romance films
Movies inspired by and based on true stories.
View trailers, reviews, films, and facts behind the films about real-life romance stories. Discover the facts vs. fiction, history vs. Hollywood.
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Most films included are highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) with at least a 70% rating from critics and audiences alike, many with 80% or above. Enjoy the best films based on true romance stories.
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Scenes from Breathe (2017), a biography, drama, and romance based on a true medical story
Films featuring, based on, or inspired by real romance stories in alphabetical order:
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Medical | John Forbes Nash, Jr. is an asocial mathematical genius who accepts secret work in cryptography, experiences a mental health nightmare, and receives acclaim for his academic work.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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History vs. Hollywood: A Beautiful Mind by Lawrence Henry on The American Spectator
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A Beautiful Mind’s John Nash is nowhere near as complicated as the real one. by Chris Suellentrop on Slate
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How Realistic Is 'A Beautiful Mind'? by ABC News
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How Schizophrenia Was Portrayed in A Beautiful Mind by Banyan Treatment Centers
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A Beautiful Mind biography book by Sylvia Nasar, which inspired the film.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Romance | In the 1940s, Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana shocks the world when he marries Ruth Williams, a white woman from London, leading to political and diplomatic challenges.
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Jens Heycke on the historical accuracy of 'A United Kingdom' video from Based on a True Story Podcast on YouTube
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Medical, Romance | In 1958, Robin Cavendish is a young man who contracts polio, becoming a quadriplegic confined to a bed and given only months to live. With the help of his loving wife Diana, her twin brothers, and the inventor Teddy Hall, Cavendish leaves the hospital ward and devotes the rest of his life to improving the lives of disabled patients.
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Facts:
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​Jonathan Cavendish On Real Family Reaction To Breathe Movie video interview with the film producer, who is also the son of Robin Cavendish
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Robin Cavendish biography article on Easy Science for Kids
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Movie tells inspirational polio story article by Dave King on Rotary
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Music | In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, creates his own music, and struggles with emerging psychosis. By the 1980s, he's broken and confused under the 24-hour watch of a shady therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy, when he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Here’s What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in Love & Mercy, the New Biopic About Brian Wilson on Slate
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Brian Wilson biography on Biography.com and Wikipedia
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Inside Brian Wilson's Mental Health Struggles on Biography.com
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The Many Ups and Downs of the Beach Boys on Biography.com
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Brian Wilson quotes with sources on Wikiquote
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Love and Mercy by Brian Wilson - Official Music Video on YouTube
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Diane Sawyer's investigative reporting and interview with Eugene Landy on YouTube
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Eugene Landy biography on Wikipedia
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Interview with Brian Wilson on YouTube
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law, Romance | In 1958 Virginia, Richard and Mildred Loving are an interracial couple who get married and whose subsequent arrest for interracial marriage leads to a legal battle culminating in a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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What’s Fact and Fiction in Jeff Nichols’s Film about the Lovings by Arica L. Coleman on History News Network
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Loving v. Virginia by history.com editors
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Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) full text opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court. Primary holding: "A unanimous Court struck down state laws banning marriage between individuals of different races, holding that these anti-miscegenation statutes violated both the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment."
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PG | Biography, Drama, Romance | In 20th-century colonial Kenya, the aristocratic Karen Blixen travels to Africa to join her husband, Bror, who spends their money on a coffee plantation. After discovering Bror is unfaithful, Karen develops feelings for a free-spirited hunter named Denys with whom she has a passionate love affair.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Romance | Future U.S. President Barack Obama and lawyer Michelle Robinson go on a fateful first date in the summer of 1989.
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Coming soon!
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War | In England, during the World War I era, Vera Brittain is a young woman who aspires to study at Oxford University, despite the opposition of her father, and she experiences young love, loss, and the tragedy of war in this coming-of-age story.
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Testament of Youth the 1933 memoir by Vera Brittain, available to borrow full text for free with a free account on Internet Archive
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PG-13 | Drama, Medical, Romance | Hazel and Gus are teenagers who meet at a cancer support group and fall in love. They both share the same acerbic wit and a love of books, embarking on a journey to visit an author in Amsterdam.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Music, Romance | The life story and struggles of country music legend Johnny Cash, from his childhood on an Arkansas family farm with an emotionally abusive father, to his rise to fame in Memphis, where he records alongside Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and falls in love with singer June Carter.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Top 10 Things Walk the Line Got Factually Right & Wrong by MsMojo on YouTube
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14 True Facts From Walk The Line by Kayla Mosley on Screen Rant
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More to Come!
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Other films with relationships inspired by or based on real-life romance stories:​​​​
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Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
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Fever Pitch (2005)
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It Could Happen to You (1994)
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Kiss and Cry (2016)
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The Big Sick (2017)
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The Edge of Love (2008)
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The Keeper (2019)
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The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
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The Terminal (2004)
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The Vow (2012)
Are there any more films with romance stories based on real people and events to include here? Any more facts vs. fiction? Contact me. I am open to respectful questions, comments, positive feedback, and constructive feedback about this website. Thank you, and enjoy the movies!