Top 10 Romantic Movies Based on True Stories

Movies can sometimes be based on true life events that leave an unforgettable and heart stopping feeling in our heart. Some even leave us in tears. In this list, we bring you the Top 10 Romantic Movies Based on True Stories.

10. The Vow (2012)

The Vow (2012)
The Vow is an american romantic film starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. It debuted at number 1 on its opening weekend and is the 8th highest grossing romantic film since 1980.

The movie is about a married couple, Paige Collins and her husband, getting into a bad car accident causing Paige to lose all her memories.

Sadly, The Vow is in reality based on a true story. Krickitt Carpenter was involved in a horrific car accident that put her in a coma lasting four months. Moreover, when she woke up from that coma, she had absolutely no recollection nor memory of the past two years of her live. She could not even remember her own husband. Without losing complete hope, they slowly began to make new memories together.

9. The Notebook

Top 10 Romantic Movies Based on True Stories
The Notebook is a 2004 romantic movie based on the novel The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. The movie is about two young people who fell in love in the 1940s. It has won multiple awards and gained worldwide attention.

See also; Top 10 Films on Failed Marriages.

This sappy romance movie is based on the true story of Jack Potter, a 91 years old man who helps his wife, Phyllis who suffers from Dementia by reading the diary he wrote. (source)

8. The Theory of Everything

The Theory of Everything
Starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything is a biographical movie about the life of Stephen Hawking. At Cambridge University in 1963, where Stephen was an astrophysics student, he began a relationship with Jane Wilde.

Stephen learned that he has motor neurone disease after his muscles began to fail. He was given approximately two years to live and he will be unable to breathe, talk or move his body for the rest of his life. However, his brain will not be affected. Jane Wilde confessed her love for him, and promised that she would stay together with him even if his conditions worsens.

The movie is based on the genius Stephen Hawking and his relationship with Jane.

7. Boys Don’t Cry

Boys Don’t Cry 1999
The 1999 movie starring Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny is about a transgender man who attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska. He befriends Lana Tisdel who was unaware of his biological sex and gets involved romantically with her. When he was placed in a women’s prison, ex-con John Lotter and Tom Nissen gang rape him and beat him to death.

The tragic movie is based on the life of Brandon Teena, who was murdered in 1993 in a hate crime.

6. The Edge of Love

The Edge of Love
The Edge of Love is a movie based on a true story of a woman, Vera Philips, who runs into her first love Dylan Thomas. Even though Dylan is married and a father, their feeling are rekindled and fell in love with her again. (source)

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5. A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind
John Nash was a genius mathematician-economist. One night, he gets invited to a dinner with Alicia Larde and the two fall in love. He proposes to her and the young couple get married. After witnessing a shoutout, Nash was admitted to a psychiatric facility where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The story is about how his wife Alicia helped him through everything and gave him unconditional love and support.

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4. Eat, Pray, Love

Eat, Pray, Love
Eat, Pray, Love is based on the memoir of the author Elizabeth Gilbert. At the age of 32, she realized that she was not happy in her marriage and wanted a divorce. After finalizing her divorce, she decided to spend the next year travelling the world. It’s based on the author’s true life events.

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3. It Could Happen To you

It Could Happen To you
The 1994 romantic comedy movie starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget is another movie based on a true life story. Cage stars as a NYPD officer who’s known to be a kind and a generous man. In contrast, his wife is the complete opposite of him. Charlie (Nicolas Cage) meets a waitress who was in a tough situation and in debt. He promises her to give her half his lottery ticket winning.

He ends up winning $4 million dollars and keeps his promise to the waitress and the two fall in love.
The real life incident happened when Officer Robert Cunningham, suggested that he would split a lottery ticket instead of leaving her a tip. He discovered that the ticket had won $6 millions dollars and he honored their agreement. However, there was not any romance between them and beyond that the movie is entirely fiction.

2. Walk The Line

Walk The Line
Walk The Line is a 2005 biographical movie based on the early life and career of Johnny Cash. From his early days in Arkansas to his rise of fame and romance with June Carter, Walk the Line was nominated for five Oscars and grosses more than $186 million worldwide.

See also; 10 Frightening True Stories Behind Horror Movies.

1. Mrs. Soffel

Mrs. Soffel


Starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, Mrs Soffel is a 1984 american drama movie. It’s based on the story of Jack and Ed Biddle, who successfully escaped prison with the help of the warden’s wife, Kate Soffel. Mrs Soffel falls in love with Ed Biddle and the three of them go on the run together.

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