Factual error: At the road block scene, the state trooper is wearing brown boots with his uniform. There's not a state trooper in Texas that wears brown boots in uniform. Black trooper boots are part of the Texas State Trooper uniform.
Factual error: The police are circling the theatre to find out where Johnny's escaped father is. During this, you can see that Mike is getting pulled upwards towards the copters like a piece of metal getting attracted to a magnet. Helicopters create downdrafts - Mike should've been blown away from the stage rather than being pulled up.
Factual error: The main plot is that a teacher answering a student's question about Jesus in a historical context starts a legal firestorm. This is utterly preposterous. Teachers (and students for that matter) are 100% allowed to discuss religion in a historical context. They just can't do things like force other people to take part in religious activities (like prayer) or "endorse" a single religion above all others since public schools need to remain neutral. There'd be literally no case against her.
Factual error: When Jake Gyllenhaal confronts one of the suspects in the shed and wakes up (several hours later) after being knocked out cold, he moves the dead guy's arm. Normally, bodies stiffen up after being dead for several hours, but when Tony (Jake) moves the other guy's arm, it is not stiff at all.
Factual error: There were no SS in North Africa, as shown iat the beginning of the film. There was a small SD office in Tunis. If there had been, SS would not have paraded around in Black, or normal field grey for that matter, they would have worn most likely a tropical uniform.
Factual error: Saroo is in Melbourne in 2008 (as indicated by the text at the beginning of the scene). As Saroo and Lucy walk down the street on opposite sides, a red Nissan Qashqai is seen driving past. That car didn't come out until 2013.
Factual error: A few scenes in the movie show Roman cavalrymen using stirrups, which were not used by the Romans until several centuries later.
Factual error: He goes to the shop at night (after 2am) to purchase alcohol when the fire happens. There is nowhere in any of the surrounding areas you can purchase alcohol at that time. Even if he drove to Boston and back (which would take 2 hours not the 30 minutes stated) I still doubt he could purchase alcohol at that time. It's not legal in Massachusetts.
Factual error: The main character is being wooed by Lockheed - an aircraft company, whose representative then gives him gifts for his kids - one of which is a desk model of an aircraft, however it is of an aircraft produced by one of Lockheed's competitors - Grumman, which would be akin to a GM rep giving a toy Ford Mustang as a gift. Both companies continue to remain competitors as Lockheed-Martin and Northrop-Grumman since the government vetoed a proposed merger back in 1998, and at no time have the two companies collaborated on a major project.
Factual error: Jackie is handling medication vials and taking a pill. Some of the vials have childproof "palm and twist" caps, but they were not invented until 1967. (00:48:00 - 00:49:00)
Factual error: In the wedding and arrest scene the U.S. Customs Service officials have police attack dogs. The U.S. Customs Service only has drug detection dogs. (01:57:00)
Factual error: The nearest tube station to Wembley Stadium is Wembley Park or Wembley Central and not Park Royal at all.
Factual error: James is playing his guitar outside a station. Before the frontal shot that identifies it as Covent Garden, there's a street poster for the musical version of "Matilda." The play was already in existence in the movie timeframe, but the poster is in its "Believe the hype" version that is post 2013. The movie ends in 2012. (00:19:55)
Factual error: When Chiron is speaking with the social worker after being assaulted by Kevin, the social worker urges Chiron to press charges. It is the government who decides to press charges, based on evidence gathered by the police, including witness and victim statements. Crime victims do not decide whether or not to press charges. (01:02:20)
Suggested correction: It should be noted the term "press charges" in this case is meant to denote that a victim of a crime reports the crime to the police (as in file a charge against a person to the police), not the legal sense of pressing charges in court. Plus, victims of crimes can pursue a civil case against a criminal.
Factual error: Toward the end of the movie, we see a B-2 Spirit releasing bombs over the town. This is very unlikely, as this is probably the most expensive aircraft to operate in the USAF arsenal, and it has only 20 of them. There is no reason to use it over an area with no hostile enemy fire, when much cheaper and more available aircraft can to the same task.
Factual error: I'm not 100% on the make of the bolt action rifle Lee is carrying but I know it contains an internal magazine of maximum 5 bullets. She opens the bolt, and no empty shell casing flies out, and for some unknown and stupid reason loads only one round into the chamber. Single shot bolt action rifles are usually very antiquated and hers isn't, or they are very large anti-material rifles with huge calibers of .50 BMG like the Steyr. (01:13:00)
Factual error: The movie puts a caption in the prologue "January 2013." Later the protagonist puts the hammer he received by the mysterious delivery right on top of a newspaper, a copy of "Mid-Day" with a retouched opening article (related to the movie murder of course) but headline news with a Sunil Gavaskar quote that dates it as a December 2015 edition. (00:03:20 - 00:10:10)
Factual error: When Vinny Panzienza has his cervical halo brace removed (without anesthetics), he yells and groans and grunts in pain, but his hands are relaxed on the arms of the chair. I can tell you, from experience with this exact situation, the pain is so intense that his hands should have been clenched as tight as a vise.
Factual error: For the third movie in a row -at least they are consistent - Maggie introduces herself as Detective of the SFPD, but detectives are not referred as such, but as Inspectors.
Factual error: The open credit sequence takes place at the Atlanta Airport (Hartsfield Jackson), signs are throughout the Delta terminals, Boston Airport announcements are dubbed in until we see John Cusack come off the airplane.