Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "based-on-memoir"

1. Tokyo Vice (2022– )

TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A Western journalist working for a publication in Tokyo takes on one of the city's most powerful crime bosses.

Stars: Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller, Shô Kasamatsu

Votes: 44,988

2. Priscilla (2023)

R | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Music

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.

Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Dagmara Dominczyk

Votes: 34,981

3. The Girls on the Bus (2024– )

TV-MA | 47 min | Drama

Four female journalists who follow the every move of a parade of flawed presidential candidates, finding friendship, love, and a scandal that could take down not just the presidency but our entire democracy along the way.

Stars: Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Christina Elmore, Natasha Behnam

Votes: 896

4. Beautiful Boy (I) (2018)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama

Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.

Director: Felix van Groeningen | Stars: Steve Carell, Maura Tierney, Jack Dylan Grazer, Oakley Bull

Votes: 99,721 | Gross: $7.65M

5. Molly's Game (2017)

R | 140 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.

Director: Aaron Sorkin | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera

Votes: 187,828 | Gross: $28.78M

6. Captain Phillips (2013)

PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Biography, Crime

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Catherine Keener

Votes: 492,792 | Gross: $107.10M

7. Jarhead (2005)

R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, War

A psychological study of Marine's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.

Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Scott MacDonald

Votes: 206,615 | Gross: $62.66M

8. The Theory of Everything (2014)

PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

Stephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.

Director: James Marsh | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry

Votes: 482,218 | Gross: $35.89M

9. Eat Pray Love (2010)

PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".

Director: Ryan Murphy | Stars: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis

Votes: 105,926 | Gross: $80.57M

10. Flamin' Hot (2023)

PG-13 | 99 min | Biography, Drama, History

This is the inspiring story of Richard Montañez who, as a Frito Lay janitor, helped disrupt the food industry by channeling his Mexican heritage to turn Frito Lay snacks into an iconic global pop culture phenomenon.

Director: Eva Longoria | Stars: Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Emilio Rivera, Vanessa Martinez

Votes: 16,973

11. Manhunt (2019–2021)

TV-14 | 45 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton tracks down a serial killer.

Stars: Martin Clunes, Claudie Blakley, Matthew Gravelle, Stephen Wight

Votes: 10,684

12. The Way Back (I) (2010)

PG-13 | 133 min | Adventure, Drama, History

Siberian gulag escapees travel four thousand miles by foot to freedom in India.

Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Dragos Bucur

Votes: 122,027 | Gross: $2.70M

13. Mommie Dearest (1981)

R | 129 min | Biography, Drama

The abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.

Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva

Votes: 18,356 | Gross: $19.03M

14. This Boy's Life (1993)

R | 115 min | Biography, Drama

The story about the relationship between a rebellious 1950s teenager and his abusive stepfather, based on the memoirs of writer and literature Professor Tobias Wolff.

Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Barkin, Jonah Blechman

Votes: 58,369 | Gross: $4.10M

15. Boy Erased (2018)

R | 115 min | Biography, Drama

The son of a Baptist preacher unwillingly participates in a church-supported gay conversion program after being forcibly outed to his parents.

Director: Joel Edgerton | Stars: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, Russell Crowe

Votes: 42,152 | Gross: $6.79M

16. The Tender Bar (2021)

R | 106 min | Biography, Drama

A boy growing up on Long Island seeks out father figures among the patrons at his uncle's bar.

Director: George Clooney | Stars: Ben Affleck, Tye Sheridan, Daniel Ranieri, Lily Rabe

Votes: 33,838

17. Survival of the Thickest (2023– )

TV-MA | 28 min | Comedy

Black, plus-size and newly single, Mavis unexpectedly finds herself having to rebuild her life after putting all her eggs in one man's basket, but she's determined to not only survive but thrive with the support of her chosen family.

Stars: Michelle Buteau, Tone Bell, Marouane Zotti, Anissa Felix

Votes: 4,616

18. A Prayer Before Dawn (2017)

R | 116 min | Action, Biography, Crime

The true story of an English boxer incarcerated in one of Thailand's most notorious prisons as he fights in Muay Thai tournaments to earn his freedom.

Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire | Stars: Joe Cole, Vithaya Pansringarm, Cherry Miko, Panya Yimmumphai

Votes: 26,202

19. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

R | 100 min | Crime, Drama

Coming-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, New York during the 1980s. As his friends end up dead, on drugs or in prison, he comes to believe he has been saved from their fates by various so-called saints.

Director: Dito Montiel | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Rosario Dawson, Shia LaBeouf, Dianne Wiest

Votes: 26,809 | Gross: $0.52M

20. My Week with Marilyn (2011)

R | 99 min | Biography, Drama

Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier, documents the tense interactions between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).

Director: Simon Curtis | Stars: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Julia Ormond

Votes: 89,607 | Gross: $14.60M

21. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

R | 106 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime

When Lee Israel falls out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.

Director: Marielle Heller | Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone

Votes: 56,174 | Gross: $8.80M

22. My Mad Fat Diary (2013–2015)

TV-MA | 47 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Set in the mid-90s at the height of Cool Britannia, a drama based on real diaries takes an honest look at teenage life through the eyes of funny, music-mad Rae

Stars: Ciara Baxendale, Dan Cohen, Jodie Comer, Darren Evans

Votes: 18,888

23. The Trouble with Angels (1966)

PG | 112 min | Comedy, Family

Two high-spirited young students at St. Francis Academy keep things hopping for the challenged Mother Superior and her staff of bewildered Sisters.

Director: Ida Lupino | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills, Binnie Barnes, Camilla Sparv

Votes: 5,780

24. Testament of Youth (2014)

PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama, History

A British woman recalls coming of age during World War I - a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times.

Director: James Kent | Stars: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Dominic West

Votes: 30,508 | Gross: $1.82M

25. Pure (2019)

Not Rated | 35 min | Comedy, Drama

Marnie is not OK. She's had x-rated thoughts for the last 3672 days and she doesn't know why or what they mean. When she jumps on a coach to London, she doesn't know a soul, not even herself, but in the city she will build a new life.

Stars: Charly Clive, Joe Cole, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Niamh Algar

Votes: 3,022

26. The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe (2022)

TV-14 | 46 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

Four-part drama based on the extraordinary story of how prison officer John Darwin faked his own death to claim life insurance and avoid bankruptcy - unbeknownst to his two sons.

Stars: Monica Dolan, Eddie Marsan, Mark Stanley, Dominic Applewhite

Votes: 4,856

27. Fair Game (I) (2010)

PG-13 | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller

CIA operative Valerie Plame discovers her identity is allegedly leaked by the government as payback for an op-ed article her husband wrote criticizing the Bush administration.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Sonya Davison, Vanessa Chong

Votes: 51,061 | Gross: $9.53M

28. Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 50 min | Comedy

Funny or Die presents a satirical rendition of Donald Trump's 1987 best selling business book, The Art of the Deal.

Director: Jeremy Konner | Stars: Johnny Depp, Ron Howard, Alfred Molina, Robert Morse

Votes: 4,973

29. The General (1926)

Passed | 78 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.

Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley

Votes: 98,167 | Gross: $1.03M

30. Holding the Man (2015)

Unrated | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History

The warm, funny and achingly sad story of the 15-year-long love affair between Timothy Conigrave and the boy he fell in love with at high school, John Caleo.

Director: Neil Armfield | Stars: Ryan Corr, Sarah Snook, Francesco Ferdinandi, Craig Stott

Votes: 13,388

31. Queen & Country (2014)

TV-14 | 114 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

In this sequel to Hope and Glory (1987), Bill Rohan has grown up and is drafted into the army, where he and his eccentric best mate, Percy, battle their snooty superiors on the base and look for love in town.

Director: John Boorman | Stars: Callum Turner, Caleb Landry Jones, Pat Shortt, David Thewlis

Votes: 1,866 | Gross: $0.03M

32. Being Maria (2024)

Biography, Drama, History | Completed

Maria Schneider's rise to fame after "Last Tango in Paris" and its controversial production's impact on her life and career.

Director: Jessica Palud | Stars: Hugo Becker, Marie Gillain, Yvan Attal, Anamaria Vartolomei

33. Running with Scissors (2006)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama

A teenage boy comes of age in the 1970's, sent by his neurotic, pretentious mother to live with a jolly, vulgar psychiatrist and his eccentric extended family.

Director: Ryan Murphy | Stars: Joseph Cross, Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Gwyneth Paltrow

Votes: 23,169 | Gross: $6.75M

34. Taking Woodstock (2009)

R | 120 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

A man working at his parents' motel in the Catskills inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969.

Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Demetri Martin, Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert, Imelda Staunton

Votes: 30,013 | Gross: $7.44M

35. What Just Happened (2008)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama

Two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert De Niro, John Turturro, Stanley Tucci, Sean Penn

Votes: 28,526 | Gross: $1.09M

36. The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)

PG-13 | 99 min | Biography, Drama

In order to support her ten children, Evelyn Ryan enters a commercial jingle-writing contest.

Director: Jane Anderson | Stars: Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Trevor Morgan

Votes: 8,145 | Gross: $0.63M

37. Toast (2010 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

The ultimate nostalgia trip through everything edible in 1960s Britain.

Director: S.J. Clarkson | Stars: Oscar Kennedy, Victoria Hamilton, Colin Prockter, Ken Stott

Votes: 10,463

38. A Mighty Heart (2007)

R | 108 min | Biography, Drama, History

Mariane Pearl embarks on a frantic search to locate her journalist husband Daniel when he goes missing in Pakistan.

Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Irrfan Khan, Archie Panjabi

Votes: 28,222 | Gross: $9.18M

39. Cross Creek (1983)

PG | 127 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

In the 1930s, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings moves to Florida's backwaters to write in peace. She feels bothered by affectionate men, editor and confused neighbors, but soon she connects and writes The Yearling, a classic of American literature.

Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, Peter Coyote, Dana Hill

Votes: 2,037 | Gross: $0.20M

40. The Corps

Comedy, Drama, History | Filming

Bullied gay teen Cameron joins the Marines corps with his best friend despite risks. In boot camp they experience profound personal change amid danger, as their platoon confronts both literal and figurative landmines.

Stars: Vera Farmiga, Miles Heizer, Ana Ayora, Bill Kelly

41. The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)

Passed | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Family

The eleven members of the Bower family move to Dakota Territory.

Director: Michael O'Herlihy | Stars: Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen, Lesley Ann Warren, John Davidson

Votes: 1,035

42. The Color of Friendship (2000 TV Movie)

TV-G | 87 min | Biography, Drama, Family

A white South African girl finds herself in a difficult situation when she is sent to spend a term with a Black family in America.

Director: Kevin Hooks | Stars: Lindsey Haun, Shadia Simmons, Carl Lumbly, Penny Johnson Jerald

Votes: 4,311

43. Christopher and His Kind (2011 TV Movie)

TV-14 | 90 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

How real-life British-American author Christopher Isherwood and his German boyfriend Heinz met and fell in love during the 1930s and the rise of Nazism.

Director: Geoffrey Sax | Stars: Matt Smith, Imogen Poots, Lindsay Duncan, Perry Millward

Votes: 4,635

44. Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)

R | 112 min | Drama, History, War

The story of General Romeo Dallaire's frustrated efforts to stop the madness of the Rwandan Genocide, despite the complete indifference of his superiors.

Directors: Jennifer Capraru, Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Roy Dupuis, Owen Sejake, James Gallanders, Michel Ange Nzojibwami

Votes: 3,698

45. Being Flynn (2012)

R | 102 min | Drama

Working in a Boston homeless shelter, Nick Flynn re-encounters his father, a con man and self-proclaimed poet. Sensing trouble in his own life, Nick wrestles with the notion of reaching out yet again to his dad.

Director: Paul Weitz | Stars: Paul Dano, Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, Olivia Thirlby

Votes: 17,840 | Gross: $0.53M

46. Charlotte (III) (2021)

Not Rated | 92 min | Animation, Biography, Drama

An account of German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon's life in the south of France between 1941 and 1943, before she was sent to Auschwitz during World War II. Inspired by her memoir "Life? or Theatre?".

Directors: Tahir Rana, Éric Warin | Stars: Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard, Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent

Votes: 477

47. A Year in Provence (1993)

360 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

Based on the 1989 best-selling memoir of the same name by Peter Mayle about his first year in Provence, and the local events and customs.

Stars: John Thaw, Lindsay Duncan, Jean-Pierre Delage, Jo Doumerg

Votes: 480

48. Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy (1998 TV Movie)

90 min | Comedy, Romance

In this romantic comedy set in the rugged wilderness of Northern British Columbia in 1940, three very spirited, very different young adults struggle to carve out their independence and the world's largest cattle ranch.

Director: Kari Skogland | Stars: Chad Willett, Ted Atherton, Falconer Abraham, Zachary Bennett

Votes: 398

49. Rosewater (2014)

R | 103 min | Biography, Drama

Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.

Director: Jon Stewart | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodnia, Dimitri Leonidas, Haluk Bilginer

Votes: 10,967 | Gross: $3.13M

50. A Dog Year (2009)

Not Rated | 80 min | Comedy, Drama

A guy suffering from a midlife crisis takes in a dog that's crazier than he is.

Director: George LaVoo | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Lauren Ambrose, Lois Smith, Domhnall Gleeson

Votes: 3,654