Movies based on true stories can be even stranger than pure fiction, and some movies that seem utterly implausible are actually rooted in fact. The movie industry loves a true story. Movies which present unbelievable chapters from history can show humanity at its strangest and most extreme. Biopics, war dramas and historical epics all work because the audience is aware that there is an element of truth.

Many of the best movies based on true stories are open with their real-life inspirations, but a select few are more surprising. Horror movies, comedies and even musicals have lifted their stories from real-life events. This isn’t always immediately apparent, so knowing the story behind the story can add a surprising extra layer to these movies, and it makes them more interesting on a rewatch.

10

Cocaine Bear (2023)

Based on an American black bear that overdosed on cocaine in 1985

Elizabeth Banks’ crowd-pleasing comedy Cocaine Bear is based on a true story, but it alters this story dramatically. The movie shows the bear going on a drug-fueled violent rampage through the woods. The real story is a little sadder than this. “Pablo Eskobear,” as he has been nicknamed, was found dead next to a duffle bag filled with cocaine. Medical examiners estimated that the bear died roughly 20 minutes after ingesting the cocaine.

Although he didn’t have time to get into any comedic adventures, the real-life Cocaine Bear has still been enshrined into local folklore. His taxidermied body can be seen on display at a mall in Lexington, Kentucky. Had he behaved more like the bear in the movie, this would likely not be the case. Fortunately, there were no human casualties in the true story behind the movie.

9

Winchester (2018)

Based on the Winchester Mystery House

Winchester was a box office hit despite some negative reviews. Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren stars as the grieving widow of a wealthy arms manufacturer. Overcome with guilt for profiting off of the deaths caused by her company’s rifles, she constructs an elaborate, labyrinthine mansion in San Jose to ward off the spirits which inhabit the property. Jason Clarke plays a doctor sent by the Winchester company to assess the widow’s state of mind.

There aren’t many horror movies based on true stories, but the history of the Winchester Mystery House is even stranger than the movie portrays. Sarah Winchester’s mental state has been the topic of much debate. Some believe that, just like in the movie, she was motivated by guilt, while others suggest that she was much more intelligent and logical. Winchester was mostly filmed on location at the Winchester Mystery House, which has become a popular tourist attraction for ghost hunters and skeptics alike.

8

50 First Dates (2004)

Based on Michelle Philpots’ condition

On the surface, 50 First Dates seems like another romcom with a quirky premise to distinguish itself from the pack. But unlike, say, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or Hitch, 50 First Dates is based on a true story. Drew Barrymore plays Lucy, a woman with short-term memory loss. Her character is partly inspired by Michelle Philpots, a British woman with a similar condition who is unable to create new long-term memories.

Just like Lucy at the end of 50 First Dates, Michelle starts every day by waking up with no recollection of her marriage. Instead of watching a VHS tape to remind her of her life, she looks through a photo album curated by her husband. There aren’t many other similarities between her and Lucy, however, as 50 First Dates merely used her condition as the basis for an original story.

7

Heat (1995)

Based on Chuck Adamson’s pursuit of Neal McCauley

Heat is one of the best heist movies ever made, but unlike Ocean’s Eleven, Point Break or The Italian Job, it has its roots in reality. Michael Mann first told the story of Chuck Adamson’s pursuit of Neal McCauley in his TV movie L.A. Takedown, but he returned to the subject for Heat. Adamson served as a technical adviser on Heat. He ensured that the movie kept the spirit of the story, even though it was altered for dramatic effect.

Chuck Adamson worked as a sergeant detective in Chicago in the 1960s. Heat relocates his story to Los Angeles in the 1990s, but a lot of the details are the same. Just like in the movie, the real-life Neal McCauley was imprisoned at Alcatraz, and his crew pulled a number of heists across the city before a climactic shootout with police. McCauley died after a brief chase, but the character in Heat survives this firefight and dies much later in a one-on-one showdown with Vincent Hanna, the character created as a stand-in for Adamson.

6

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir

Winona Ryder stars in Girl, Interrupted as Susanna Kaysen, a teenager who is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and institutionalized at a psychiatric hospital. While she is there, she meets Lisa, a charismatic sociopath who frequently incites rebellions among the patients. Angelina Jolie won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Lisa, and Ryder also earned praise.

Susanna Kaysen is a real person, and she sold the rights to her memoir to be used for the movie. However, after the project was out of her hands, director James Mangold took some liberties with the story that Kaysen disagreed with. Kaysen has publicly denounced Mangold’s embellishments. Girl, Interrupted brought increased attention to forced institutionalizations and inadequate mental health treatment, but its story is only partly true.

5

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Based on the Trapp Family Singers

Musicals usually pluck their stories from the realm of fantasy, but The Sound of Music is inspired by the real story of Maria von Trapp, the governess who became the matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. Although the family found some initial success, they were forced to flee Austria after its annexation by the Third Reich in the lead-up to the Second World War. The family eventually emigrated to the United States.

Maria von Trapp first told the story of her family in her memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. This was adapted into a German movie, which in turn provided the basis for a Broadway musical, which finally became the movie musical, The Sound of Music. These layers of separation mean that some of the details of the story became embellished and bastardized before making it into the movie, so it isn’t completely faithful.

4

Nandor Fodor & The Talking Mongoose (2023)

Based on the legend of Gef the talking mongoose

Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose stars Simon Pegg as a parapsychologist who visits a rural farmstead to investigate the local legend of a mongoose that can speak English, believed to be some kind of spirit or cryptid. It sounds utterly absurd, but both Nandor Fodor and Gef the talking mongoose were famous figures in Britain in the 1930s, and Fodor’s investigation created a buzz.

There was never a lot of concrete evidence to support Gef’s existence. Witnesses often reported seeing flashes of him out of the corner of their eye, and the scant material evidence that he left behind was unconvincing. In real life, Fodor never witnessed anything out of the ordinary during his stay on the farm. In the movie, he has several conversations with Gef which suggest that the mongoose possesses some unusual psychic powers.

3

The Irishman (2019)

Based on the life of Frank Sheeran

Many of Martin Scorsese’s best movies take inspiration from true stories, such as Raging Bull, The Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas. The Irishman tells the story of Frank Sheeran, a Teamsters Union official who worked as an enforcer for Jimmy Hoffa and the mobster Russel Buffalino for decades. The Irishman uses CGI de-aging technology to allow Robert De Niro to play Sheeran at many different stages in his life.

The most controversial aspect of The Irishman is the scene which shows Sheeran killing Jimmy Hoffa, following orders from the Buffalino crime family. Sheeran confessed to the murder shortly before his death in 2003, but this confession has not been widely accepted as truthful, and Hoffa’s sudden disappearance remains a mystery. Unlike the real Sheeran, De Niro’s character in The Irishman never admits to any murders, even after serving over 30 years in prison.

2

The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009)

Based on the U.S. Army’s Stargate Project

The Men Who Stare at Goats follows a book by Mark Ronson of the same name, which tells the story of the U.S. Army’s top-secret Stargate Project. Stargate was developed at Fort Meade, Maryland during the 1970s to investigate the military potential of New Age spiritualism and psychic phenomena, such as telekinesis, remote viewing, and phasing. The project was declassified in 1995.

Although the Stargate Project did exist, the characters and events of the movie are largely fictional. The Men Who Stare at Goats uses the idea of the project as a jumping-off point, and it develops its own narrative about a desperate journalist who goes to report on the Iraq War. The movie’s title could also be based on a lie. The Stargate Project’s declassified files show that it was most concerned with the potential of remote viewing, and there is no credible source which mentions any kind of goat-related experiment.

1

Magic Mike (2012)

Based on Channing Tatum’s early adulthood

Magic Mike is a mostly fictional story, but it’s inspired by Channing Tatum’s own experiences of being a stripper in Tampa as an 18-year-old. Tatum wanted to capture the atmosphere and energy of the clubs he worked at, and the fact that he also gets to show off his dancing skills didn’t hurt the movie’s box office pull. Tatum plays Mike Lane, but the character most closely aligned with his own experiences is Adam, played by Alex Pettyfer.

The success of Magic Mike spawned two sequels, both of which strayed further from the true story of Tatum’s life. Tatum’s character becomes the focus, meaning that Adam, the character who mirrors Tatum’s own life, disappears. Magic Mike only takes inspiration from what Tatum saw while working as a stripper. It isn’t a direct adaptation of his life story in any meaningful way.