96
Goodfellas review
Thirty years inside the mob, told at a pace that never lets you catch your breath. Scorsese's most complete film and the one that made every other gan…
★★★★½ 4.9/5
Biography films, reviewed
The biographical film has a structural problem that most genres do not: the audience already knows the ending. The best examples solve it by finding a specific argument about a life rather than attempting a summary of it, and by accepting that accuracy and truth are not the same thing. A biopic that merely re-enacts events has no reason to exist.
What we look for in biography
- An argument about the subject rather than a summary of them
- A structure that finds a shape in a life
- Performances that create a person rather than an impression
- Honesty about what has been invented
This hub currently collects 3 reviews. Our library is curated rather than comprehensive, and every genre page grows as we publish.
Every biography film we have reviewed
Ordered by our score, highest first.
-
96
-
93
Oppenheimer review
Three hours on the man who built the atomic bomb, structured as a legal thriller and shot largely in close-up. Nolan's most mature film.
★★★★½ 4.8/5
-
93
The Social Network review
The founding of Facebook told as a deposition drama, with a script that treats every conversation as a battle. Fincher's most perfectly controlled fil…
★★★★½ 4.8/5
Biography index
Year, director, runtime and score for every film in this genre.
| Film | Year | Director | Runtime | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodfellas | 1990 | Martin Scorsese | 145 min | 96 | ★★★★½ |
| Oppenheimer | 2023 | Christopher Nolan | 180 min | 93 | ★★★★½ |
| The Social Network | 2010 | David Fincher | 120 min | 93 | ★★★★½ |
Frequently asked questions
How accurate should a biographical film be?
Accurate about character and consequence, flexible about chronology and incident. A film that reorders events to reveal something true is doing better work than one that faithfully reproduces a timeline with no point of view.
Why do so many biopics feel like awards bait?
Because the form rewards transformation and historical significance, which are easy to recognise and easy to reward. The films that avoid this are usually the ones with a specific argument to make.
Which biographical film here is the best example?
The Social Network, which takes enormous liberties with events in order to make a precise argument about a specific kind of person.
Read around biography
Our ranked lists place these films against each other within a decade or a genre, and explain the ordering.