Last Breath’s Based-On-A-Real-Story Adventure—Plus Five Other Unbelievable True Stories

Alex Parkinson’s Last Breath recreates the unbelievable story of Chris Lemons (Finn Cole), Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu), and Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson), a team of underwater divers who find themselves in an unimaginable situation. Adapted from Parkinson’s documentary of the same name, the film dramatizes the events that occurred in September 2012, when a perfect storm of bad luck left Lemons disconnected from oxygen and communication lifelines hundreds of feet underwater. With only minutes left, Yuasa and Allcock try everything they can to save their friend, when something impossible occurs. Lemons’ story, explains Parkinson in the press notes, “speaks to the power of this story of hope and the human spirit. When people come together with a common goal, the most incredible things can happen.”

Based on a true story, Last Breath proves how much more astounding real life can be sometimes. We are showcasing five other films whose stories are based on remarkable real people who found themselves in incredible situations.

Last Breath is in theaters on February 28 — so get your tickets now!

BlacKkKlansman

In 1978, Ron Stallworth, the first Black cadet in the Colorado Springs Police Department, led an undercover sting operation in which he joined the KKK to expose a criminal conspiracy. His memoir of the adventure, Black Klansman, was adapted by Spike Lee into the Academy Award®-winning film BlacKkKlansman. In the film, John David Washington plays Stallworth and Adam Driver plays his partner who helps him succeed in the deception. Unwilling simply to dramatize an incredible story from the 1970s, Lee finds a way to connect Stallworth’s tale to the present. “It cannot be just a history lesson,” Lee told The New York Times. “It has to be contemporary.” Vulture writes, “The result is one of his most flat-out entertaining films in years, and also one of his most uncompromising.”

Watch BlacKkKlansman on Apple TV or Amazon now!

Dark Waters

Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters recounts the struggles of Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo), a real-life corporate defense attorney who, when confronted by the horrific consequences of chemical dumping, changed sides and mounted a decades-long legal battle against DuPont. Supported by Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, and more, Ruffalo makes Bilott’s personal and professional sacrifices real and poignant. “Beyond the fundamental horror of corporate greed trumping public-health concerns, the movie…does find hope in the idea that one ordinary guy can make a difference,” explains CNN. “That's why this story is important,” Robbins told Screen Rant. “That's why people like Rob Bilott are essential in a democracy.”

Watch Dark Waters on Apple TV or Amazon now!

Race

During the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, when Hitler’s regime used the games to showcase the Nazis' rise to power, a Black American athlete named Jesse Owens took the world spotlight by becoming the first athlete to win four gold medals. His remarkable story is captured in Stephen Hopkins’ Race with Stephan James playing Owens. Shepherded by his coach (Jason Sudeikis) at Ohio State University, Owens rose to phenomenal fame, only to be brought back to earth when he returned to a Jim Crow America. While Owens’ story would be remarkable at any time, it feels all the more heroic in the 1930s. “Race takes time to make audiences feel the courage Owens’ feats required, particularly in the simple yet remarkable sequence in which Owens enters the Berlin stadium on the day he is to compete,” writes the San Francisco Chronicle.

Get Race now on Apple TV or at Amazon.

The Zookeeper’s Wife

Adapted from Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction bestseller, Niki Caro’s The Zookeeper’s Wife chronicles the real-life story of Antonina Żabińska (Jessica Chastain), who worked with her husband (Johan Heldenbergh) to save the lives of hundreds of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during World War II. After the Nazis cleared out the Warsaw Zoo, Żabińska turned the empty cages and pens into safe spaces for those fleeing the Ghetto. Chastain told Yahoo! News that she wanted to tell this true story in order “to do whatever I can to celebrate those women in history and to inspire young girls.” Antonina’s story provides modern audiences with a moving reminder. “Both a lush historical tale and a real-life fable, The Zookeeper’s Wife…makes a strong case for a simple truth: inhuman brutality can only be counteracted by steady compassion and kindness,” writes Vox.

Watch The Zookeeper’s Wife on Apple TV or Amazon!

Boy Erased

Adapted from Garrard Conley’s memoir of the same name, Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased brings to the screen the real-life story of Jared (Lucas Hedges), a young man whose same-sex desires compel his evangelical parents—played by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman—to push him into a conversion therapy program. Torn between being the son he believes his parents want and the man he feels himself becoming, Jared finds himself trapped in an institution that can neither understand him or really change him. Deftly balancing the sincere religious beliefs of the parents with the real emotional damage such programs inflict, Boy Erased captures the complex collision of religion and identity that exists in many people. The Hollywood Reporter writes, “It deserves praise not as a polemic but as a richly humanistic, emotionally searing drama that sticks in the memory.”

Get Boy Erased now on Apple TV or at Amazon.