Movies like Papillon
If you like "Papillon" you are looking for factual, psychological and motivational movies about / with prison, prison escape, island prison, friendship, life sentence, escape and solitary themes of Adventure, Biography and Crime genre shot in USA or Czech Republic.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Papillon (2017)
79K
Where to Watch
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 yet failed attempts, he's sent to the notorious prison Devil's Island, a place from which no one has ever escaped.
Style:
factual, psychological, motivational, art house, homoerotic, brutal, interesting
Plot:
prison, prison escape, island prison, friendship, life sentence, escape, solitary, survival, thief, wrongful conviction, human spirit, jungle, escape plan, false accusation, prison life, robbery, safecracker, security guard, jail, suspense, friendship between men, tattoo, criminal, corruption, young man ...
Time:
1930s, year 1969, year 1931, year 1970
Place:
south america, france, colombia, venezuela, paris france
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Papillon
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, dramatic and interesting films with plots about violence, murder, prison, suspense, brutality, friendship and cigarette smoking mostly in Drama, Crime and Biography genres. Some movies like Papillon: Escape from Alcatraz (1979), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), A Prayer Before Dawn (2017), Bronson (2008), Midnight Express (1978). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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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 ⇓
100%
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 ⇓
100%
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, ...
Style:
clever, touching, inspirational, sentimental, philosophical ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, kids
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, existentialism, plot twist, life, friendship between men, life sentence, life philosophy, hopes, adaptation, powerful ending ...
Time:
1940s, year 1963, year 1965, year 1966, year 1954 ...
Place:
usa, maine, pacific ocean, mexico
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Sport
Country: UK, France, China, Cambodia, USA, Germany
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
Based on the true life experience of Billy Moore who survived his Thai prison ordeal by becoming a Muay Thai boxing champion.
Style:
exciting, suspenseful, captivating, tense, disturbing ...
Plot:
prison, boxing, male rape, prison rape, brutality, drugs, transgender woman, drug addict, suicide, tattoo, violence, boxing match ...
Time:
2000s, year 2010
Place:
bangkok thailand, thailand
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
134K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, Denmark
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.
Style:
surreal, stylized, brutal, harsh, bloody ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, brutality, social misfits, mental illness, violence, gangsters, male nudity, prison life, violence spree, society, jail, fistfight ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 70s, year 1974
Place:
england, london, europe, united kingdom
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
Catch Me If You Can similar movies
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 ⇓
100%
397K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 209 min.
Story:
A mob hit man recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.
Style:
captivating, exciting, tense, inspirational, thought provoking ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
mafia, organized crime, italian mafia, labor union, murder, gangsters, killer as protagonist, high society, prison, arrest, hitman, old man ...
Time:
1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 20th century ...
Place:
ireland, chicago illinois, philadelphia, pennsylvania, cuba ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
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%
Movie in collections
69K
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.
Style:
suspenseful, tense, psychological, tricky, intense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, prison life, survival, jail, confined, trapped, prison guard, hostage, gangsters, prison escape, prison riot, rebellion ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
spain, iberian peninsula, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted ...
Style:
serious, sincere, rough, realistic
Plot:
prison, friendship, prison life, criminal, teaching the ways of the world, confined, gangsters, jail, gang, anger, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, ex boyfriend ex girlfriend relationship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
Movies similar to The Wolf of Wall Street
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
A young man goes to prison and a tough, older convict takes him under his wing as a mentor.
Style:
realistic, tense, bleak, atmospheric, disturbing ...
Plot:
prison, friendship, gang, drugs, prison escape, adaptation, depression, redemption, survival, human nature, prison rape, prison warden ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
usa, california, new jersey, pennsylvania, paris france ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 180 min.
Story:
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", ...
Style:
intense, bad ending, entertaining, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
gang, gangsters, street gang, prison, prison gang, drug abuse, drug addiction, violence spree, destiny, jail, police shootout, corruption ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, 80s
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, ecuador, guatemala ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
A justice drama based on a true story about a man on death row who in his last days forms a strong relationship with a nun who teaches him forgiveness and gives him spirituality as she accompanies him to his execution.
Style:
thought provoking, touching, psychological, sad, emotional ...
Plot:
prison, death row, rape, death sentence, nun, court, redemption, murder, lethal injection, execution, justice, lawyer ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
louisiana, new orleans, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
20K
Genre: Drama, Crime
Country: Brazil, Argentina, Italy
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
Carandiru, a story based on real facts and on the book written by the doctor Drauzio Varella, starts when he decides to carry out an AIDS prevention program inside Latin America’s largest prison: the Casa de Detenção de São Paulo, Carandiru, ...
Style:
bleak, compassionate, captivating, rough, touching ...
Plot:
prison, doctor, aids, police brutality, prison escape, prison life, fighting the system, life is a bitch, confined, fighting illness, regret, protest ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
brazil, latin america, rio de janeiro, south america, sao paulo brazil
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Edward J. Olmos made his directorial bow with the powerhouse crime saga American Me. Olmos stars as street-gang leader Santana, who during his 18 years in Folsom Prison rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, ...
Style:
disturbing, realistic, talky, emotional, intense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, gang, prison gang, sexual abuse, gangsters, racism, jail, mafia, rape, violence, juvenile delinquency, justice ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 70s, 50s, year 1959 ...
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, san francisco
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
Films like The Shawshank Redemption
136K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
A biopic of the writer, Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book, 'In Cold Blood'.
Style:
intellectual, captivating, dark, dramatic, talky ...
Plot:
writers, prison, loneliness, literature, journalism, murder, murderer, manipulation, eccentricity, investigation, friendship, lgbt ...
Time:
50s, 60s, year 1960, 20th century, year 1959
Place:
kansas, usa, new york, spain, brooklyn new york city ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
1.2M
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
Style:
rough, realistic, epic, brutal, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
mafia, organized crime, gangsters, rise and fall, criminal heroes, mentor, drugs, suspense, friends, cosa nostra, drug traffic, gang ...
Time:
70s, 50s, year 1970, 80s, year 1963 ...
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city, italy, florida, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
A small time thief from Belfast, Gerry Conlon, is falsely implicated in the IRA bombing of a pub that kills several people while he is in London. He and his four friends are coerced by British police into confessing their guilt. Gerry's father ...
Style:
political, thought provoking, sentimental, touching, dramatic ...
Plot:
prison, lawyer, terrorism, terrorist, father son relationship, court, courtroom, justice, irish republican army, politics, legal, bomb ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 70s
Place:
ireland, northern ireland, england, london, canada ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, bleak, rough, dark ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
serial killer, serial murder, maniac, violence, killer as protagonist, murder, suspense, police investigation, serial killer as protagonist, prison, prisoner, psychopath ...
Time:
70s, year 1989, year 1974, year 1975, year 1976 ...
Place:
usa, seattle
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Three young women were sentenced to death in the infamous Manson murder case, but when the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student was sent in to teach them - and through her we witness their ...
Style:
psychological, disturbing, rough, dark, slasher
Plot:
cult leader, life sentence, female murderer, serial killer, hippie, female nudity, prison, psychopath, confined, female assassin, suspense, cult ...
Time:
year 1969, year 2014, year 2017, year 2009
Place:
california, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Also search:
Movies like The Green Mile
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Italy, France, Germany, Brazil
Duration: 153 min.
Story:
Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to ...
Style:
realistic, intense, captivating, factual
Plot:
mafia, gangsters, cosa nostra, informant, organized crime, judge, assassination attempt, assassination, murder, death threat, court, italian history ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 2000s, 90s, year 1980 ...
Place:
sicily, italy, rome italy, miami, rio de janeiro ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
When Colin Warner was wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend Carl King devoted his life to proving his innocence.
Style:
realistic, intense, thought provoking, serious, sad
Plot:
prison, miscarriage of justice, wrongful conviction, false accusation, friendship, husband wife relationship, african american, lie, injustice, fighting the system, legal, freedom ...
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
184K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
Style:
factual, brutal, intense, captivating, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, mafia, organized crime, corruption, fbi, violence, murder, illness, brutality, irish mob, true crime, arms dealing ...
Time:
70s, 80s, 20th century, year 1981, year 1995 ...
Place:
boston, new jersey, usa, massachusetts, miami ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not ...
Style:
clever, exciting, captivating, entertaining, inspirational ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, date night
Plot:
con artists, adaptation, deception, master criminal, fbi, creativity, prodigy, race against time, rise and fall, impostor, justice, chase ...
Time:
60s, 20th century, 70s, year 1967, year 1969 ...
Place:
new york, new orleans, los angeles, san francisco, boston ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story:
After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard ...
Style:
realistic, serious, captivating, atmospheric, inspirational ...
Plot:
prison, bird, redemption, life sentence, warden, prison escape, alcatraz, rebel, self discovery, defiant, isolation, rehabilitation ...
Time:
20th century, 50s, 1910s, 1920s, 1940s ...
Place:
san francisco, kansas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Also search:
Movies similar to Blood In, Blood Out
59K
Genre: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia, UK
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A mysterious guide escorts an enthusiastic adventurer and his friend into the Amazon jungle, but their journey turns into a terrifying ordeal as the darkest elements of human nature and the deadliest threats of the wild force them to fight for ...
Style:
serious, atmospheric, realistic, suspenseful, tense ...
Plot:
survival, jungle, amazon rainforest, suspense, alone, nature, adventurer, rescue, wilderness, hallucination, river, raft ...
Time:
20th century, year 1980, year 1981
Place:
south america, bolivia, andes mountains
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
100K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 155 min.
Story:
Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of ...
Style:
harsh, tense, bleak, rough, atmospheric ...
Audience:
manly, boys' night
Plot:
prison, mafia, gangsters, prison life, confined, cruelty, organized crime, prison escape, gang, coming of age, drugs, convict ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
france, europe, paris france, marseille, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
The life of American public enemy number one who was shot by the police in 1934. After a shoot-out kills five FBI agents in Kansas City the Bureau target John Dillinger as one of the men to hunt down. Waiting for him to break Federal law they sort ...
Style:
exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
gangsters, gunfight, gang, murder, great depression, prostitute, fbi, robbery, heist, true crime, jail, cult ...
Time:
1930s, year 1934, year 1933, 20th century
Place:
chicago illinois, usa, kansas, arizona, memphis ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
246K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
Set in the Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits.
Style:
intense, harsh, stylized, entertaining, brutal ...
Plot:
gangsters, mafia, organized crime, gang, bootlegging, smuggling, greed, prohibition, suspense, robbery, corruption, great depression ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, year 1931, year 1940, 1940s
Place:
virginia, usa, appalachia, new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
29%
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
A true-life drama in the 1920s, centering on British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who discovered evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilazation in the Amazon and disappeared whilst searching for it.
Style:
inspirational, meditative, exciting, sexy, factual ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
explorer, jungle, travel, expedition, archaeology, journey, survival, tribe, world war one, courage, obsession, conquistador ...
Time:
1920s, future, year 1916, year 1914, 18th century ...
Place:
south america, ireland, london, england, bolivia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
33%
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