There’s no easy way to say it, but it’s the truth, so it should be said: the biopic is probably the weakest of all the broad film genres. Sometimes, films about real-life people – particularly the incredibly famous ones – play things safe while recycling tropes and plot beats that are regrettably familiar. Couple the formula with the fact that there’s sometimes predictability when it comes to how a true-life story will play out, and the average biopic might well end up a little less interesting than say the average thriller, for example.
However, there’s some hope to be had, because not all biopics play it safe and make for boring watches. The following movies all represent the genre at its best, and succeed because they tell interesting stories, lesser-known ones, or find unique ways to cinematically present real-life events viewers may already be familiar with. Regardless of one’s view on the biopic as a genre, the following are all worth watching and are ranked below, beginning with the great and ending with the all-time greatest.
25
‘Christiane F.’ (1981)
One of the most harrowing films that could be called a coming-of-age one, Christiane F. is about a young girl, the titular Christiane (Natja Brunckhorst), getting addicted to a series of drugs, mainly because of her friend group. The less intense substances make her life more exciting, at least initially, but then trying to find that same sort of feeling once again gets her to take riskier substances, and that leads to increasingly uncomfortable situations.
“Uncomfortable” really is the best word to use when describing Christiane F., but the film kind of has to be to get its point across. It’s a movie about how easy it is for one’s life to change in an instant, and not for the better. Part of the reason it’s so intense is that it really does feel grounded and real, and then the knowledge that the events depicted here actually happened (to some extent) only adds to the already challenging nature of it all.
24
‘Better Man’ (2024)
It’s recent in the overall scheme of things, sure, but Better Man also feels like it could become a classic (of the cult or maybe even normal variety) once enough time has passed. It’s about Robbie Williams, exploring his rise, some of the personal demons he battled, and how he kept enduring as an entertainer despite those difficulties, but it makes the bold choice to depict him as a chimpanzee throughout the entire film.
This is done for a thematic reason, and also gives Better Man an opportunity to stand out further in a time when it feels like there might well be too many music-related biopics. It’s technically impressive, ends up being surprisingly moving in parts, and is also admirably honest about Williams as a person/entertainer, highlighting both his strengths and weaknesses while laying bare certain truths about a variety of heavy topics (all done in a way that never feels tacky or exploitative, too).
23
‘Control’ (2007)
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Another underrated music biopic that does the genre correctly, Control is about Ian Curtis, who was the frontman of the short-lived post-punk band Joy Division. It’s a gloomy watch, because Joy Division were a gloomy band, and Curtis himself lived a rather tragic life, dealing with a host of difficult personal problems that were reflected in the music he made; music that ultimately came to be properly recognized and appreciated to the extent deserved years after release.
Sam Riley also disappears into the lead role surprisingly well here, and that becomes clear when you watch the clips that do exist of the real-life Ian Curtis. It’s more than just a good impression, thankfully, and Control being uncompromising about his life also helps in this regard, giving the sense that you’re watching a real person’s struggles, in turn understanding Curtis about as well as one can ever hope to.
22
‘I, Tonya’ (2017)
I, Tonya sheds light on Tonya Harding (played here exceptionally well by Margot Robbie), with things building to the event that most people – for better or worse – associate Harding with. It’s a movie that suggests there was more to the overall story than some were led to believe, but I, Tonya also wants to explore why there are different perspectives, and how a host of different people can believe different things about the same event.
The whole thing ends up being surprisingly thought-provoking as a look at celebrity, fame, the media, and how the general public can come to feel a certain way about those various things. It’s a very dark sports-focused biopic, but I, Tonya is also quite stylish and funny at times, albeit in a relatively bleak way. Many sports movies, based on true stories or otherwise, aim to inspire, but I, Tonya is a good deal more daring and willing to dig a bit deeper into less well-mined territory.
21
‘The Irishman’ (2019)
Martin Scorsese has directed a range of movies, and many of them are either based on or inspired by real-life people. The Irishman is one of them, and though there’s a focus here on a range of people who actually existed, the individual at the center of things is Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), who is introduced at the film’s start reflecting on his life and the violent things he did over the course of many decades.
He’s depicted as a cold-blooded killer, with some explanation as to why he is the way he is, and a good deal of insight into what that lifestyle eventually led him to feel later in life. The Irishman is bleak, to put it mildly, but it’s a powerful look at crime and the human cost of living a life defined by it, all executed pretty much perfectly (some of the digital de-aging aside) by a filmmaker at perhaps the height of his powers.
20
‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ (2007)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a French movie about one man learning to live with a particularly difficult health condition. That man’s name is Jean-Dominique Bauby, and the film documents how things changed for him after he suffered a severe stroke while in his 40s, finding himself completely paralyzed and only able to move/blink his left eye.
Bauby managed to write his memoir by communicating with a speech therapist, who transcribed the work that would later become his memoir, which the film is based on. Its depiction of what’s known as locked-in syndrome makes for a daunting and oftentimes heavy watch, but Bauby’s life story is also a remarkable one about human resilience and strength in impossible situations, making The Diving Bell and the Butterfly a powerful watch.
19
‘Ray’ (2004)
Ray Charles was an iconic singer-songwriter known for his unique approach to blues, jazz, and gospel music, succeeding in such a career after going blind in his childhood. The film Ray presents his dramatic life, and the various struggles he overcame to find success within his field as a widely-celebrated musician.
Like many music biopics, it gave its central actor a chance to fully inhabit a unique figure from history, in this case providing Jamie Foxx with one of the best roles of his career. He captures Ray Charles in an almost uncanny way, and makes Ray worth watching for his central performance alone.
18
‘Erin Brockovich’ (2000)
One of the best movies of 2000 (itself a strong year for cinema) was Erin Brockovich, a biopic about the titular woman starring Julia Roberts in an Oscar-winning role. The film is a legal drama that fictionalizes the real-life case Brockovich was involved with, which concerned widespread groundwater contamination.
On top of featuring perhaps the best-ever performance of Roberts’s career, it’s also notable for being one of two very successful films directed by Steven Soderbergh that came out in 2000. His other — Traffic — is just as compelling, but isn’t a biopic, instead presenting a fictional story on a real-life issue (that of America’s complicated war on drugs).
17
‘Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters’ (1985)
Featuring an amazing score by composer Philip Glass, and some of the most spectacular cinematography of the 1980s, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an undoubtedly unique take on the biopic genre. It follows the life of the controversial Japanese writer/actor/nationalist Yukio Mishima, presenting various stages of it in bold and sometimes impressionistic ways.
It’s a biopic that doesn’t aim for 100% realism, instead opting to capture the essence of just who the enigmatic Mishima was as a person, and what drove him to do the sometimes alarming things he did. It’s a shocking and unforgettable film, and one that’s easy to recommend to anyone who feels like most biographical films are a bit stale and/or samey.
16
‘Chaplin’ (1992)
A movie about silent movies that isn’t a silent movie, Chaplin is an extensive — and quite lengthy — biopic about famed actor/filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. It has a framing device involving Chaplin telling his life story to the editor of his autobiography, with key events in his long life playing out via a continual series of flashbacks.
It’s a must-watch for fans of the silent era, as Chaplin’s silent movies are what he’s best known for today (though he did make some great “talkies” — as they used to be called — including The Great Dictator and Limelight). Chaplin also contains one of Robert Downey Jr.’s best performances, with him successfully doing the near-impossible task of portraying such a distinct cinematic icon on-screen to great success.
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