Movies - historical
by TheMovieBaron | created - 01 Feb 2019 | updated - 29 Dec 2022 | PublicMovies based (sometimes loosely) on historical events - look up further info on actual history
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1. Chappaquiddick (2017)
PG-13 | 106 min | Biography, Drama, History
Depicting Ted Kennedy's involvement in the fatal 1969 car accident that claims the life of a young campaign strategist, Mary Jo Kopechne.
Director: John Curran | Stars: Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Bruce Dern
Votes: 14,599 | Gross: $17.40M
2. A United Kingdom (2016)
PG-13 | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King Seretse Khama of Botswana and how his loving but controversial marriage to a British white woman, Ruth Williams, put his kingdom into political and diplomatic turmoil.
Director: Amma Asante | Stars: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Tom Felton, Jack Davenport
Votes: 16,983 | Gross: $3.90M
3. Loving (2016)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision.
Director: Jeff Nichols | Stars: Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Will Dalton, Dean Mumford
Votes: 36,368 | Gross: $7.70M
4. The Exception (2016)
R | 107 min | Drama, Romance, War
A German soldier tries to determine if the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the home of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland during the onset of World War II, but falls for a young Jewish Dutch woman during his investigation.
Director: David Leveaux | Stars: Lily James, Jai Courtney, Christopher Plummer, Ella Holland
Votes: 15,398 | Gross: $0.61M
5. Mary Magdalene (2018)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Twelve men heard and spread the message of Jesus. Only one woman understood it.
Director: Garth Davis | Stars: Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tahar Rahim
Votes: 11,543 | Gross: $0.12M
6. Darkest Hour (2017)
PG-13 | 125 min | Drama, War
In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn
Votes: 220,664 | Gross: $56.47M
7. I, Tonya (2017)
R | 119 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.
Director: Craig Gillespie | Stars: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson
Votes: 242,661 | Gross: $30.01M
8. Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
Mary Stuart's (Saoirse Ronan's) attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.
Director: Josie Rourke | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn
Votes: 55,306 | Gross: $16.47M
9. LBJ (2016)
R | 98 min | Biography, Drama, History
Lyndon B. Johnson aligns himself with John F. Kennedy, rises to the Presidency, and deals with the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Michael Stahl-David, Richard Jenkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Votes: 7,685 | Gross: $2.47M
10. The Monuments Men (2014)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, War
An unlikely World War II platoon is tasked to rescue art masterpieces from German thieves and return them to their owners.
Director: George Clooney | Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 141,129 | Gross: $78.03M
11. Trautmann (2018)
120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The love story of a young English woman and a German PoW, who together overcome prejudice, public hostility and personal tragedy.
Director: Marcus H. Rosenmüller | Stars: David Kross, Freya Mavor, John Henshaw, Harry Melling
Votes: 6,419
12. The Command (2018)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster is followed by governmental negligence. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Peter Simonischek, August Diehl
Votes: 21,439
13. Queen Margot (1994)
R | 161 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.
Director: Patrice Chéreau | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez
Votes: 18,992 | Gross: $2.02M
14. Chariots of Fire (1981)
PG | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
Director: Hugh Hudson | Stars: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers
Votes: 65,869 | Gross: $58.97M
15. Outlaw King (2018)
R | 121 min | Action, Biography, Drama
A true David vs. Goliath story of how the 14th century Scottish 'Outlaw King' Robert the Bruce used cunning and bravery to defeat the much larger and better equipped occupying English army.
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Chris Pine, Stephen Dillane, Rebecca Robin, Billy Howle
Votes: 80,922
16. A Quiet Passion (2016)
PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Drama
The story of American poet Emily Dickinson from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist.
Director: Terence Davies | Stars: Emma Bell, Sara Vertongen, Rose Williams, Benjamin Wainwright
Votes: 6,305 | Gross: $1.86M
17. The Brontë Sisters (1979)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
In a small presbytery in Yorkshire, living under the watchful eyes of their aunt and father, a strict Anglican pastor, the Bronte sisters write their first works and quickly become literary sensations.
Director: André Téchiné | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Marie-France Pisier, Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggory
Votes: 1,218
18. Kenau (2014)
Not Rated | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
While she fights a heroic battle against the Spanish besieger with her female army, Kenau, driven by hate and sorrow of the execution of her youngest daughter, is threatened to also lose her eldest daughter.
Director: Maarten Treurniet | Stars: Monic Hendrickx, Lisa Smit, Sallie Harmsen, Peter Van den Begin
Votes: 1,759
19. Queen of the Desert (2015)
PG-13 | 128 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis
Votes: 12,574
20. Vita & Virginia (2018)
Unrated | 110 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The fascinating true story of the love affair between socialite and popular author Vita Sackville-West and literary icon Virginia Woolf.
Director: Chanya Button | Stars: Gemma Arterton, Elizabeth Debicki, Isabella Rossellini, Rupert Penry-Jones
Votes: 4,843 | Gross: $0.04M
21. Promise at Dawn (2017)
131 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A man recounts his life, from his childhood through his experiences in World War II, and the story of his self-sacrificing mother, who raised him alone.
Director: Eric Barbier | Stars: Pierre Niney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Didier Bourdon, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Votes: 3,848
22. Agora (2009)
R | 127 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hope of pursuing freedom while falling in love with his mistress, the philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Ashraf Barhom
Votes: 73,034 | Gross: $0.62M
23. Trumbo (2015)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama
In 1947, Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood's top screenwriter, until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs.
Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K.
Votes: 84,768 | Gross: $7.86M
24. The Odyssey (2016)
PG | 122 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The aquatic adventure of the highly influential and fearlessly ambitious pioneer, innovator, filmmaker, researcher, and conservationist, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, covers roughly thirty years of an inarguably rich in achievements life.
Director: Jérôme Salle | Stars: Lambert Wilson, Pierre Niney, Audrey Tautou, Laurent Lucas
Votes: 6,189
25. Saint Laurent (2014)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Yves Saint Laurent's life from 1967 to 1976, during which time the famed fashion designer was at the peak of his career.
Director: Bertrand Bonello | Stars: Gaspard Ulliel, Jérémie Renier, Louis Garrel, Léa Seydoux
Votes: 6,480 | Gross: $0.43M
26. Yves Saint Laurent (2014)
R | 106 min | Biography, Drama
A look at the life of French designer Yves Saint-Laurent from the beginning of his career in 1958 when he met his lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé.
Director: Jalil Lespert | Stars: Pierre Niney, Guillaume Gallienne, Charlotte Le Bon, Laura Smet
Votes: 13,018 | Gross: $0.72M
27. Stockholm (2018)
R | 92 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime
Based on the absurd but true 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm that was documented in the New Yorker as the origins of the 'Stockholm Syndrome'.
Director: Robert Budreau | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace, Mark Strong, Christopher Heyerdahl
Votes: 14,706 | Gross: $0.30M
28. To Kill a King (2003)
Not Rated | 102 min | Biography, Drama, History
A recounting of the relationship between General Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, as they try to cope with the consequences of deposing King Charles I.
Director: Mike Barker | Stars: Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, Olivia Williams, James Bolam
Votes: 3,408
29. Eiffel (2021)
R | 108 min | Biography, Drama, History
The government is asking Eiffel to design something spectacular for the 1889 Paris World Fair, but Eiffel simply wants to design the subway. Suddenly, everything changes when Eiffel crosses paths with a mysterious woman from Arun's past.
Director: Martin Bourboulon | Stars: Romain Duris, Emma Mackey, Pierre Deladonchamps, Armande Boulanger
Votes: 7,546
30. The Girl on the Train (2016)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux
Votes: 199,328 | Gross: $75.40M
31. A Royal Night Out (2015)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
On V.E. Day in 1945, as peace extends across Europe, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret are allowed out to join the celebrations. It is a night full of excitement, danger and the first flutters of romance.
Director: Julian Jarrold | Stars: Sarah Gadon, Bel Powley, Emily Watson, Rupert Everett
Votes: 11,080 | Gross: $0.20M
32. The Physician (2013)
R | 155 min | Adventure, Drama, History
In 11th-century Persia, a surgeon's apprentice disguises himself as a Jew to study at a school that does not admit Christians.
Director: Philipp Stölzl | Stars: Tom Payne, Stellan Skarsgård, Olivier Martinez, Emma Rigby
Votes: 41,920
33. True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)
R | 124 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang flee from authorities during the 1870s.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Ben Corbett
Votes: 13,175
34. Emily (2022)
R | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
"Emily" imagines the transformative, exhilarating, and uplifting journey to womanhood of a rebel and a misfit, one of the world's most famous, enigmatic, and provocative writers, who died, too soon, at age 30.
Director: Frances O'Connor | Stars: Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling
Votes: 8,115
35. Long Way North (2015)
PG | 81 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
In 1882, a young Russian aristocrat goes on an epic adventure to find out what happened to her grandfather and save her family's reputation.
Director: Rémi Chayé | Stars: Christa Théret, Féodor Atkine, Thomas Sagols, Rémi Caillebot
Votes: 3,908
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