The Best Based On True Story Movies and TV Shows on Plex
Finding a good Based On True Story movie and TV show to watch can be hard, so we've ranked the best ones and included where to watch them. Check out our list of the best Based On True Story movies and TV shows of all time streaming on Plex.

1. The Big Short
What it's about: The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex & Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

2. Almost Famous
What it's about: In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band Stillwater—fronted by lead guitar Russell Hammond, and lead singer Jeff Bebe.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV, Plex, PopcornFlix & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

3. Zodiac
What it's about: The true story of the investigation of the "Zodiac Killer", a serial killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting police with his ciphers and letters. The case becomes an obsession for three men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex, PopcornFlix & Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

4. Lord of War
What it's about: Yuri Orlov is a globetrotting arms dealer and, through some of the deadliest war zones, he struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent, his business rivals and even some of his customers who include many of the world's most notorious dictators. Finally, he must also face his own conscience.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

5. Monster
What it's about: An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes the United States' first female serial killer.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 3 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

6. Black Book
What it's about: In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

7. Freedom Writers
What it's about: A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex, PopcornFlix & Crackle), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

8. The Proposition
What it's about: Set in the Australian outback in the 1880s, the movie follows the series of events following the horrific rape and murder of the Hopkins family, allegedly committed by the infamous Burns brothers gang. Captain Morris Stanley captures Charlie Burns and gives him 9 days to kill his older dangerous psychopathic brother, or else they'll hang his younger mentally slow brother on Christmas Day.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 3 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Microsoft).

9. A Royal Affair
What it's about: A young queen falls in love with her physician, and they start a revolution that changes their nation forever.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla, Kanopy & Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

10. Stronger
What it's about: A victim of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 helps the police track down the killers while struggling to recover from devastating trauma.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Plex) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

11. The Infiltrator
What it's about: A U.S Customs official uncovers a massive money laundering scheme involving Pablo Escobar.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex & Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

12. Bernie
What it's about: In small-town Texas, affable and popular mortician Bernie Tiede strikes up a friendship with Marjorie Nugent, a wealthy widow well known for her sour attitude. When she becomes controlling and abusive, Bernie goes to great lengths to remove himself from her grasp.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 5 others), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

13. Compliance
What it's about: On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food restaurant, manager Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee has stolen money from a customer.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

14. The Ghost and the Darkness
What it's about: Sir Robert Beaumont is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman, seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington, who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV, Plex & Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

15. The Glass Castle
What it's about: A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Plex) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

16. The Flowers of War
What it's about: A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Plex), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

17. The Music Never Stopped
What it's about: Henry struggles to bond with his estranged son, Gabriel, who suffers from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. With Gabriel unable to shed the beliefs and interests that caused their physical and emotional distance, Henry must learn to embrace his son's choices and try to connect with him through music.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

18. 10 Rillington Place
What it's about: The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

19. Flyboys
What it's about: The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 2 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

20. Into the White
What it's about: Based on a true story. On 27 April 1940, Luftwaffe pilot Horst Schopis' Heinkel 111 bomber is shot down near Grotli by an RAF Blackburn Skua L2940 fighter, which then crash-lands. The surviving German and English crew members begin to at shoot each other, but later find themselves huddled up in the same cabin. In order to survive the harsh winter in the Norwegian wilderness, they have to stand together. An unlikely, lifelong friendship blossoms.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

21. The Sacrament
What it's about: A fashion photographer is traveling to meet his sister at Eden Parish. Once there, his friends begin to film interviews with the Eden Parish inhabitants, all of whom speak of the commune in glowing terms. However, they soon discover that there is a sinister edge to the commune that belies the seemingly peaceful setting.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 2 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

22. Battle in Seattle
What it's about: Thousands of activists arrive in Seattle, Washington in masses to protest the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 (World Trade Organization). Although it began as a peaceful protest with a goal of stopping the WTO talks, it escalated into a full-scale riot and eventually, a State of Emergency that pitted protesters against the Seattle Police Department and the National Guard.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 3 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

23. Cromwell
What it's about: Disgusted with the policies of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World. But on the eve of their departure, Cromwell is drawn into the tangled web of religion and politics that will result in the English Civil War.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

24. Lonely Hearts
What it's about: Based on a true story. . . . In the late 1940s, Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez were America’s notorious “Lonely Hearts Killers.” Their lethal scam was simple; they would swindle and then viciously murder lovelorn war widows who would answer their personal ads in which Ray would describe himself as a sexy Latin lover.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex & Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

25. Magic Trip
What it's about: A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster’s fabled road trip across America in the legendary Magic Bus. In 1964, Ken Kesey, the famed author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” set off on a legendary, LSD-fuelled cross-country road trip to the New York World’s Fair. He was joined by “The Merry Band of Pranksters,” a renegade group of counterculture truth-seekers, including Neal Cassady, the American icon immortalized in Kerouac’s “On the Road,” and the driver and painter of the psychedelic Magic Bus.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy & Dox) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

26. The 5th Quarter
What it's about: In the wake of a car crash that killed his brother, football player Jon Abbate leads his school's struggling team to its most successful season ever.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hallmark Movies Now & Up Faith Family) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

27. Perfect Sisters
What it's about: Tired of their mother's alcoholism and a string of her abusive boyfriends, two sisters plot to kill her.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 2 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

28. Johnny One Hundred Pesos
What it's about: Based on real events, 17-year-old Johnny García becomes involved with four older thugs who are planning to rob a money-laundering business masquerading as a video store. As they try to escape, a swarm of exploitative media attention awaits.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & stream on a subscription service (Hoopla).

29. 247°F
What it's about: Four friends travel to a lakeside cabin for a carefree weekend, but the fun turns into a nightmare when 3 of them end up locked in a hot sauna. Every minute counts and every degree matters as they fight for their lives in the heat up to 247°F.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

30. The Trench
What it's about: The Trench tells the story of a group of young British soldiers on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916, the worst defeat in British military history. Against this ill-fated backdrop, the movie depicts the soldiers' experience as a mixture of boredom, fear, panic, and restlessness, confined to a trench on the front lines.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

31. The Alphabet Killer
What it's about: Based on the true story of double killings occurring in Rochester, NY during the 80’s and the troubled police officer determined to solve them, with or without the help of her department
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

32. Meth Head
What it's about: Kyle Peoples never wanted to be the man he has become in his 30s, an accountant stuck in a dead end job, with a lover who is more successful than he and a family that doesn't get him at all. So when a night of partying leads to a new family of friends and fun, Kyle sees an opportunity for escape from reality. But Kyle's new friendship with Maia and Dusty and the trio's love of crystal meth eventually cost Kyle his job, his companion, his home and his family. Kyle's escape becomes his trap, the party is an illusion and the crystal is slowly killing him, physically and psychologically. When he finally bottoms out and is no longer the young man his father once boasted about with pride, Kyle must choose: life or meth.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

33. Manson
What it's about: Follows Charles Manson's 'Family' member Linda Kasabian, and her story to what when on at Spahn's Movie Ranch and the final days leading up to the grisly 1969 Tate/La Bianca murders.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex & Crackle).

34. Dreams I Never Had
What it's about: A teenage girl is held captive in the home of a wealthy family. She is befriended by the family's young gardener, himself an illegal from Mexico. Their friendship carries both of them through their hopeless, sequestered lives and ultimately inspires them to break free.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex, Vudu, IMDb TV & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

35. Chasing 3000
What it's about: As the 1972 baseball season draws to a close and star player Roberto Clemente prepares to knock hit number 3,000 out of the park, two brothers -- one of whom is afflicted with muscular dystrophy -- make the drive from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh in hopes of witnessing sports history in the making. Based on a true story, Chasing 3000 is directed by Gregory J. Lanesey and features Ray Liotta.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 3 others), stream on a subscription service (Hoopla, Dove Channel & Up Faith Family) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

36. The Black Panther
What it's about: A gung-ho ex-military man pursues a secret life of crime, culminating in the kidnapping of a teenage heiress.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

37. Unsealed: Conspiracy Files
What it's about: We've all heard them ... the Mafia killed JFK, the government had a hand in 9/11 and the existence of aliens is the world's best-kept secret. Conspiracy theories are as old as mankind itself, and for just as long people have been taking sides. The advent of the internet provides a unique opportunity to level the playing field and give all men equal access to the facts. In April 2011, the FBI finally relented and established an online repository of files, documents and reports called "The Vault". Unsealed: Conspiracy Files is a ground breaking new show that shines a light on many of these archived case files.
Where to Watch: 22 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex). 20 episodes (91%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

38. I Can Make You Love Me
What it's about: A beautiful young computer technician starting off her career in Silicon Valley during the Eighties, is stalked and harassed by a nerdy, dangerous and mentally-unstable colleague with a twisted obsession.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Plex & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

39. Isolation
What it's about: Inspired by the true events of a couple vacationing on a remote island in the Bahamas who are hunted by a group of modern-day pirates, after their identities and their lives.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

40. The Remarkable Life of John Weld
What it's about: The true life story of John Weld, who went from stuntman during Hollywood's golden era, to journalist, novelist and many other careers.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).