These efforts don’t meander too far from the traditional exceptional-individual path. But three other titles considered more likely to be included in the Best Pic line-up—“Lion,” “Jackie” and “Loving”—strive to expand the usual trajectory of real-life stories.

“Lion” follows the miraculous account of how Saroo, a five-year-old Indian boy who becomes separated from his family, is adopted by a loving Australian couple but, eventually, feels compelled as an adult to reconnect with his past. Like many of the frontrunners, the idea of how family defines who you are adds a greater dimension to the narrative.

“Jackie” is a stirring behind-the-scenes portrait of how First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (personified with grace, heartache and strength of purpose by Natalie Portman) in public and private moments took control of preserving and shaping her husband JFK’s presidential legacy after his assassination in 1963. Even grief-stricken, she thinks about securing just the right image for future generations and not just about the present.

“Loving” slowly and quietly tells of how a humble interracial married couple from rural Virginia staged an understated revolution by fighting to uphold their union as legal with the aid of the Supreme Court in 1967. The film beautifully intertwines scenes of tender domesticity with the world at large as Ruth Negga invests her Mildred Loving with a mannerly yet persistent desire to fight not just for her family, but also for others who suffer under such antiquated racist restrictions. With their Southern laidback reserve, Negga and Joel Edgerton as the more reticent Richard Loving excel as stealth fighters for social change.

So what is going on here? Many of these movies harken back to a kinder, gentler, more progressive climate than the one that seems to be fomenting now in the wake of a divisive presidential election. Not that their creators had any clue about what was awaiting when they conceived their movies.

What do these disparate storylines have in common beyond being based on fact? They take each specific scenario and somehow generalize the circumstances enough to allow the audience to relate. It is to the credit of their filmmakers that wide-ranging audiences can connect to these stories—no matter what the time period, racial makeup or social class is depicted.