Prison movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant prison movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, serious, rough, tense, suspense and suspenseful films and TV shows about / with prison, jail, prison escape, prison life, violence, confined, murder, blood, prisoner and beating plots mostly in Drama, Crime and Thriller genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
prison
 3922
prison movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as prison: Starred Up (2013), Wentworth (2013), Shot Caller (2017), Escape Plan (2013), Oz (1997), Jailbait (2014), A Prayer Before Dawn (2017), Son of a Gun (2014), Felon (2008), Midnight Express (1978).

List of prison movies

Type:
Year:
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 7.3
 48K
Starred Up (2013)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min.
Story: 19-year-old Eric, arrogant and ultra-violent, is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father. As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already ...
Style: psychological, tense, rough, serious, depressing ...
Audience: teens, date night, teen drama
Plot: prison, father son relationship, prison life, violence, juvenile delinquent, male pubic hair, nudity, male nudity, manipulation, character study, therapist, teenage life ...
Time: year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place: ethiopia, ireland, britain, england
Is relevant ?
 8.6
 24K
Wentworth (2013)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story: Bea Smith is locked up while awaiting trial for the attempted murder of her husband and must learn how life works in prison. A modern adaptation and sequel of the iconic Prisoner series.
Style: serious, tense, suspenseful, rough, bleak ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: prison, lesbian, women in prison, prison life, women's prison, protest, power struggle, lesbian relationship, life is a bitch, danger, government facility, survival ...
Time: 2010s, 2020s, 21st century
Place: australia
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 96K
Shot Caller (2017)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: A newly-released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.
Style: clever, suspense, harsh, twist ending, crime thriller ...
Plot: prison, prison gang, prisoner, gang, criminal, organized crime, estranged father, prison life, skinhead, criminal heroes, arrest, aryan brotherhood ...
Time: year 2017, 21st century
Place: california, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 256K
Escape Plan (2013)
Genre: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: Ray Breslin is the world's foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He's ...
Style: suspenseful, exciting, suspense, clever, entertaining ...
Audience: boys' night, chick flick, manly
Plot: prison, prison escape, survival, escape, prisoner, revenge, escape plan, lone hero, outsmarting, planning, ship, convict ...
Time: year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place: morocco, usa, colorado, florida, california ...
Is relevant ?
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jail movies
1933
 8.7
 106K
Oz (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story: The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorizes their mutual enemies.
Style: rough, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison life, prison, life is a bitch, confined, violence spree, rape, homosexual rape, gay, rapist, strong sexual content, gang violence, racism ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new york
Is relevant ?
 4.3
 5K
Jailbait (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: A gritty coming of age thriller about a young girl sent to juvenile prison for the murder of her abusive step father. The film follows Anna Nix's journey into the dark world of an all girls jail where she discovers complex relationships, drugs, ...
Style: emotional, rough, erotic, suspense, crime drama ...
Plot: women's prison, women in prison, prison, survival, juvenile detention, prison sex, voyeur, female female relationship, teenage life, confined, exploitation, prison life ...
Time: 21st century
Is relevant ?
A Prayer Before Dawn (2017)
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, tense, captivating, suspense ...
Plot: prison, boxing, male rape, prison rape, male nudity, brutality, friendship, boxing match, violence, tattoo, suicide, martial arts ...
Time: year 2017, 2000s, year 2010
Place: bangkok thailand, thailand
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 29K
Son of a Gun (2014)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia, UK, Canada
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Locked up for a minor crime, 19 year old JR quickly learns the harsh realities of prison life. Protection, if you can get it, is paramount. JR soon finds himself under the watchful eye of Australia's most notorious criminal, Brendan Lynch, but ...
Style: stylized, exciting, suspenseful, neo noir, crime thriller ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison, heist, robbery, prison life, murder, betrayal, prison escape, gunfight, love story, mafia, criminal heroes, teaching the ways of the world ...
Time: 21st century
Place: australia
Is relevant ?
 7.4
 83K
Felon (2008)
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.
Style: brutal, realistic, tense, emotional, serious ...
Audience: date night, boys' night
Plot: prison, fighting the system, prison life, prison riot, life is a bitch, prison escape, prison gang, organized crime, life turned upside down, rivalry, murder, brutality ...
Time: year 2008, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
Midnight Express (1978)
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, suspense, depressing, psychological ...
Plot: prison, torture, brutality, injustice, lawyer, escape, drug, court, escape attempt, trial, prison break, jail ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1978, year 1972, year 1975 ...
Place: turkey, istanbul turkey, brooklyn new york city, greece
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 85K
Papillon (2017)
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: suspense, factual, psychological, art house, homoerotic ...
Audience: adult
Plot: prison, prison escape, island prison, friendship, life sentence, escape, thief, solitary, survival, wrongful conviction, human spirit, jungle ...
Time: year 2017, year 1931, 1930s, year 1969, year 1970 ...
Place: south america, colombia, france, venezuela, paris france
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 13K
Dog Pound (2010)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Canada, UK
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.
Style: serious, sincere, tense, realistic, independent film ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: juvenile delinquency, prison, juvenile prison, reformatory, male nudity, teenage boy, sodomy, accidental killing, teenage protagonist, going straight, youth, prison life ...
Time: year 2010, 21st century
Place: montana
Is relevant ?
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 7.6
 22K
Carandiru (2003)
Genre: Crime, Drama
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, touching, rough ...
Plot: prison, aids, doctor, prison life, fighting the system, gay, life is a bitch, fighting illness, protest, regret, lgbt, solitary ...
Time: 20th century, year 2003, 90s
Place: brazil, latin america, sao paulo, brazil, sao paulo brazil
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 71K
Cell 211 (2009)
Genre: Action, 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, intense, tricky ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison, survival, prison life, confined, prison guard, prison riot, hidden identity, hostage, manipulation, pretense, protest, warden ...
Time: year 2009, 21st century
Place: spain, iberian peninsula, europe
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 268K
The Platform (2019)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 94 min.
Story: Two people per level. An unknown number of levels. A platform with food for all of them. Are you one of those who think too much when they are up? Or of those who have no guts when they are down? If you discover it too late, you will not live out of ...
Style: suspense, disturbing, suspenseful, psychological thriller, futuristic ...
Plot: struggle for survival, survival, confined, food shortage, prison, cannibalism, social injustice, social differences, rivalry, social relations, danger, fear ...
Time: future, 2010s
Place: iberian peninsula
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 575K
Prison Break (2005)
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, escape, prison life, conspiracy, determination, confined, fbi, scheme, brother, self sacrifice, siblings relations ...
Time: 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: chicago, california, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
American History X (1998)
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: dramatic, serious, cerebral, rough, tense ...
Audience: boys' night, date night, teens, teen drama
Plot: skinhead, prison, racism, gang, neo nazi, racial slur, nazism, character change, juvenile delinquency, rape, african american, racial prejudice ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1998
Place: los angeles, usa, california, america, north america ...
Is relevant ?
The Last Castle (2001)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: A Court Martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.
Style: intense, exciting, tense, rough, inspirational ...
Plot: prison, fighting the system, military prison, convict, prison life, military, prison escape, murder, prison riot, manipulation, power struggle, rebellion ...
Time: year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place: iraq
Is relevant ?
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
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, inspirational, touching, sentimental, twist ending ...
Audience: date night, kids, chick flick, teens, family friendly ...
Plot: prison, prison escape, freedom, human spirit, hopes, stephen king, life, friendship between men, friendship, plot twist, life philosophy, adaptation ...
Time: 1940s, 90s, 1950s, 2010s, year 1994 ...
Place: usa, america, iran, persia, pacific ocean ...
Is relevant ?
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
Style: twist ending, suspense, psychological, surprise ending, clever ...
Audience: manly, adult
Plot: vengeance, prison, vigilantism, justice, investigation, master criminal, twists and turns, lawyer, fighting the system, rape and revenge, murder, revenge ...
Time: year 2009, 21st century
Place: philadelphia, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 102K
A Prophet (2009)
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, gangster, prison life, cruelty, organized crime, coming of age, prison gang, racial slur, jail, guilt, respect ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, year 2010, 90s, 21st century
Place: france, europe, paris france, marseille
Is relevant ?
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
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: suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, realistic, exciting ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison, prison escape, alcatraz, escape, island, prison life, freedom, prison warden, harassment, jail, convict, prison guard ...
Time: 20th century, 60s, year 1979, year 1960, year 1962 ...
Place: san francisco, bay area, usa
Is relevant ?
Bangkok Hilton (1989)
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, detective, disturbing
Plot: prison, escape, betrayal, injustice, interracial relations, heroin, fighting the system, smuggling, false accusation, prison life, women in prison, life is a bitch ...
Time: 80s
Place: thailand, asia, australia, london, bangkok thailand ...
Is relevant ?
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 7.6
 102K
The Hurricane (1999)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 146 min.
Story: The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Style: thought provoking, touching, inspirational, factual, motivational ...
Plot: prison, boxing, racism, courtroom, prison life, legal, death penalty, injustice, justice, biopic, african american, discrimination ...
Time: 20th century, 60s, 70s, 80s, 1940s ...
Place: new jersey, africa, toronto ontario canada, canada
Is relevant ?
 5.7
 21K
Death Warrant (1990)
Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: The Canadian policeman Louis Burke is assigned in a jail to investigate in some murders of prisoners and jailors. When in jail, Lois, using his outstandings martial arts is able to save his life and make himself respected in that violent world. At ...
Style: detective, exciting, suspenseful, rough, action packed ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison, martial arts, investigation, murder, serial killer, undercover cop, surveillance, brutality, partners against crime, prison escape, master criminal, deception ...
Time: 80s, 90s
Place: los angeles
Is relevant ?
 6.9
 317K
Con Air (1997)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: When the government puts all its rotten criminal eggs in one airborne basket, it's asking for trouble. Before you can say, "Pass the barf bag," the crooks control the plane, led by creepy Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom. Watching ...
Style: exciting, suspense, serious, action packed, intense ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, teens
Plot: airplane, prison, hijacking, master criminal, aviation, law enforcement, machismo, convict, colombian drug cartel, fugitives, die hard, confined ...
Time: year 1997, 90s, 20th century, 80s
Place: utah, las vegas, usa, north america, nevada
Is relevant ?
 5.0
 1K
Locked Up (2004)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Dennis is a new inmate. Mike is an older black inmate. Together the two face hostile prison officals and inmates in their attempts to become a loving couple.
Style: disturbing, serious, suspense, tense, sexual ...
Plot: gay, gay relationship, interracial relations, rape, prison life, male masturbation, male rape, lgbt, prison, sexual abuse, opposites attract, love affair ...
Time: 21st century
Place: germany
Is relevant ?
The United States of Leland (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the ...
Style: depressing, psychological, bleak, emotional, serious ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: prison, murder, teacher, coming of age, dysfunctional family, writers, prison life, family relations, unlikely friendships, investigation, parents and children, family problems ...
Time: year 2003, 21st century
Place: new york, los angeles, italy, paris france, california ...
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 73K
Hunger (2008)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 96 min.
Story: The story of Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the 1981 hunger strike in which Republican prisoners tried to win political status. It dramatises events in the Maze prison in the six weeks prior to Sands’ death.
Style: disturbing, bleak, political, sincere, depressing ...
Plot: prison, prison life, ira, suicide, dying, rebellion, idealism, police brutality, resistance, suffering, nudity, male nudity ...
Time: 20th century, year 2008, 90s, 2000s, year 1981 ...
Place: ireland, northern ireland, london, europe
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 96K
The Experiment (2001)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story: Das Experiment is a shocking psycho thriller about the potential for brutality that humans hide. Even more shocking is the fact that it’s based on an actual occurrence—a 1971 psychological experiment at Stanford University that was aborted ...
Style: psychological, thought provoking, disturbing, rough, suspense ...
Plot: experiment, prison, torture, aggression, psychology, social experiment, isolation, degradation, abuse, sociology, violence, survival ...
Time: year 2001, 70s, year 2002, 21st century
Place: germany, canada
Is relevant ?
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