'Jackie' Movie True Story: Fact vs. Fiction About Late First Lady After JFK Assassination

The highly anticipated historical drama about Jaqueline Kennedy, director Pablo Larraín's film "Jackie," debuted nationwide Friday. Starring Natalie Portman in the title role of Jacqueline Kennedy, the film follows the historic assassination of President John F. Kennedy and his widow's life following the death of her husband.

Nearly one month following one of the country's most historic elections, "Jackie" will likely have a major moment in the spotlight. "Jackie" also open one week after the anniversary of the assassination of JFK, and the film begins with Jackie's meeting in her home with a journalist, during which she recounts the shooting. Flashbacks take the viewers through her retelling, which do fall in line with actual historic facts, down to the blood-spattered pink Chanel suit that the former first lady refused to wash after her husband was shot in an open vehicle Nov. 22, 1963.

In the film, Peter Sarsgaard plays Bobby Kennedy and Caspar Phillipson plays the role of JFK. The movie portrays the events following the JFK assassination and Jackie's attempt to protect her late husband's legacy as both a husband and one of the nation's most beloved presidents.

It is true that Jackie did actually recount her story at her home in Massachusetts, following her husband's highly publicized death, to writer Theodore H. White for Life magazine, according to the New York Times. The characters, too, are very real people: Lyndon Johnson is played by John Caroll Lynch and Lady Bird Johnson is played by actress Beth Grant. The screenplay by Noah Oppenheim also includes notes from the actual interview.

Portman plays the role of Jackie perfectly, nailing the voice and mannerisms of the former first lady, according to a Wall Street Journal review. "Natalie Portman's portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy during and immediately after her husband's assassination rises above impersonation to an eerie kind of incarnation: She's got the voice, the look and a devastated spirit," WSJ film critic Joe Morgenstern writes.