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Reel Truth

How True Is The True Story?

We rate “based on a true story” movies for historical accuracy by comparing the film to real events, biographies, and trusted sources like History vs. Hollywood.

How We Rate

We evaluate each movie based on how accurately it portrays the core story and major real events. We do not penalize minor dialogue changes or small timeline adjustments made for cinematic pacing.

Accuracy Scale (out of 100)

  • 90–100 Extremely accurate — very few meaningful changes
  • 70–89 Mostly accurate — good overall with some dramatization
  • 50–69 Mixed — captures the spirit but includes many inventions
  • Below 50 Heavily fictionalized

A higher score means the movie stays closer to documented history. A lower score means it takes more creative liberties with major events or adds significant invented scenes.