The Best 2023 Movies About Modern History
Truth is often stranger than fiction. Consequently, true stories are common fodder for film. Biopics are not meant to just entertain, but to also tell a real-life story. It adds to the appeal to know engaging events seen on screen are based in reality.
Whether it’s a saga about the serial murders that took place on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma in the 1920s or the story of the rise and fall of the Beanie Baby in the 1990s, biographical movies were as popular as ever in 2023.
Of course, no biopic tells the whole story, and there is always “creative license” to consider. However, these historical films deliver at the very least the bare bones of the drama, and can pique a viewer's interest in learning more on a topic.
Vote up the movies of 2023 that taught you a piece of history you didn't know before.
- 126 VOTESPhoto: Universal Pictures
Christopher Nolan's epic biopic Oppenheimer details the story of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer's (Cillian Murphy) development of the atomic bomb and his role in the 1940s Manhattan Project.
The film delves into Oppenheimer's career and the design of his atomic weaponry, which was later used in the WWII nuclear bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The scientist is devastated that his creation was used for such massive destruction and attempts to limit the future use of nuclear weapons.
In the 1950s, the Government successfully tarnished Oppenheimer's public image and influence. The film explores the involvement of many different players in Oppenheimer's rise and fall, and also recreates the Trinity test in stunning detail.
- 218 VOTESPhoto: Amazon Studios
Who didn't own a pair of Air Jordan sneakers in the 1980s?
Ben Affleck's Air tells the true story of how a then-failing company called Nike bet all their money on an unproven NBA rookie named Michael Jordan (Damian Delano Young). Nike's basketball scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) knew that Jordan would be a legend and sought to strike a deal with him despite the poor odds (given that Jordan was known to be a fan of Adidas).
The film details how Nike signed Jordan to a business deal that led to the creation of the famed Air Jordan sneakers, focusing more on the perspective of the Nike executives, agents, and Jordan's mother Deloris (Viola Davis) than on the athlete himself, who only appears briefly.
Air Jordans went on to generate billions of dollars for both Nike and Jordan, becoming one of the most successful and well-known athlete product deals in recent memory.
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- 310 VOTESPhoto: Apple TV+
In the biographical drama Tetris, software designer Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) becomes intrigued with the game Tetris while attending a Consumer Electronics Show in 1988. The now-infamous block-stacking game is the creation of a Russian programmer named Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov).
Rogers knows the game could be a huge hit and works to obtain the licensing rights. He travels to Russia in order to work with the game's inventor and take Tetris to the world. However, he's not the only person trying to grab the game's international rights. The American must outmaneuver the competition in a dangerous Cold War-style battle that crisscrosses the globe.
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- 417 VOTESPhoto: Paramount Pictures
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio teamed up for the seventh time for the epic Western Killers of the Flower Moon. The movie was based on the non-fiction novel Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.
The drama takes place in 1920s Oklahoma. Oil is discovered on a Native American reservation turning the Osage nation into millionaires. Then, dozens of members of the Osage tribe start turning up dead. The FBI steps in to investigate the deaths, which are revealed to be a plot by William King Hale (Robert De Niro), in collaboration with Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and other family members, to try to steal the Osage members' rights to the oil.
Lily Gladstone also stars as Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman who marries Burkhart and fights back as she and many of her family members are targeted.
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- 513 VOTESPhoto: Sony Pictures Releasing
Dumb Money is based on the 2021 book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich (who also wrote The Accidental Billionaires, which served as the source material for the movie The Social Network). The dramedy tells the story of how a massive group of small-time investors, led by Keith Gill (Paul Dano), turn the tables on Wall Street by combining their powers.
Gill puts his entire life savings into GameStop stock. He starts a movement on Reddit to get others to invest in the company all together. In January of 2021, several hedge fund investment firms effectively short-squeeze the stock.
Over the course of two weeks, the coordinated online effort skyrockets GameStop's stock price to a 1,500 percent increase. Inevitably, not everyone is able to get out in time before the stock inevitably comes crashing down. The film takes several perspectives on different people with money on the line with GameStop stock and their differing emotions around it. The cast is full of heavy hitters, like Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, and Seth Rogen.
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- 613 VOTESPhoto: A24
There have been several movies and books about Elvis Presley centering on his perspective. Sofia Coppola's biopic tells the story from the point of view of the rock and roll star's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny).
Priscilla was adapted from the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, who also served as an executive producer. The film adaptation begins as Priscilla meets Elvis (Jacob Elordi) in West Germany when she is just 14 years old. Elvis, already a rock god, is in the service when they meet. He's also 24 years old at the time, and pursues Priscilla despite her parents expressing concern at the age difference.
The movie delves into the darker side of the pair's courtship, marriage, and inevitable separation. Priscilla pulls back the curtain on how Elvis treated his teenage bride. He controlled everything about her from the clothes she wore to the color of her hair. It's a difficult watch in some ways, and may change the way viewers look at the legendary singer.
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- 74 VOTESPhoto: Hulu
The historical crime drama Boston Strangler details how real Boston Record reporter Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) breaks the story of the notorious Boston Strangler in the 1960s.
In the true crime case, a serial killer murdered 13 women in the Boston area. The film depicts how the police department botches the investigation, but McLaughlin is able to connect the murders.
McLaughlin and fellow reporter Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) challenge sexism in order to get all the facts out to the public about the infamous case, and they also put forth a new theory about who may be responsible.
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- 84 VOTESPhoto: Big Picture Ranch
The biographical drama On Sacred Ground is based on the 2016 construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The controversial pipeline runs through the Standing Rock Indian Reservations, an area that is known as sacred ground to the Sioux. The pipeline has the capacity to transport hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from North Dakota to Illinois each day.
Native Americans protested the pipeline across multiple construction sites. Journalist/war veteran Daniel McKinney (William Mapother) is hired to write a story about the confrontation.
Daniel must decide whether to back the Indigenous people affected by the pipeline or stay out of the story.
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- 96 VOTESPhoto: Searchlight Pictures
Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi takes a football spin on Bad News Bears in the “inspired by true events” sports flick Next Goal Wins. In the movie, hapless Dutch American football coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) must accept a coaching job to helm one of the worst football teams in the world or else get fired.
The American Samoa national team became infamous after their horrid 2001 FIFA match where they lost 31-0. Rongen's goal in this comedy-drama blend is to transform the underdog squad into a qualifier for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
- 1011 VOTESPhoto: Bleecker Street
Golda tackles the complex story of Israeli prime minister Golda Meir (Helen Mirren) - the first and only woman to head Israel's government - working against all odds to help her country navigate through The Yom Kippur War in 1973.
The film details the 19 days that Meir worked with the Israeli government and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber) to help keep her country safe after a coalition of Arab forces, led by Egypt, attacked Israel during the holiest time of the year, invading the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.
Golda, who was Israel's fourth prime minister, takes the brunt of the blame for the country's devastating losses in the war.
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- 111 VOTES
Spilling Gold tells the rags-to-riches story of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart (Jeremy Jordan). In the 1970s, the record producer discovered several legendary musical acts, including Donna Summer, Parliament, Gladys Knight, the Isley Brothers, the Village People, and Kiss.
Under Bogart's talent and creativity, Casablanca Records became one of the most successful independent record labels of all time. The company defined '70s-era music and changed popular music forever.
The movie depicting this rise was written and directed by Neil Bogart's son, Timothy Scott Bogart.
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- 121 VOTESPhoto: Sony Pictures Releasing
Who says gaming is a waste of time? Gran Turismo tells the true story of three underdogs, a teenage racing game whiz, a failed race car driver, and a Nissan marketing manager, who combine forces for an unexpected project.
Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) spends almost all of his time playing the game Gran Turismo. Danny (Orlando Bloom) comes up with a plan to start the GT Academy competition to recruit gamers of Gran Turismo to see how they do as actual race car drivers. He hires Jack (David Harbour) to help him with the competition and get the new recruits prepped for handling real cars.
In 2011, the real Jann Mardenborough beat thousands of entrants and wins the job to race for Nissan. The film dramatizes the collaboration between the trio of men to get the young hotshot ready for success as he switches from playing racing sims to driving very real, very dangerous vehicles.
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- 132 VOTESPhoto: Elevation Pictures
In the early 2000s, it looked like BlackBerry would be the phone that everyone carried in their pockets forever. Matt Johnson's biographical dramedy BlackBerry was adapted from the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry.
The film tells the story of the creation of the BlackBerry mobile phone, its instant success, and the demise that came on just as quickly. The company led by Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) couldn't handle the heat that the Silicon Valley competition threw at them - especially the competition from Apple's iPhone.
As this version tells it, BlackBerry creators seal their own doom by selling out for greed and deception. The film sheds light on what led to the fad which burned so briefly and brightly, which many consumers may have forgotten about as other smartphones now dominate the market.
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- 142 VOTESPhoto: Hulu
Eva Longoria made her directorial debut in the biographical dramedy Flamin' Hot. The biopic was based on the memoir A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive by Richard Montañez.
Flamin' Hot details Montañez's (Jesse Garcia) journey from a janitor at the failing Frito-Lay company to the man who allegedly invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The Mexican-American comes up with the spicy Cheeto after taking inspiration from elotes (Mexican street corn), then pitches it to the CEO.
The massive global success of the product banked on the Latin community buying the snacks. Flamin' Hot Cheetos helped to bring Frito-Lay back to relevancy in the snack food market, and it's fitting to see the story of the man who helped make that happen.
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If you were alive in the 1990s, chances are you or someone in your family owned a Beanie Baby (or 100). The 2023 dramedy The Beanie Bubble is based on the 2015 book exploring that phenomenon, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute.
The film depicts the story of how three women - Robbie (Elizabeth Banks), Sheila (Sarah Snook), and Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan), who team up with toy manufacturer Ty Warner (Zach Galifianakis) to create the advertising and marketing plan that would make Beanie Babies a global sensation and a multi-billion dollar toy craze.
The Beanie Bubble also shows how Warner took credit for the women's work. The Beanie Bubble fad eventually died down, as did the company's bottom line, but the meteoric rise of the simple, cuddly toys remains the stuff of legends.
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