Film

Killing Lincoln

Name: Killing Lincoln
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Released: 2013
Cast: Tom Hanks, Geraldine Hughes, Billy Campbell, Brett Dalton, Shane Callahan

A dramatized account of Lincoln's assassination and the hours surrounding it, blending documentary narration with scripted scenes. Tom Hanks guides you through April 14, 1865, as actors recreate the night that changed America. It's accessible history—vivid and propulsive, designed for viewers who want the story of a pivotal crime without needing a textbook.

TMDb rating

3.0

If you liked this

The Crown2016

Dramatized history that treats political intrigue and personal tragedy with real weight. Explores how power operates in private moments, much like Killing Lincoln does with its intimate focus on a nation-changing event.

But Fourteen episodes per season demands commitment, and the soap-opera elements can overshadow historical accuracy. Some find the invented scenes manipulative.

Lincoln2012

Spielberg's film covers the final months of Lincoln's presidency with meticulous craft. If you want deeper character work and political complexity than Killing Lincoln offers, this is the natural next step.

But At 150 minutes it's deliberately paced, heavy on conversation. The assassination itself is absent—this is about the man, not the crime.

Darkest Hour2017

Another historical drama about a leader in crisis, with Gary Oldman delivering a performance of genuine weight. Captures the claustrophobia of power during existential threat, matching Killing Lincoln's focus on a few crucial hours.

But Churchillian speeches can feel stagey. Some viewers find the wartime urgency overwrought compared to the actual stakes.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Killing Lincoln

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Ballad of Little Jo1993

Both use historical events to examine how America tells stories about itself—who becomes a villain, who becomes a hero, and what we leave out.

A Westerns that takes historical fact—a woman living as a man on the frontier—and treats it with tenderness rather than scandal. Like Killing Lincoln, it's about America's blind spots made visible through one true story, but it operates in an entirely different emotional register, quieter and sadder.

But Period piece pacing will feel glacial to anyone expecting drama. The film is deliberately understated; some find it insufficiently cinematic.

Manhunt2017

A tight miniseries about the twelve-day manhunt for John Wilkes Booth after he flees Ford's Theatre. Direct sequel energy—same event, different lens. Tense and well-paced.

But Only four episodes means it moves fast without much character depth. The fugitive-procedural format won't satisfy anyone wanting Lincoln himself explored.

The Conspirator2011

Focuses on the trial of Mary Surratt, accused of conspiracy in Lincoln's death. Raises genuine questions about justice, revenge, and how a nation processes trauma after assassination.

But Robert Redford's direction is earnest to the point of solemnity. The legal drama will feel slow to viewers wanting action or spectacle.

All the President's Men1976

A masterclass in procedural storytelling—two journalists uncovering a crime that shook the nation. The structure and tension parallel Killing Lincoln's investigative energy, just applied to Watergate instead of 1865.

But Talky and deliberate; the satisfaction is intellectual rather than emotional. For some, the 70s pacing will feel glacial.

12 Years a Slave2013

Released the same year as Killing Lincoln, it's a brutal portrait of America in the 1850s—the America Lincoln inherited. Puts his presidency into devastating context about what the nation actually was.

But Profoundly difficult to watch. Contains graphic violence and depicts slavery without softening. Not entertainment in any traditional sense.

MINDHUNTER2017

David Fincher's procedural about the birth of criminal profiling. Same DNA as Killing Lincoln—how do we understand motive? How do institutions pursue truth? Obsessive and intellectually gripping.

But The first season moves slowly; some find it ponderous. The shift from procedure to psychological drama feels uneven for some viewers.

American Crime Story2016

A five-part limited series examining a murder, its perpetrator, and the culture that produced both. Uses the assassination as a lens into larger questions about identity and violence, similar to Killing Lincoln's approach.

But Lurid and occasionally sensationalized. The non-linear structure can feel manipulative, and the emphasis on style over substance bothers many viewers.

The Death of Stalin2017

Same structural engine—a leader dies, institutions scramble for control, and the machinery of power reveals itself. But where Killing Lincoln treats this as tragedy, this treats it as dark farce.

Armando Iannucci's darkly comic take on the power struggle following Stalin's death in 1953. It's a political assassination story, but filtered through satire and absurdism. Killing Lincoln plays it straight; this asks what happens when you refuse to.

But Black-and-white cinematography and Brechtian distance make it feel deliberately cold. Viewers wanting emotional resonance may find it alienating or glib.

Come and See1985

Both insist that historical events are not abstractions—they happen to bodies, to families, to nations. Both use visual specificity to make the past real in a way that resists comfortable distance.

A Soviet film about a boy conscripted into WWII, watching his nation devour itself. Not a narrative about a single crime but about atrocity as historical process. It shares Killing Lincoln's commitment to making history tangible and felt, but at a scale and with a brutality that reframes what 'dramatic history' means.

But Devastatingly bleak. The violence is not sanitized. It's nearly two hours of moral collapse. Not a film you watch for pleasure; you watch it to be changed.