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12 Fascinating True-Crime Movies For Wimps
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When dramatized with an all-star cast, the true-crime genre often falls down the creepy psychological-thriller rabbit hole and borders on horror. If you’re not in the mood for a scary movie full of gruesome murders, you can still find a decent selection of true-crime features. For example, less-terrifying picks include Lorene Scafaria’s glittery Hustlers and Tom McCarthy’s understated Spotlight. You’ll also discover a good helping of comedy heist films in the nonscary true-crime genre, from Catch Me If You Can to American Hustle. While you might encounter moderate swearing and violence in these movies, you won’t be afraid to turn off the lights after finishing them. Looking to get that fix of scandalous reality without the nightmares? Keep reading – we’ve rounded up nonscary true-crime movies that you can stream right now!
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The Polka King
Jack Black stars in a relatively goofy role in The Polka King with Jenny Slate as his wife and Jason Schwartzman as his right-hand man. The biopic is based on the true story of Polish-American polka band leader Jan Lewan, who was imprisoned for heading up a Ponzi scheme.
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American Hustle
David O. Russell’s American Hustle is based on the true story of an FBI sting that uncovered crooked politicians receiving payoffs. Christian Bale and Amy Adams star as Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser, the two con artists who end up reluctantly working with FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).
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The Bling Ring
Emma Watson stars in this A24 Sofia Coppola crime comedy about teenagers who break into celebrity homes for fame and riches. The Bling Ring is actually based on a group of teens and young adults who went around burglarizing houses in Calabasas, CA, including Paris Hilton‘s.
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Spotlight
Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d’Arcy James portray the reporters at The Boston Globe who broke the story about child sex abuse among Catholic priests in the Boston area. While Spotlight isn’t scary per se, it does deal with a heavy and sensitive topic.
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Lost Girls
Amy Ryan is Mari Gilbert in this gutting Netflix drama based on the true story of the Long Island killer. The film focuses more on Gilbert’s relationship with her daughters and the victims’ families as opposed to portraying salacious details about the deaths.
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The Laundromat
Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat takes a deep dive into the impacts of the Panama Papers, with Meryl Streep featured as a composite character whose husband was a victim of money laundering.
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Molly's Game
In Molly’s Game, Jessica Chastain plays Molly Bloom, a former Olympian who survived a life-threatening accident and went on to manage a high-stakes poker game. Bloom later became an FBI target, eventually convicted for her gambling involvements. The film is based on her book of the same name.
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The Wolf of Wall Street
Adapted from Jordan Belfort’s book of the same name, The Wolf of Wall Street follows Leonardo DiCaprio as the author, an entrepreneur who formerly defrauded investors out of millions. While the FBI was on his trail, Belfort infamously lived a life fueled by drugs and excess.
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Can You Ever Forgive Me?
In an emotional dramatic role, Melissa McCarthy portrays literary fraudster Lee Israel in Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? The movie is based on Israel’s confessional memoir, where she wrote about forging letters by dead authors to reboot her failed writing career.
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Catch Me If You Can
Steven Spielberg‘s Catch Me If You Can follows the misadventures of Frank Abagnale, whose memoir is the basis of the movie. Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a charismatic grifter who forged checks and job titles to pass himself off as a pilot, lawyer, doctor, and more. Hunting down Abagnale was FBI agent Joseph Shea, whose film counterpart is Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks).
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Hustlers
Hustlers takes creative liberties for dramatic purposes, but it’s mostly based on Jessica Pressler’s longform piece about Roselyn Keo and Samantha Barbash’s strip-club scams. Besides its intriguing true story, the film also features Jennifer Lopez skillfully pole dancing to Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” in case you needed a final push to watch it.