True Story is a 2015 American mystery drama film directed by Rupert Goold in his directorial debut based on a screenplay by Goold and David Kajganich. Based on the memoir of the same name by Michael Finkel, it stars Jonah Hill, James Franco and Felicity Jones, with Gretchen Mol, Betty Gilpin and John Sharian in supporting roles.
Franco plays Christian Longo, a man on the FBI’s most-wanted list accused of murdering his wife and three children in Oregon. He hid in Mexico using the identity of Michael Finkel, a journalist played by Hill. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically on April 17, 2015, in the United States. It explores the relationship that develops between the two men after journalist Finkel begins to meet with Longo in prison.
In 2001, Christian Longo (James Franco), an Oregon man whose wife and three children have been discovered murdered, is arrested by police in Mexico, where he had been identifying himself as a reporter for The New York Times named Michael Finkel. Meanwhile, in New York City,
Finkel (Jonah Hill), an ambitious and successful reporter, is confronted by his editors about a cover story he has written for New York Times Magazine in which he has used a composite character as the focus of his story, violating basic journalism principles. Finkel briefly attempts to defend his actions, but is unsuccessful and is fired. He returns home to his wife Jill (Felicity Jones) and struggles to find work as a journalist due to his public firing from the Times.
