People.
Tag: The True Story of a 44-Year-Long Game.
“Tag” is a story about five friends who have continued the same game of Tag since childhood. The film, starring Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, John Hamm, Lil Reg Howery, and Jake Johnson, was released in 2018 to decent reviews. However, the true story is even weirder.
The Incredible Story of Dr Haing S. Ngor
Dr Haing S. Ngor had been so proud of his Oscar that he’d stroked the colour off of it. It was the symbol of an extraordinary man who’d survived the impossible to immortalise his name in historical film history. Histoflick sat down with the film’s director Roland Joffe to discuss his incredible story.
“Hollywood Melted It Down”: Benjamin Mee on the Real Story Behind We Bought a Zoo
When Cameron Crowe adapted Benjamin Mee’s memoir into We Bought a Zoo (2011), years of hardship, loss and struggle were transformed into a feel-good Hollywood family drama. Mee reflects on the changes, the emotional truth that survived, and why the zoo’s greatest achievements came long after the cameras stopped rolling.
A Complete Unknown: How Bob Dylan’s Biopic ‘Flattens’ His Muse
At the centre of Bob Dylan’s 2024 biopic A Complete Unknown, is the iconic singer songwriter’s relationship with girlfriend and muse Suze Rotolo. Played by Elle Fanning under the fictionalised Sylvie Russo character, Bob Dylan podcast host Laura Tenschert criticises the film for its reductive portrayal.
Baring The Truth: An Interview With The Original Calendar Girls
Original Calendar Girl Tricia Stewart tells us what what it was really like to strip down and smile for the camera and busts some myths that the 2003 film created
When Mafia Meets FBI: By Any Means Trailer Breakdown
The first trailer for By Any Means (2026) reveals the shocking true story of Gregory Scarpa, a brutal mafia hitman hired by the FBI. Discover how federal agents used a mobster to bypass the law and fight the Ku Klux Klan in 1960s Mississippi.
The Cat Who Saved a Life, and Left a Legacy
There is a moment in A Street Cat Named Bob (2016) where James Bowen, a homeless addict barely keeping himself alive on the streets of London, wraps a makeshift bandage around the paw of a stray ginger cat he’s known for less than a week. He has no money, no stability, no real reason to believe things will get better. Just this cat.
“You can’t train out of it”: The Hidden Psychology Behind Sully’s Historic Call
When Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport, Sully Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles thought it would be a regular flight to Seattle, with a planned intermediate stop in North Carolina. Neither of them thought that they were about to lose both engines of their airplane at the lowest altitude ever in aviation history.
“Eye-opening”: Phil Joanou looks back on directing Gridiron Gang 20 years later
Sean Porter did the unthinkable, changing the lives of the kids in the juvenile detention centre through American football. Gridiron Gang is as close to a fairytale story as you could possibly imagine. Histoflick sat down with Phil Joanou to discuss what inspired him to take on the project, working with real inmates, and what it took to bring this story to life, 20 years after its creation.
“Don’t Intellectualise My Art”: Directors Lena Vurma and Thor Klein on Leonora in the Morning Light
For the UK release of ‘Leonora in the Morning Light’, documenting the life of surrealist painter and novelist Leonora Carrington, Histoflick writer Matt Stanger attended a Special Q+A after a showing of the film with directors Lena Vurma and Thor Klein.
How Adrien Brody and The Pianist redefined Holocaust cinema
Wladyslaw Szpilman’s story was anything but ordinary; a Polish Jewish pianist evading capture in the Ghettos of Warsaw by sheer will, wit, and immense luck, watching his people ordered to their death at the camps of Treblinka. We spoke to Holocaust cinema historians about how the uniquely minimalist tone has redefined the way that Holocaust cinema can be produced.
Everything wrong with The Imitation Game
The Imitation Game made Alan Turing a tragic, broken genius. Jack Copeland says that’s fiction: the real Turing kept his courage, humour and brilliant work right to the end. So why did the film rewrite one of the twentieth century’s greatest true stories? Copeland and others explain.
The Mauritanian and the Complexity of Putting Guantanamo to Film
After suffering fourteen years of torture in Guantanamo Bay, Mohamedou Ould-Slahi’s 2015 memoir Guantanamo Diary sits harrowingly in America’s recent memory. Oscar-winning director Kevin MacDonald dissects the depravity of Slahi’s imprisonment and the dilemma he faced marrying the complexities of the case with the simplistic principles of filmmaking for the 2021 film The Mauritanian.
Jimmy: KJ Apa to Star as Jimmy Stewart in Biopic
KJ Apa stars in the new biopic about Jimmy Stewarts life, from his Academy Award, to piloting in WW2 and then his return to the golden screen with ‘Its a wonderful life’, but there is more than meets the eye. With PTSD, relationships, Self reflection and the occasional charm included.
The Mob Museum Reveals The Most Accurate Mob Films
Organised crime has inspired some of cinema’s most iconic stories. From the Corleone family in The Godfather (1974) to the hedonistic Henry Hill in Goodfellas (1990), generations of filmmakers have sought to capture the world of the Mafia on screen. But how much of what audiences see is actually true?
The Mafia According to Hollywood: How Mob Movies Shaped Our Understanding of Real Organised Crime
Most people know organised crime through the movies. From The Godfather to Goodfellas, Hollywood has shaped public perceptions of the Mafia for decades. But how accurate are those iconic portrayals? The Mob Museum’s Zach Jensen explores the myths, misconceptions and historical truths behind some of cinema’s most famous mob films.
Romancing the Scaffold: How ‘Lady Jane’ Swapped Tudor Politics for Hollywood Love
Forty years after its release, Trevor Nunn’s Lady Jane remains the definitive cinematic portrait of England’s overlooked nine-day queen. But while David Edgar’s romantic script captivated audiences , historians argue the film trades complex Tudor gender politics for a Hollywood love match , forever cementing a monstrous historical error in public memory.
The Real Elephant Man: How David Lynch Rewrote Joseph Merrick’s Life
David Lynch’s The Elephant Man is a deeply emotional, heartbreaking cinematic achievement that significantly distorts historical reality. The film extensively rewrote Joseph Merrick’s biography, infantilising his character, creating fictional villains, and inventing a tragic ending that stripped an adult man of the real agency and independence he possessed in life.
How a Scrapbook, a Committee, and Sir Nicholas Winton’s Conscience Changed History
When Anthony Hopkins broke down at a poolside in One Life, he was channelling something most audiences would never see in Sir Nicholas Winton himself. The man who saved 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia didn’t do emotion. But the story his daughter spent decades trying to tell and the film it ultimately became, has made the rest of us do it for him.
The Reaction of Harvey Milk’s Death and his Feature Film
Harvey Milk became one of America’s first openly gay elected officials in 1977, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors before his assassination in 1978. Decades later, his message of hope endures worldwide, celebrated through Oscar-winning films and a foundation keeping his trailblazing legacy alive across LGBTQ+ communities.
Clint Eastwood’s John Huston Exposé You’ve Never Heard Of
John Huston was a legend of his time, famous for directing The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Key Largo. But one lesser known film, White Hunter, Black Heart, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood, explores his darker side.
How Hollywood Myth Replaced The Real Legend of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
George Roy Hill’s 1969 masterpiece revolutionised the Western genre by turning a thin historical record into a now iconic myth. By abandoning traditional outlaw tropes, the film transformed the real-world mystery of Butch and Sundance into a playful, self-aware narrative that served as an allegory for the contemporary Vietnam War.
“Singing From the Same Song Sheet”: Reclaiming the Truth of John Lennon’s Youth
Nowhere Boy explores the turbulent adolescence of John Lennon, but how accurate is it? Drawing on interviews with the people who actually lived this history, including Lennon’s half-sister Julia Baird and Mendips custodian Colin Hall, this piece examines where the film succeeds, where it fabricates, and why it matters.
Primetime: Robert Pattinson Set to Become Chris Hansen in Teaser Trailer
Robert Pattinson transforms into Chris Hansen in the chilling first trailer for Primetime. Exploring the high-stakes origins of To Catch a Predator, the A24 film dives into the controversial stings that defined early 2000s television. From hidden cameras to iconic catchphrases, see how the predator hunter became a TV legend.
The Art of the Humbug: Why We Fell for The Greatest Showman’s Beautiful Lies
We sat down with the executive director of the Barnum Museum, Kathleen Maher, to discuss the movie magic and misrepresented truths of P.T. Barnum in the Disney phenomenon The Greatest Showman. We also spoke with a superfan to discuss whether the audience puts more emphasis on accuracy or entertainment.
The Son of Hacksaw Ridge Hero
While Hacksaw Ridge immortalized Desmond Doss Sr’s pacifist heroism, the man himself passed before cameras rolled. His son, Desmond Doss Jr, stepped in to ensure the story’s integrity. Discover how Jr. helped bring his father’s legacy to the screen and the profound, unexpected personal growth he found along the way.
Touchdown or Fumble?
Amazon MGM Studios’ Madden hits Prime Video Thanksgiving 2026. Starring Nicolas Cage, the biopic tracks John Madden’s evolution from Raiders coach to gaming mogul. However, alleged on-set misconduct by director David O. Russell has clouded the production, leaving fans wondering if the film can truly honour the legend.
Devon Harris on the Gritty Truth Behind Cool Runnings
To the world, Cool Runnings is the feel-good Disney classic about Jamaica’s first Olympic bobsleigh team. To Devon Harris, who hurtled down that Calgary ice in 1988, the real story was grittier and more ridiculous than Hollywood ever dared show. He separates the poetic licence from the pure Jamaican steel.