Abstract: As a representative structure of photonic crystals, films constructed with inverse opal (IO) structure exhibit a typical periodic arrangement. These films have some special optical properties in addition to the advantages of uniform micropores, high porosity and great flexibility of pore sizes. In recent years, films possessing an IO structure have attracted widespread attention from fields such as detection, anti-counterfeiting, drug delivery and filtration. In this article, the structural characteristics and optical properties of IO films were described, then the preparation methods of IO films were introduced and summarized into the three-step method and the two-step method. The applications of IO films in aspects of structural coloration, photocatalysis and medical carrier were depicted in details, and finally the prospects of films with IO structure in research direction and development trend in the future were given. The research work described in this article can provide strategic supports for the promotion and application of IO functional films.