Highest-Rated Movies about 'Prison'

The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains (1987), S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Marat/Sade (1967), Maze (2017), Licensed to Kill (1997), Stevie (2002), Lion's Den (2008) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Prison movies.

#16. A Man Escaped (1956)

Storyline: Captured French Resistance fighter Lieutenant Fontaine awaits a certain death sentence for espionage in a stark Nazi prison in Lyon, France. Facing malnourishment and paralyzing fear, he must plot an extraordinary escape, complicated by the questions of whom to trust, and what lies beyond the small portion of the prison they are housed in.

Plot Keywords: prison, escape, world war ii, nazis, france, resistance, prisoner ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#17. Redemption (2004)

Storyline: Stan "Tookie" Williams (Jamie Foxx), founder of the infamous Los Angeles street gang the Crips, is sent to death row in 1981. Journalist Barbara Becnel (Lynn Whitfield) wants to interview Williams after her son gets interested in gang culture. Though initially reluctant to speak to anyone, Williams' outlook changes when he begins writing children's books. Resolving to redeem himself before his execution, Williams talks to Becnel about his turbulent childhood and his rise to gangster legend.

Plot Keywords: action, crime, drama, revenge, prison, gangster, violence ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#18. Steel City (2006)

Storyline: As his brother (Clayne Crawford) muddles through a workaday job, and his father (John Heard) sits in a jail cell after a fatal drunk-driving crash, P.J. Lee (Thomas Guiry) works as a dishwasher in a Midwestern mill town. P.J. halfheartedly pursues a relationship with local girl Amy Barnes (America Ferrera) and temporarily bunks with his ex-Marine uncle, but family troubles weigh on him. Barely 20 but already worn down, P.J. might be the only person who can help his family heal.

Plot Keywords: family, drama, american film, independent film, working class, father-son relationship, small town life ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#19. The Execution of Wanda Jean (2002)

Storyline: "The Execution of Wanda Jean" chronicles the life-and-death battle of Wanda Jean Allen. By telling one woman's story, the film becomes an unforgettable exploration into one of America's most controversial moral and political dilemmas: the death penalty. "The Execution of Wanda Jean" is an unflinching investigation of the role that poverty, mental health, race, and sexuality play within the criminal justice system.

Plot Keywords: crime, documentary, true story, justice system, death penalty, race, gender ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#20. White Heat (1949)

Storyline: Cody Jarrett is the sadistic leader of a ruthless gang of thieves. Afflicted by terrible headaches and fiercely devoted to his 'Ma,' Cody is a volatile, violent, and eccentric leader. Cody's top henchman wants to lead the gang and attempts to have an 'accident' happen to Cody, while he is running the gang from in jail. But Cody is saved by an undercover cop, who thereby befriends him and infiltrates the gang. Finally, the stage is set for Cody's ultimate betrayal and downfall, during a big heist at a chemical plant.

Plot Keywords: crime, film noir, gangster, classic, violence, psychological thriller, prison ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#21. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Storyline: Having returned from fighting in World War I, James Allen doesn't want to settle into a humdrum life and decides to set off to find his fortune. He travels the length and breadth of America, working as a skilled tradesman in the construction industry. When times get tough however, he finds himself living in a shelter where an acquaintance suggests they go out for a hamburger. What the friend really has in mind is to rob the diner and Allen soon finds himself working on a chain gang with a long jail sentence. Allen manages to escape however and heads to Chicago where over several years he slowly but surely works his way up the ladder to become one of the most respected construction engineers in the city. His past catches up with him and despite protestations from civic leaders and his many friends in Chicago, he finds himself again on the chain gang. Escaping for a second time, he accepts that to survive, he must lead a life of crime.

Plot Keywords: crime, drama, prison, fugitive, social injustice, justice system, oppression ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#23. Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Storyline: Luke Jackson is a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as Dragline explains it, "You're an original, that's what you are!" Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks.

Plot Keywords: prison, rebellion, american south, classic, paul newman, 1960s, escape ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#24. The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)

Storyline: Bhagat was born in British India during the year 1908. As a child he witnessed numerous atrocities committed on fellow Indians by their British rulers, who came to trade under the guise of the East India Company, but ended up controlling most of the nation, and permitting tyrants such as General Dyer to massacre thousands of innocent men, women and children in Jallianwala Baug. As a child he was impressed by Mohandas K. Gandhi, especially his call to launch the non-cooperation movement, which led to thousands of people burning British-made clothing, giving up schools, & college studies, and government jobs - only to be let down by Gandhi himself when he called off the movement. Undaunted, Bhagat decided to be a revolutionary, starting with getting into petty fights, then as a grown-up joining the Hindustan Republic Association. When Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten to death by the police, Bhagat, along with Shivram Rajguru, Sukhdev, and others daringly carried out the assassination of a ...

Plot Keywords: history, biography, revolution, patriotism, colonialism, hero, sacrifice ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#25. In the Name of the Father (1993)

Storyline: Young Belfastian Gerry Conlon admits that he was in London at the time of the incident. He also admits that he is not a model citizen, having committed a petty robbery while in London. He does however profess his innocence when it comes to the bombing of the Guildford Pub in London in 1974, the event which killed several people inside. A self-professed non-political person, he and his three co-accused, dubbed the Guildford Four, are thought to be provisional members of the IRA. Their self-professed innocence is despite each having signed a statement of guilt which they claim were signed under duress. Their case includes having provable alibis for the time frame of the bombing. And eventually, Joe McAndrew, a known IRA member, admits to the bombing. Dubbed the Maguire Seven, seven others, primarily members of Gerry's extended family including his father Giuseppe, are accused of being accessories to the bombing. Following on the work initiated by Giuseppe, Gerry works on a campaign to ...

Plot Keywords: biography, drama, history, crime, legal, miscarriage of justice, prison ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#26. Shoeshine (1946)

Storyline: At a track near Rome, shoeshine boys are watching horses run. Two of them, the orphan Pasquale and his younger friend Giuseppe, are riding. The pair have been saving to buy their own horse. They meet Attilio, Giuse's much-older brother, and his shady friend at a boat on the Tiber. In return for a commission, the boys agree to deliver black-market goods to a fortuneteller. Once the woman has paid, Attilio's gang suddenly arrives, pretending to be cops, to shake the woman down. With a payoff from Attilio, the boys are able to make the final payment and stable their horse in Trastevere over the river. The fortuneteller identifies Pasqua and Giuse. Held at an overcrowded boys' prison, they are separated. Giuse falls under the influence of an older lad in his cell, Arcangeli. During interrogation, Pasqua is tricked into betraying Giuse's brother to the police. With their trial still in the future, the two friends are driven further apart.—David Carless

Plot Keywords: italian cinema, post-war, poverty, children, friendship, tragedy, social criticism ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#29. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

Storyline: After a bloody invasion of the BOPE in the High-Security Penitentiary Bangu 1 in Rio de Janeiro to control a rebellion of interns, the Lieutenant-Colonel Roberto Nascimento and the second in command Captain André Matias are accused by the Human Right Aids member Diogo Fraga of execution of prisoners. Matias is transferred to the corrupted Military Police and Nascimento is exonerated from the BOPE by the Governor. However, due to the increasing popularity of Nascimento, the Governor invites him to team-up with the intelligence area of the Secretary of Security. Along the years, Fraga, who is married with Nascimento's former wife, is elected State Representative and Nascimento's son Rafael has issues with his biological father. Meanwhile Nascimento and the BOPE expel the drug dealers from several slums but another enemy arises: the militia led by Major Rocha and supported by the Governor, the Secretary of Security and politicians interested in votes. Nascimento is manipulated to help ...

Plot Keywords: action, crime, drama, thriller, police, corruption, violence ...

Movie Details Click Here !

#30. Sling Blade (1996)

Storyline: A partially handicapped man named Karl is released from a mental hospital, about 20 years after murdering his mother and another person. Karl is often questioned if he will ever kill again, and he shrugs in response saying there is no reason to. Now out of the mental institution, Karl settles in his old, small hometown, occupying himself by fixing motors. After meeting a young boy named Frank, who befriends him, Karl is invited to stay at Frank's house with his mother Linda, who views Karl as a strange but kind and generous man. However, Linda's abusive boyfriend, Doyle, sees things differently in the way rules ought to be run- normally insulting Linda's homosexual friend Vaughan as well as Karl's disabilities, and having wild parties with his friends. As Karl's relationship with Frank grows, he is watchful of Doyle's cruel actions.

Plot Keywords: drama, crime, psychological, independent film, social outcasts, murder, redemption ...

Movie Details Click Here !