Not all movies have the power to inspire and fill us with determination. Movies based on true stories drive us to work better and harder. So, if you can’t escape your procrastination cycle, here are some Netflix inspirational movies based on true stories to help you out of your rut!
11 of the Netflix Inspirational movies are based on true stories
1. The Social Network
- Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew GarfieLd, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Tyler Winklevoss, Max Minghella
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
In The Social Network, our main character is Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), a Harvard student who hacks the student database to create a platform where all the female students can be rated on their looks by anyone who visits the platform. While Mark gets academic probation for this stunt, his creation attracts people, leading to the invention of Facebook. This entrepreneur film also focuses on the legal battles that Mark Zuckerberg faces.
The movie won the Academy Award for the Best Adapted Screenplay category.
2. Erin Brockovich
- Cast: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Tracy Walter, Peter Coyote
- IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
An inspiring story, Julia Roberts, plays Erin Brockovich, an almost broke single mother of three, who manages to become a legal secretary in a small firm. While working there, she uncovers how PG&E, an energy company, is responsible for groundwater contamination in Hinkley but is not assuming any responsibility. She then takes a stand for all the families suffering a plethora of diseases due to the contaminated water. This movie is a must-watch.
This film was nominated for at the 73rd Academy Awards.
3. Marriage Story
- Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, LAURA Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, MERRITT Wever
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
Marriage Story is an epic divorce saga, only made better by Adam Driver’s and Scarlett Johansson’s performances. The actors play a couple on the brink of a divorce – how they cope with the complex emotions that come with it. The director, Noah Baumbach, has maintained that although the film is not an autobiography, it is “deeply personal”.
Laura Dern won the best-supporting actress Oscar for her role in this film.
4. The Two Popes
- Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
- IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
The film focuses on the events that occur after the Vatican leaks scandal. Anthony Hopkins plays the role of Pope Benedict XVI, who tries to convince Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio not to resign his role as an archbishop and subsequently give up his papacy.
5. Citizen Kane
- Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, DOROTHY Comingore, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Stewart, Ruth Warrick, Erskine Sanford, William Alland
- IMDB Rating: 8.3/10
Citizen Kane is a quasi-biographical movie where Orson Welles plays Charles Foster Keynes, a character who is a blend of Chicago tycoons Harold McCormick and Samuel Insull, American media proprietors Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The screenwriters also included parts of their own lives.
This movie is said to be the best movie ever made, so
6. The Pursuit Of Happyness
- Cast: Will Smith, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, James Lassiter, Steve Tisch
- IMDb Rating: 8/10
An inspiring true story, The Pursuit of Happyness is a biographical drama where Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, who is almost broke because of a bad investment. His wife also leaves him as she cannot deal with his constant career failure. At one point, he is even evicted from his flat. The film is about how he pulls himself up repeatedly, manages to secure an unpaid internship at a law firm, and rises the rank through sheer will and hard work.
7. The Trial Of The Chicago 7
- Cast: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Daniel Flaherty, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Noah Robbins, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, and Jeremy Strong.
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Based on real-life events, the film is about a group of protestors who raised their voices against the USA’s involvement in the Vietnam war. They were charged with inciting violence at Chicago’s 1968 Democratic National Convention. The film has an ensemble cast and also touches on the rampant racism that was prevalent in America at that time.
8. The Bling Ring
- Cast: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien.
- IMDb Rating: 5.6/10
The Bling Ring is about the high school students who robbed the houses of famous Hollywood celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Orlando Bloom. It follows the true stories involving the Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch.
9. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind
- Cast: Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lily Banda
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Based on a real-life story, the film follows William Kamkwamba, a teenage boy who can no longer attend the school he loves as his family cannot afford the fees. To make matters worse, the region he lives in faces a terrible drought. Undeterred, he secretly visits the library until he comes across a picture of a windmill. The film is beautifully brought to life by the cast’s strong performances and is a must-watch.
10. Spotlight
- Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Brian d’Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, Billy Crudup
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
One of the best Netflix Inspirational movies based on true stories in journalism, the film is based on the true events of child abuse by Catholic Church priests in Boston. The movie follows the investigative team of the newspaper “The Boston Globe” and how they uncover the horrific and unprecedented abuse that the children faced at the hands of the Church all over the world. The film has an ensemble cast, complete with our very own hulk!
11. The Most Hated Woman in America
- Cast: Melissa Leo, Peter Fonda, Sally Kirkland, Rory Cochrane, Josh Lucas, Adam Scott, Juno Temple, Vincent Kartheiser
- IMDb Rating: 6.1/10
This Netflix Inspirational movie based on true stories is based on the famous and controversial Madalyn Murray O’Hair, an atheist who was outspoken about her beliefs. We are also shown her sensational court battles and her abduction.
If you have fallen in love with this inspiring movie, you can watch these great movies – The Theory of Everything (based on Stephen Hawking), Captain Phillips, The Runaways, Steve Jobs, and Hacksaw Ridge.
