The film Patriots Day is a docudrama based on the true story of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent city-wide manhunt for the perpetrators. It reconstructs the factual timeline of the terrorist attack and the ensuing investigation, incorporating archival news and surveillance footage to ground its narrative in historical events. While the overarching story and its key moments are authentic, the film employs dramatic license, most notably through the creation of composite characters to streamline the narrative for a cinematic format.
The film's depiction of critical eventsfrom the initial explosions near the marathon finish line to the identification of the Tsarnaev brothers and the Watertown shootoutis based on extensive research and the non-fiction book Boston Strong. Many characters portrayed are direct representations of real people involved, such as FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers, Police Commissioner Ed Davis, and carjacking victim Dun Meng. However, the central protagonist, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (played by Mark Wahlberg), is a fictional composite. This character was created to represent the perspectives and actions of multiple Boston-area police officers who were involved in different aspects of the crisis, serving as a narrative anchor for the widespread and complex law enforcement response.
Ultimately, the movie functions as a historical dramatization rather than a pure documentary. The use of a composite character is a common cinematic technique employed to condense a sprawling, multi-perspective true story into a coherent and emotionally engaging film. Therefore, while the core events, timeline, and outcomes portrayed are factually accurate, the specific personal journey and dialogue of the main protagonist are a fictionalized synthesis. The film prioritizes capturing the spirit and factual sequence of the tragedy and the city's response over a literal, moment-for-moment reenactment of any single real individual's experience.
