Movies like The Shawshank Redemption
If you like "The Shawshank Redemption" you are looking for clever, touching and inspirational movies about / with prison, prison escape, freedom, existentialism, plot twist, life and friendship between men themes of Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2.7M
Where to Watch
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Style:
clever, touching, inspirational, sentimental, philosophical, twist ending, dramatic, uplifting, serious, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, kids, chick flick
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, existentialism, plot twist, life, friendship between men, life sentence, life philosophy, hopes, adaptation, powerful ending, suspense, justice, human spirit, corruption, wrongful imprisonment, courage, twists and turns, prison life, false accusation, suicide, confined, imprisonment, destiny ...
Time:
1940s, year 1965, year 1963, year 1947, year 1966, year 1954, 60s ...
Place:
usa, maine, pacific ocean, mexico
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Shawshank Redemption
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, interesting and intense films with plots about storytelling, justice, mentor, redemption, friendship, life philosophy and destiny mostly in Drama, Crime and Biography genres. Some movies like The Shawshank Redemption: The Green Mile (1999), Forrest Gump (1994), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Cool Hand Luke (1967). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 189 min.
Story:
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cellblock's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, ...
Style:
touching, emotional, sentimental, sad, dramatic ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick
Plot:
prison, death row, supernatural, convict, magic realism, suspense, false accusation, electric chair, life philosophy, death sentence, life & death, justice ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 1935
Place:
usa, southern usa, louisiana
⇓ similarity ⇓
94%
2.1M
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, feel good, sentimental, dramatic ...
Audience:
date night, girls' night, kids, chick flick, family outing ...
Plot:
mentally challenged, love, life & death, life philosophy, philosophy, life, vietnam war, destiny, human spirit, rise to the top, journey, selflessness ...
Time:
50s, 60s, 70s, 20th century, 80s
Place:
usa, washington d.c., vietnam, alabama, los angeles ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
87%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
While serving time for insanity at a state mental hospital, implacable rabble-rouser, Randle Patrick McMurphy inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse, Mildred Ratched.
Style:
psychological, thought provoking, dramatic, serious, captivating ...
Plot:
mental illness, mental institution, fighting the system, freedom, insanity, human spirit, nurse, society, psychiatrist, unlikely friendships, escaped mental patient, psychopath ...
Time:
60s, 20th century
Place:
oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
87%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Style:
inspirational, emotional, sentimental, dramatic, motivational ...
Audience:
family outing, chick flick, teens
Plot:
life, life philosophy, rags to riches, human spirit, homeless, rise to the top, against the odds, life is a bitch, ambition, down on your luck, hopes, single father ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
usa, california, san francisco
⇓ similarity ⇓
87%
Movie in collections
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Escape from Alcatraz tells the story of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous maximum security prison at Alcatraz. In 29 years, the seemingly impenetrable federal penitentiary, which housed Al Capone and "Birdman" Robert ...
Style:
atmospheric, suspenseful, realistic, exciting, dramatic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, prison escape, suspense, escape, alcatraz, island, prison life, freedom, jail, confined, partners, runaway ...
Time:
60s, year 1960, 20th century, year 1961, year 1962 ...
Place:
san francisco, canada, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
81%
Also search:
The Help similar movies
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable ...
Style:
realistic, atmospheric, serious, rough, intense ...
Audience:
manly, adult
Plot:
prison, freedom, prison escape, escape, rebelliousness, death, dignity, escape attempt, prison life, rebellion, tough guy, punishment ...
Time:
20th century, 60s, 50s
Place:
florida, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 156 min.
Story:
Charlie Simms is a student at a private preparatory school who comes from a poor family. To earn the money for his flight home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after retired U.S. Army officer Lieutenant ...
Style:
sentimental, inspirational, dramatic, realistic, touching ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
friendship, mentor, blindness, blind character, human nature, human spirit, tango, thanksgiving, coming of age, disability, loneliness, unlikely friendships ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
new york, new england, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
77%
466K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 146 min.
Story:
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's ...
Style:
touching, inspirational, thought provoking, emotional, uplifting ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, kids
Plot:
racism, friendship, writers, civil rights, social relations, maid, master and servant, human spirit, discrimination, life is a bitch, women, racial issues ...
Time:
60s, 50s, 20th century, year 1963
Place:
mississippi, usa, africa, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
94%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min.
Story:
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert ...
Style:
uplifting, sentimental, touching, sad, sincere ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
african american, incest, sexual abuse, feminism, rape, domestic violence, life is a bitch, incest rape, slavery, women, human spirit, wife abuse ...
Time:
1930s, edwardian era, 20th century, 1920s, 1910s ...
Place:
africa, southern usa, usa, tennessee, georgia
⇓ similarity ⇓
88%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. ...
Style:
psychological, emotional, sentimental, dramatic, philosophical ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, chick flick, date night
Plot:
mathematics, professor, genius, life philosophy, psychology, life, prodigy, university, philosophy, existentialism, psychologist, ambition ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
boston, harvard university, massachusetts, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
78%
Also search:
Movies like Prison Break
133K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 151 min.
Story:
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Style:
inspirational, psychological, realistic, dramatic, talky ...
Plot:
prison escape, prison, escape, life philosophy, human spirit, survival, runaway, escape attempt, brutality, criminal heroes, jail, escape plan ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 70s, 1930s
Place:
latin america, atlantic ocean
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
522K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.
Style:
road movie, sincere, uplifting, touching, inspirational ...
Plot:
autism, road trip, redemption, mentally challenged, runaway, disability, brother brother relationship, siblings relations, family relations, mental illness, self discovery, psychology ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
california, los angeles, las vegas, texas, missouri ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Percy, upon being released from prison, goes to the small town of Gillead, to find a place where she can start over again. She is taken in by Hannah, to help out at her place, the Spitfire Grill. Percy brings change to the small town, stirring ...
Style:
christian film, touching, sentimental, emotional, sexy ...
Audience:
chick flick, family outing, girls' night
Plot:
small town, friendship, bittersweet, self discovery, hospital, death, solitude, restaurant, food, business, christian, abortion ...
Time:
90s
Place:
maine, vermont, usa, new england, ohio ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
At Princeton University, John Nash struggles to make a worthwhile contribution to serve as his legacy to the world of mathematics. He finally makes a revolutionary breakthrough that will eventually earn him the Nobel Prize. After graduate school he ...
Style:
psychological, touching, emotional, cerebral, motivational ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, date night
Plot:
mathematics, mental illness, paranoia, schizophrenia, genius, insanity, scientist, obsession, mathematician, prodigy, nobel prize, imaginary friend ...
Time:
60s, 1940s, 20th century, 80s, 90s ...
Place:
new jersey, boston, massachusetts, usa, stockholm sweden ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
71%
146K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, ...
Style:
motivational, sentimental, touching, sincere, uplifting ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
mental illness, mental institution, hospital, doctors and patients, hopes, illness, fighting illness, disability, psychology, patient, cure, catatonia ...
Time:
20th century, 1930s, 60s, year 1969
Place:
new york, usa, bronx new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
Movies like Fight Club
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
Frank Galvin is a down-on-his luck lawyer, reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing. Former associate Mickey Morrissey reminds him of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit that he himself served to Galvin on a silver platter: all parties ...
Style:
tense, thought provoking, atmospheric, intense, serious ...
Plot:
courtroom, courtroom drama, redemption, lawyer, legal action, court, suspense, fighting the system, legal, character study, investigation, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
boston, massachusetts, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
307K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
Style:
touching, sad, emotional, depressing, sentimental ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
redemption, depression, life philosophy, self sacrifice, true love, life changing experience, hopes, sacrifice, existentialism, fall in love, suicide, life & death ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
79K
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Czech Republic, Spain
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Henri "Papillon" Charrière is convicted in Paris for a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he becomes obsessed with escaping. After planning and executing a series of treacherous ...
Style:
factual, psychological, art house, motivational, homoerotic ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, island prison, friendship, life sentence, escape, solitary, survival, wrongful conviction, thief, human spirit, jungle ...
Time:
1930s, year 1969, year 1931, year 1970
Place:
south america, france, venezuela, colombia, paris france
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher, Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long ...
Style:
psychological, bleak, thought provoking, depressing, touching ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
teacher, depression, suicide, teachers and students, dedicated educator, human relationship, school, unhappy, social problems, life is a bitch, society, social decay ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader ...
Style:
rough, emotional, serious, cerebral, dramatic ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens, date night
Plot:
prison, racism, skinhead, gang, racial slur, character change, rape, juvenile delinquency, neo nazi, racial prejudice, violent, murder ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
los angeles, usa, california, venice beach california
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Also search:
Movies similar to Se7en
2.2M
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the ...
Style:
surprise ending, psychological, thought provoking, twist ending, surreal ...
Audience:
boys' night, chick flick, manly, girls' night
Plot:
twists and turns, psychology, plot twist, fight, self destructing, insanity, fighting the system, split personality, schizophrenia, losing-it hero, against the rules, obsession ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
delaware, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
546K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story:
Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
Style:
exciting, tense, suspenseful, serious, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens
Plot:
prison, fugitives, determination, escape, prison life, conspiracy, confined, scheme, fbi, brother, self sacrifice, siblings relations ...
Time:
2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
texas, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
73%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Karl Childers is a mentally disabled man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, Karl is deemed fit to be released into the outside ...
Style:
serious, neo noir, touching, bleak, sincere ...
Audience:
manly
Plot:
small town, friendship, dysfunctional family, murder, redemption, mental institution, death threat, father figure, mental illness, homosexual, domestic violence, coming of age ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
arkansas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Movie in collections
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
A married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder. Lara Brennan is arrested for murdering her boss with whom she had an argument. It seems she was seen leaving the scene of the crime and her fingerprints were on ...
Style:
clever, suspenseful, romantic, serious, tense ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens
Plot:
prison escape, life turned upside down, false accusation, injustice, confined, suspense, innocent, resourceful, husband wife relationship, family relations, love, escape ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
pennsylvania, venezuela, usa, canada, haiti ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
64%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the paroled man attempts to find ...
Style:
touching, emotional, melancholic, philosophical, psychological ...
Plot:
criminal, murder, prison, friendship, robbery, justice, gang, going straight, haunted by the past, human nature, rehabilitation, ex convict ...
Time:
21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
Films like The Green Mile
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his ...
Style:
disturbing, realistic, psychological, serious, controversial ...
Plot:
prison, torture, court, brutality, injustice, escape, lawyer, suspense, prison escape, drugs, escape attempt, jail ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, year 1970, year 1972, year 1975 ...
Place:
turkey, brooklyn new york city, istanbul turkey, greece
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 270 min.
TV show
Story:
The story of Kat Stanton (Kidman), an Australian woman searching for her father who, whilst travelling back from London to Australia via Thailand, makes friends with Arkie Ragan (Ehlers), a photographer. Kat is tricked into carrying some luggage ...
Style:
serious, realistic, rough, disturbing
Plot:
prison, escape, injustice, betrayal, interracial relations, heroin, fighting the system, smuggling, false accusation, prison life, life is a bitch, destiny ...
Time:
80s
Place:
thailand, asia, australia, london, bangkok thailand ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
93%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Jamal Malik is an impoverished Indian teen who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ but, after he wins, he is suspected of cheating.
Style:
touching, realistic, motivational, feel good, uplifting ...
Audience:
date night, teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot:
poverty, love, childhood, destiny, orphan, rags to riches, against the odds, society, life is a bitch, street life, cheating, ambition ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 2005, 2000s, year 2006 ...
Place:
india, mumbai india, asia, taj mahal
⇓ similarity ⇓
58%
630K
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 148 min.
Story:
The true story of top student and athlete, Christopher McCandless, who after graduating from Emory University in 1992, abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness.
Style:
road movie, philosophical, melancholic, inspirational, motivational ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
survival, road trip, self discovery, wilderness, solitude, freedom, journey, life philosophy, isolation, lifestyle change, adventurer, beautiful scenery ...
Time:
20th century, year 1990, year 1992, year 1991, 90s
Place:
alaska, los angeles, north america, usa, arizona ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
64%
52K
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
Style:
funny, humorous, entertaining, semi serious, feel good ...
Plot:
prison, twists and turns, life sentence, prison escape, prison life, redemption, african american, friendship between men, friendship, criminal, adaptation, escape attempt ...
Time:
1930s, 90s, 20th century, year 1932
Place:
mississippi, new jersey, new york, usa, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
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