Which Award Season Movies Are Based on a True Story?

The Real Story: The film is based on journalist Max Sixsmith's 2009 book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, which is about the real-life Philomena's journey to discover the son she was forced to give up.

How It Differs: The story is, on the whole, pretty true, although they did take some liberties to bring humor and drama to it. Sister Hildegard McNulty (played by Barbara Jefford) never met with Max (Steve Coogan's character), and the real Philomena said that she came off as a bit of a "dumb cluck" in the movie to get laughs.