard, Paul Reiser, Lil Rel Howery
Runtime: 1h 49m
After his wife dies unexpectedly, only a day after giving birth to their daughter, a father is left alone to bring up his little baby girl. As a single dad, he faces many challenges along the way. This is about the journey of a dad who takes up both parents’ roles in his daughter’s life.
Fatherhood is a Netflix original movie and undoubtedly one of the best true story movies on Netflix!
Rescued by Ruby (2022)
Genre: Drama, Family, Biography
Director: Katt Shea
Writer: Karen Janszen, Squire D. Rushnell, Louise DuArt
Cast: Grant Gustin, Sharon Taylor, Camille Sullivan, Scott Wolf, Kaylah Zander
Runtime: 1h 30m
Another one in the list of the best True Story Movies On Netflix, Rescued by Ruby, an Australian shepherd/border collie mixed breed dog, had so much energy in her. The original owner of Ruby gave her up to an animal cruelty prevention organization, due to her “unmanageable” personality. There she got quickly adopted but returned even faster five times. After saving her from being put down, officer Daniel O’Neil took her with him. This is a true tale of these two underdogs who pursued their dreams together.
The Highwaymen (2019)
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: John Fusco
Cast: Kevin Costner, John Carroll Lynch, Woody Harrelson, Thomas Mann, Kathy Bates
Runtime: 2h 12m
From the maker of The Blind Side John Lee Hancock, The Highwaymen is another must-watch Netflix original film. It chronicles the incredible, untold heroics and genius of two legendary detectives; Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, who hunted down Clyde and Bonnie. When all the manpower of the FBI, coupled with the advanced forensic technology isn’t enough to get hold of the evilest criminals in the country, these veteran Texas Rangers must count on their gut intuitive genius and outmoded skills to pin the delinquents.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, History
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt
Runtime: 2h 37m
Maya, who is a CIA agent, is in charge of interrogating the prisoners caught after Al Qaeda’s attacks on the 11th of September 2001 in the U.S. Earlier she has been working for several years to find out the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda.
Finally, after the attacks in 2011, it seems that the work she’s been doing will finally pay off. Must watch this as it is one of the best true Story Movies On Netflix.
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Genre: Drama, Biography
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Writer: Steve Conrad
Cast: Will Smith, Brian Howe, Thandiwe Newton, James Karen, Jaden Smith
Runtime: 1h 57m
A struggling salesman Chris Gardner, living day to day struggling to survive, finds himself backed up to the wall by life. With nothing left in his hands after his wife leaves him and Christopher, their five-year-old son. The financially troubled father will now have to look after his son solely.
After much hard work, he gets his hands on an unexpected six-month unpaid internship. Now, Chris is hooked on becoming a stockbroker. However, sometimes life can be so cruel and challenging.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Stan Redding, Jeff Nathanson, Frank Abagnale Jr.
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Tom Hanks, Brian Howe, Christopher Walken
Runtime: 2h 21m
Catch Me If You Can is the true crime story about a con man, Frank Abagnale Jr. who successfully conned many people of cheques worth millions of dollars. And he did it all before even reaching his 19th birthday pretending to be a Pan Am pilot, a legal prosecutor, and a doctor.
A special FBI agent decides to pursue him and it becomes his mission to bring him to justice. But Frank dodges his capture successfully many times.
Leave No Trace (2018)
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Director: Debra Granik
Writer: Anne Rosellini, Debra Granik, Peter Rock
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Michael Draper, Ben Foster, Peter Simpson, Jeffery Rifflard
Runtime: 1h 49m
Will and his young daughter, Tom, have been living in the forests, off the grid away from the world, for years. An ideal life in the vast urban park of Portland in Oregon. A small mistake made by them derails their living style forever.
With their idyllic life shattered, both of them are signed up for social services. After not being able to fit in with the new surroundings, both set their path on a mortifying journey back to the wild, their real homeland.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013)
Genre: Drama, Biography
Director: Lee Daniels
Writer: Wil Haygood, Danny Strong
Cast: Forest Whitaker, David Banner, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack
Runtime: 2h 12m
Son of a sharecropper, Cecil Gaines grew up as a domestic servant in the 1920s. His family was servants to a white family who destroyed him. Eventually starting out his career on his own, Cecil became a valet server in a hotel.
Working with efficiency he became a butler in the 1950s in the White House. The movie revolves around Cecil as he maps out his life with every passing year.
Blue Miracle (2021)
Genre: Drama, Biography, Adventure
Director: Julio Quintana
Writer: Chris Dowling, Julio Quintana
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Fernanda Urrejola, Jimmy Gonzales, Isaac Arellanes, Miguel Angel Garcia
Runtime: 1h 35m
To reclaim their bankrupted orphan house, a caretaker and his orphan kids pair up with the captain on a washed-up boat to get a chance and win a high-paying fishing competition.
And if they won the tournament, the share of prize money they would get can save their orphanage from the 30-day ultimatum of the bank.
The Dirt (2019)
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Writer: Rich Wilkes, Tommy Lee, Amanda Adelson
Cast: Douglas Booth, Aaron Jay Rome, Iwan Rheon, Brittany Furlan, Colson Baker
IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
Runtime: 1h 47m
The Dirt is based on a best-selling autobiography 2001 novel by Mötley Crüe. This unflinching story revolves around drugs, sex, fame, rock ‘n roll, and the high price that comes with success.
The movie shows how Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, and Vince Neil brought Mötley Crüe to the world stage from Sunset Strip, and how it must have felt to be the most scandalous rock band in the world.
Against the Ice (2022)
Genre: Drama, Adventure, History
Director: Peter Flint
Writer: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ejnar Mikkelsen, Joe Derrick
Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Charles Dance, Joe Cole, Lin Gallagher, Heida Reed
Runtime: 1h 42m
In 1909, a group of voyagers set out to find the truth about the ice-covered Greenland area. Having been lost in the ice and many companions dead, two of them make it to their base camp and ship, only to find out that they are left behind presumed dead. Now they struggle in these ice-covered lands to survive. If you are into adventure movies then we recommend you checking out best adventure movies.
Lost Girls (2020)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Crime
Director: Liz Garbus
Writer: Michael Werwie, Robert Kolker
Cast: Amy Ryan, Dean Winters, Thomasin McKenzie, Molly Brown, Gabriel Byrne
Runtime: 1h 35m
When the daughter of Mari Gilbert disappears, police neglect and carelessness regarding the case lead Mari to investigate the matter on her own. She went down to the place, a gated Long Island community, where her daughter Shannan was seen last time.
Her keen search for her daughter also brought attention to many other murders of sex workers that happened there. Now, Mari won’t let it slip easily and will go to all lengths for justice. Lost girls is one of the best mystery movies out there
Conclusion
Although it’s difficult to find outright truth and reality in cinema, including docuseries, movies that are inspired by true events can be fascinating and intriguing, especially when the viewers know that what they are watching on screen has been a part of history in reality.
There is a plethora of based on true story movies on Netflix to watch in UK, that are extracted from real-life events. As a matter of fact, these true story movies on Netflix are some of the best titles on Netflix, without any exaggeration.
We hope you won’t be looking around anymore, finding what Netflix movies are based on a true story. Watch these incredible titles and come back to us for more suggestions.