vs Hollywood
Fact-checking historical movies and separating truth from fiction
Corsage vs. History: How Accurate Is the Empress Elisabeth Film?
Corsage (2022) reimagines Empress Elisabeth of Austria at 40 with deliberate anachronism. Here is what the Vicky Krieps film gets right and where it openly breaks from fact.
Chevalier vs. History: How Accurate Is the Joseph Bologne Biopic?
Chevalier (2022) gets Joseph Bologne's extraordinary real career mostly right, but invents a violin duel with Mozart and a tragic love affair that never happened.
United 93 vs. History: How Accurate Is the 9/11 Flight Drama?
Paul Greengrass's United 93 rebuilds Flight 93's final 90 minutes from CVR data and phone calls. Here's what the reconstruction gets right, and where it must hedge.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye vs. History: Historical Accuracy of the PTL Scandal Drama
The Eyes of Tammy Faye historical accuracy: Jessica Chastain's Oscar-winning performance nails the makeup and tears, but compresses the PTL financial fraud.
Victoria and Abdul vs. History: How Accurate Is the Royal Friendship?
Victoria and Abdul accuracy: how the film's story of Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim compares to the real friendship the palace tried to erase.
Rush vs. History: How Accurate Is the Lauda-Hunt F1 Drama?
Rush movie accuracy, checked scene by scene: what Ron Howard's F1 drama about Niki Lauda and James Hunt got right, invented, and its final score.
Thirteen Lives vs. History: How Accurate Is Ron Howard's Cave Rescue Film?
Thirteen Lives accuracy checked against the real 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, including criticism that British divers overshadowed the wider Thai-led effort.
Blonde vs. History: How Accurate Is the Marilyn Monroe Drama?
Blonde 2022 accuracy, checked: Andrew Dominik's Ana de Armas biopic captures Monroe's childhood trauma but invents most of the Kennedy material from a novel, not fact.
Golda vs. History: How Accurate Is the Yom Kippur War Drama?
Golda 2023 accuracy, checked: the Yom Kippur War drama gets the intelligence failure and Meir's hidden cancer right, but softens her wartime culpability.
Judas and the Black Messiah vs. History: How Accurate Is the Fred Hampton Film?
Judas and the Black Messiah accuracy, checked: Shaka King's film covers FBI informant William O'Neal and Fred Hampton's 1969 killing. Here is what it got right.
Being the Ricardos vs. History: How Accurate Is the Lucille Ball Drama?
Being the Ricardos accuracy, checked: Aaron Sorkin's film compresses years of crisis into one week. Some of it is real, some is Sorkin - here is what it gets right.
King Richard vs. History: How Accurate Is the Williams Sisters Origin Story?
King Richard accuracy, checked: Will Smith's Oscar-winning film gets the Compton courts and 78-page plan right, but builds a heroic myth around a complicated man.