The 40 Best Movies Based on True Crimes
Murder, money, and mischief, all based in reality—plus a dash of Hollywood magic.
In this day and age, true crime is all the rage. On a fundamental level, we’re intrigued by the dark underbelly of society. Or... perhaps we’re simply intrigued by the drama. Either way, true crime allows us to immerse ourselves in the world's most bizarre and devastating tales. As strange as it sounds, that interest has only grown over the years. Recently, true crime has evolved to include novels, television series, and even podcasts—but movies remain the hallmark of great storytelling.
With a little cinematic style, a fascinating news report turns into a gripping film that you can’t look away from. Below, we’ve rounded up the best true crime movies of all time. The list includes Lost Girls's tale of missing women the organized crime saga of The Irishman, and the counterfeit literary drama Can You Ever Forgive Me? Just remember that, you know, many of these stories have a little (read: a lot) of Hollywood flair.
The Irishman
Martin Scorcese’s (extremely) full-length Netflix film The Irishman follows truck driver Frank Sheeran as he gets involved and deeply embedded in organized crime in the 1950s. The epic crime tale is based on 2004 nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt.
Unbelievable
Though technically not a feature film, this Netflix miniseries provides a twisted yet intimate view into the series of rape cases in Colorado and Washington state covered in the 2015 news story, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.” Toni Colette, Merritt Weaver, and Kaitlyn Dever deliver gripping lead performances.
Lost Girls
Documentarian Liz Garbus’s scripted feature Lost Girls provides a raw telling of one mother’s independent investigation of her daughter’s disappearance. What she uncovers, though, reveals more than she intended when her trail leads to a series of mysterious killings of sex workers.
All Good Things
Ryan Gosling stars as Robert Durst, the son of a New York real estate tycoon who becomes the suspect behind a series of murders (including that of his wife, played by Kirsten Dunst). Among the film’s acclaim was praise from none other than Durst himself, who agreed to an interview with the film’s director following the film.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, an author whose failing career led her to begin forging letters from successful deceased writers. But a scam can only go so long, and the literary pariah finds herself in a heap of trouble bigger than what led her to start peddling counterfeit letters.
The Bling Ring
A capstone of true Sofia Coppola directorial style, The Bling Ring is a flashy and deeply vapid snapshot of the Hollywood Hills teenaged crime ring made infamous for breaking into and robbing multiple celebrities’ homes in the late 2000s. If its thumping trailers don’t draw you in, Emma Watson’s performance as a shallow, nihilistic valley girl surely will.
Reversal of Fortune
Based on Alan Dershowitz’s book, Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, this docudrama explores the unexplained coma of socialite Sunny von Bülow and its consequential attempted murder trial. Following her husband’s defense against the charges, the film brings a close lens not just to the incident itself, but also to the ambiguities of marriage, wealth, and morality.
In Cold Blood
Based upon Truman Capote’s non-fiction book of the same name, In Cold Blood tells the true story of the 1959 murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Often cited as an early example of new realism in cinema, the film noire captures the truly cold-blooded nature of two killers in action.
Foxcatcher
Steve Carrell delivers a transformative performance as John du Pont, a millionaire who develops a fascination with Olympic wrestlers: specifically, brothers Mark and Dave Schultz, played by Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. The film is a grueling display of toxic masculinity and manipulation, eventually ending in murder.
Catch Me If You Can
Zodiac
Zodiac wasn’t necessarily the movie horror fans—or fans of David Fincher’s previous Seven—expected. Instead, it’s a process movie about the people who tried to unmask California’s Zodiac Killer. Studiously researched and impeccably shot, Zodiac turns into something larger and more foreboding than a spate of murders.
Memories of Murder
Before South Korean director Bong Joon-ho made international thrillers like Snowpiercer and Okja, he crafted this gem of a murder mystery, based on Korea's first serial murders. He brings his signature pitch-black humor to the story of two detectives in over their heads trying to solve the puzzling killings.
The Wolf of Wall Street
The best and boldest thing about The Wolf of Wall Street, possibly Scorsese's most indulgent movie, is how fun it makes its crimes look. Scorsese and writer Terence Winter condense fraudulent stockbroker Jordan Belfort's memoir down to basically the most sensational parts, putting you in the headspace of a man who sees other people's money as his own playpen.
Casino
Scorsese gets four movies on this list, and deserves all of them. Casino is an underrated '90s gangster effort living in Goodfellas' shadow. The cast—Robert De Niro as a low-level mobster making his way up the casino racket (based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci as the wife and friend who threaten to tear it down—is entirely perfect.
Summer of Sam
Bully
Dog Day Afternoon
The French Connection
All the President's Men
Wolf Creek
One of the great horror movies of the 21st century, Wolf Creek is also the main reason I'm scared to visit Australia. Fictionalizing two different Aussie backpack murderers, it follows three tourists venturing into the Outback who meet a stranger and... well, you know the rest. What separates Wolf Creek from other slashers is its unflinching directness; not since Michael Myers has there been a depiction of a man made of such pure evil.
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