The Greatest True Crime Movies Ranked

Greatest True Crime Movies

True crime movies have been a popular genre for decades. Although Hollywood makes no bones about changing the story up a bit for dramatic purposes, the greatest true crime movies usually stick as close to the story as possible. But not all true crime stories are built the same.

Some true crime movies’ general focus falls into the murder/serial killer categories. For some reason, the fascination behind these types of crimes continues. But true crime can also fall into the mobster category along with robbery or any other high-profile true crime story. Let’s take a look at the best ones.

13. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is Aaron Sorkin’s second film in which he directed and wrote the script, following his successful writing and directing debut with Molly’s Game. For Chicago 7, Sorkin used his vast background in the legal arena to tell the true crime story about a group of anti-Vietnam protestors who eventually are charged with inciting riots and conspiracy and the high-profile trial that follows. The film is led by Sasha Baron-Cohen, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Abbie Hoffman.

12. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Arthur Penn directed Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in this true crime movie that told the story of the notorious Bonnie and Clyde, whose crime and murder spree in the early 1930s ended with “one of the bloodiest death scenes in cinematic history.” Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons also star as Buck and Blanche Barrow, who join Bonnie and Clyde on their crime spree.

11. Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Boys Don’t Cry tells the horrific true crime story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man, who in 1993 was brutally raped before he was murdered. It is a truly disturbing film that stars Hilary Swank in a wonderfully heartbreaking performance as Teena. Chloe Sevigny plays Lana Tisdel, Teena’s girlfriend who, at first, is unaware of Brandon’s potential change. Peter Sarsgaard and Brendan Sexton III portray the brutal killers, John Lotter and Tom Nissen.

10. Donnie Brasco (1997)

Donnie Brasco is one of the greatest true crime movies and is based on the book, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. The movie stars Johnny Depp as Joseph Pistone, an FBI agent who goes deep undercover in the Bonanno crime family in 1970s New York, posing as Donnie Brasco. Taken under the wing of hitman Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), Pistone began to cross the lines between being a federal agent and a criminal.

9. BlacKkKlansman (2018)

BlacKkKlansman is a Spike Lee true crime movie that stars John David Washington as Ron Stallworth, the very first African American detective in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Set in the 1970s, the film tells the story of Stallworth as he accepts an assignment to infiltrate the local KKK and expose them. Adam Driver plays Stallworth’s partner while Topher Grace is on board as Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan, David Duke.

8. Zodiac (2007)

Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the San Francisco Bay Area was terrorized by the serial killer known as the Zodiac. This man (he was identified as one) taunted the police looking for him sending them bloodstained clothes, letters, and even ciphers to “help them” track him down, which they never were able to. Zodiac stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, and Elias Koteas as cops and reporters who tried in vain to track down the elusive serial killer. As of today, it remains as one of the most infamous unsolved true crimes.

7. Memories of Murder (2003)

Memories of Murder is a true crime story based on the South Korean serial killings that took place from 1986 through 1991. The film was written and directed by the prolific director/writer Bong Joon-ho and follows two South Korean detectives as they begin the investigation of a number of serial murders. When the film was released, the actual killer had not been caught. It wasn’t until 2019 that a man in his 50s was identified as the killer.

6. Capote (2005)

While Capote is mainly a biographical drama, the film does follow the notorious American novelist during the period of his life when he was researching and writing his best-selling true crime book, In Cold Blood. Capote is played wonderfully by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and also stars Catherine Keener as novelist and friend Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird). Capote read the story in The New York Times of the discovery of the Clutter family bodies on their farm in Kansas and decides this is the story he needs to write. The film follows Capote as he interviews the suspects while writing his book.

5. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Catch Me if You Can is a “true” crime movie from Steven Spielberg that stars Leonardo Di Caprio as Frank William Abagnale Jr., a con artist who claims to have committed dozens of cons that netted him over $2.5 million. While most of his claims are still under debate, Abagnale says he pulled off these crimes by posing as a Pan Am airline pilot, a Louisiana parish prosecutor, and a Georgia doctor. Tom Hanks plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, a character based on the real-life agent Joseph Shea, who was hot on the heels of Abagnale.

4. The Departed (2006)

While The Departed is considered a tale of fiction, it is actually loosely based on the exploits of the true-life Boston Winter Hill Gang. The story follows Irish Mob Boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) who plants one of his men, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), inside the Massachusetts State Police to spy and let Costello know how close they are getting to his racket. At the same time, the police have planted an undercover cop, Billy Costigan (Leonardo Di Caprio) in Costello’s organization. It now becomes a race to see who figures out the other’s identity first.

3. The Social Network (2010)

Sometimes more than a few liberties are taken when telling a true story and for this one, at least according to Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, and Dustin Moskovitz, there were many liberties taken by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin on this one. Regardless of the historical accuracy of the movie, it tells the story of how Mark Zuckerberg helped create Facebook and then committed the crime of taking it for himself. David Fincher directed this 2010 film.

2. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs tells the story of young FBI recruit, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), who is brought in to try to get information from cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to see if he would help the FBI in trying to identify a new serial killer, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). While Lecter’s character is a force to be reckoned with, it is Levine’s performance that is truly something. The Buffalo Bill character is based on not one, but many real-life serial killers.

1. Goodfellas (1990)

This true crime movie epic tells the story of mob associate Henry Hill and his rise and fall in the mob from the years 1955 through 1980. The story comes from a non-fiction novel, Wiseguy, written by Mitch Pileggi, who also handled the co-writing duties with director Martin Scorsese. Ray Liotta stars as Hill and is joined by Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and Paul Sorvino. Goodfellas is one of the best mob films around.