For whatever reason, it seems like 2023 in particular saw a deluge of biopics about the origins of brands, such as Air and BlackBerry. But what are the best brand true story movies of all time?
It’s strange to think that a movie about a brand could carve itself out as a prominent subgenre of film. After all, we don’t go to the movies to watch an elongated advertisement. However, there can be so much more to a story about how a product or service is discovered or founded than simply being a shill for the brand itself. Often underlying these narratives is genuine human drama, such as the compelling and familiar arc of a rags-to-riches story, found in movies like Joy and Flamin’ Hot.
On the flip side, sometimes true stories about brands are about the devastating personal or financial downfall of the people behind familiar products. For instance, BlackBerry traces the meteoric rise and subsequent crash of the world’s first smartphone with a satirical bent. Movies such as Steve Jobs and The Social Network ruminate on the socially isolated figureheads behind tech giants Apple and Facebook. And House of Gucci recounts a murder plot that tore the family fashion business asunder.
Without further delay, here are the best brand true story movies that have resonated well with both critics and audiences, ranked from worst to best.
10. Joy (2015)
Nowadays, self-wringing mops are so common that we don’t necessarily associate them with a brand name. However, the first product of this type was called the Miracle Mop and it was invented by Joy Mangano, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy. The comedy/drama is feather-light in tone, all things considered, which may be why it didn’t necessarily blow critics out of the water, though many praised it. Even still, Lawrence’s performance as a single mother struggling financially who has a eureka moment that sets her family on a path to true stability is quite inspiring to watch and it even garnered her an Academy Award nomination for her efforts.
9. House of Gucci (2021)
House of Gucci may not have been the prestige Oscar-bait film it was setting out to be, (although the hair and makeup team was nominated) but there’s still a lot to like about the star-studded true crime story. Catching most of the praise from audiences and critics alike is Lady Gaga‘s performance as Patrizia Reggiani, a woman who married into the Gucci family only to turn the clan on its head with her blind ambition.
8. Flamin’ Hot (2023)
Flamin’ Hot scores major points for being a mostly family-friendly (PG-13) take on the brand origin story that doesn’t hold back on being both heartwarming and inspiring. Centering on the true story of Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), we can’t help but root for his journey from a mere janitor at Frito Lay with not even a high school diploma to becoming an executive at the company thanks to his ingenious invention of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. The film is cheesy, true to its subject matter, but it has a lot of entertainment value, especially for its representation of Mexican heritage since the chili dust-covered snack was inspired by Richard’s culturally rich eats.
7. The Founder (2016)
Anchored by Michael Keaton‘s confident performance as McDonald’s founder Ray Croc, fresh off of his career renaissance and Oscar nomination for Birdman one year prior, The Founder is the surprisingly frank take on the origins of America’s most famous fast food chain. The sheer ambition of Ray is something mesmerizing to watch even as we understand he operates in morally gray territory to make his dreams a reality, often at the expense of others. This includes Ray giving the original McDonald’s brothers, played wonderfully by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch, the short end of a business deal. Ray took the McDonald’s brothers’ ideas and the original restaurant that incorporated rapid kitchen operations and expanded them into an entire franchise that has now dominated and defined the fast-food business around the world.
6. Tetris (2023)
Tetris traces the story of how a video game in Soviet Russia found its way to Western audiences while the Cold War was still in full effect. The sociopolitical climate of the times made licensing and patenting the game for wholesale a significant challenge that was overcome thanks to businessman Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) and inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) teaming up. Like many entries on this list, fictional creative flourishes from Hollywood were added to raise the tension in the story, such as the insertion of a car chase that did not happen. Nevertheless, it’s fascinating to watch a movie version of the behind-the-scenes dealings that made the unlikely scenario of Nintendo’s Game Boy launching with a bundled cartridge of Tetris, thanks in large part to the sure-handed direction of Jon S. Baird. The events seen in the film eventually helped to kick off a worldwide gaming craze that hasn’t slowed down since.
5. Dumb Money (2023)
If you’re looking for a few belly laughs from a cast full of comedic heavyweights like Pete Davidson, Nick Offerman, Seth Rogen, centered by a humanistic and smile-inducing performance by Paul Dano as the ultimate underdog, Dumb Money is the film for you. With impeccable-as-usual direction by I, Tonya‘s Craig Gillespie and a rollicking script by Lauren Shuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, Dumb Money traces the peak-pandemic tale of how people on Reddit blew up the stock for the video game store Game Stop, with some financially struggling internet dwellers becoming rich in the process. The only downside is that the fat cats at Wall Street, who were betting on Game Stop’s failure, step in to stop the shenanigans of these amateur stock traders.
4. Air (2023)
Air has garnered some of the highest acclaim for any movie in 2023 thanks to the film being fueled by 1980s nostalgia, glib dialogue, and a packed cast that includes director and star Ben Affleck, his longtime collaborator Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, and Chris Tucker. The fact-based story about how a Nike executive landed a business deal with the then-unknown basketball superstar Michael Jordan (Damian Young) surprisingly has very little of the famous athlete in the film. Nevertheless, the fast-paced business dealings of Nike that culminated in their now worldwide famous shoe brand, Air Jordan, is a wildly entertaining ride that deserves all the praise it’s received.
3. BlackBerry (2023)
Taking the brand biopic format and using it as a vehicle for satirizing the tech industry is the approach of the acclaimed BlackBerry, the origin story of the world’s first smartphone that dominated the market it created from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The comedy-drama is anchored by fine performances from an unhinged Glenn Howerton and his business partner, played by Jay Baruchel. Though it plays fast and loose with the facts, BlackBerry still proved a deliriously fun ride for critics and audiences alike. The story traces both the company’s rise to the top and its catastrophic downfall at the hands of the device that would prove unbeatable in popularity, the iPhone. Speaking of Apple…
2. Steve Jobs (2015)
Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs shouldn’t work on paper, but in practice, he is sublime as the enigmatic figurehead behind tech giant Apple, thanks in large part to breath-taking direction from Danny Boyle and a typically riveting script by Aaron Sorkin. The film is full of facts and the broad strokes of Jobs’ life while still playing with chronology to tell a concise story. Rather than a womb-to-tomb biopic, the various ups and downs of Apple and Jobs’ personal life fraught with estrangement from his own family members gets condensed into just three separate product launches at three disparate periods of time. The result is like watching a play of sorts with some world-class performances from not only Fassbender but co-stars Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen. Sticking with Sorkin…
1. The Social Network (2010)
The Social Network is truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime type movies, thanks to a perfect tsunami of talent coming together in just the perfect way to create cinematic gold. In the director’s chair is someone more known for his thrillers and modern noir films, like Fight Club and Se7en, David Fincher. The moody atmosphere he creates against the backdrop of a wild college ride resembling an out-of-control frat party might take some liberties with the truth in its tale of the founding of Facebook. However, it still captures a certain essence of digital loneliness in our modern age that’s somehow universally relatable.
Jesse Eisenberg as the overnight billionaire himself, Mark Zuckerberg, gives a career-best performance, with Sorkin’s script shining most of all. Taking a Rashomon-like approach to the story, the movie takes advantage of it being set in a deposition to play out similarly to a courtroom drama. From the perspective of Andrew Garfield’s Eduardo Saverin, he was a well-meaning man whose friend, Mark, betrayed him in a shady business deal. Meanwhile, Mark’s perspective contends that it was Eduardo’s own lack of self-preservation that resulted in him skimming over the fine print of a contract that left him with the short end of the stick. Whatever camp you side with, the end result is a generation-defining movie that can’t be missed.
