| Escape Plan (2013) | 6.7 | |
| Felon (2008) | 7.4 | |
| The Experiment (2001) | 7.7 | |
| Midnight Express (1978) | 7.5 | |
| Oz (1997) | 8.7 |
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, suspense, tense, suspenseful and rough films and TV shows about / with prison, prison life, confined, jail, prison escape, violence, murder, prisoner, corruption and brutality plots mostly in Drama, Crime and Thriller genres shot in USA, UK, Canada and other countries.
4472
TOP 10 movies tagged as prison: Starred Up (2013), Locked Up (2004), Wentworth (2013), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Shot Caller (2017), Midnight Express (1978), Oz (1997), Escape Plan (2013), Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975), The Last Castle (2001).
Best films
New films
| Palestine 36 (2025) | 7.7 | |
| Opus (2025) | 5.7 | |
| Sentenced to Be a Hero (2026) | 8.5 | |
| Novocaine (2025) | 6.5 | |
| The Bad Guys 2 (2025) | 7.0 |
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, serious, rough, depressing, intense ...
Audience:
teens, date night, teen drama
Plot:
prison, father son relationship, naked man, violence, prison life, juvenile delinquent, nudity, prison guard, hot guys, male nudity, therapist, nude young male ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, 70s, 21st century
Place:
ethiopia, ireland, britain, england
Is relevant?
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, sexual, tense ...
Plot:
gay, prison, gay relationship, rape, interracial relations, naked man, male masturbation, prison sex, male rape, lgbt, prison life, life is a bitch ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
germany
Is relevant?
27K
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:
tense, serious, suspenseful, rough, sexy ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
prison, lesbian, women in prison, women's prison, protest, power struggle, lesbian relationship, lgbtq, prison life, danger, convict, government facility ...
Time:
2010s, 2020s, 21st century
Place:
australia
Is relevant?
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, uplifting, inspirational, touching, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, friendship between men, hopes, friendship, corruption, human spirit, justice, prison life, life, stephen king ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 90s, year 1994, 2010s ...
Place:
usa, maine, columbus ohio, persia, iran ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
112K
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, harsh, crime thriller, suspense, twist ending ...
Plot:
prison, prison gang, gang, prisoner, prison life, criminal, estranged father, organized crime, skinhead, abuse, tattoo, criminal heroes ...
Time:
year 2017, 21st century
Place:
california, los angeles, pasadena california, usa
Is relevant?
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, suspense, realistic, depressing, psychological ...
Plot:
prison, brutality, torture, injustice, lawyer, escape, prison life, prison escape, drug, drug smuggling, court, violent ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, year 1970, year 1978, year 1975 ...
Place:
turkey, brooklyn new york city, greece, istanbul turkey, europe ...
Is relevant?
116K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 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:
realistic, suspenseful, rough, disturbing, talky ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison life, prison, convict, confined, violence spree, rape, gang, gay, gang violence, strong sexual content, prison rape, aryan brotherhood ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
new york
Is relevant?
269K
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, suspense, clever, twist ending, entertaining ...
Audience:
boys' night, manly, chick flick
Plot:
prison, prison escape, revenge, outsmarting, escape plan, betrayal, resourceful, escape, prisoner, maximum security prison, prison break, lone hero ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, future, 80s, 21st century
Place:
morocco, usa, miami, new orleans, colorado ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Ilsa is a warden at a Nazi death camp that conducts experiments on prisoners. Ilsa's goal is to prove that woman can withstand more pain and suffering than men and should be allowed to fight on the front lines
Style:
grindhouse, erotic, controversial, sexy, rough ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
rape, female prisoner, sexploitation, captivity, violence, swastika, women in prison, prison, ss, nazi, sex scene, gang rape ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1945
Place:
germany, canada
Is relevant?
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, tense, exciting, rough, inspirational ...
Plot:
prison, prison life, military prison, military, murder, fighting the system, prison riot, convict, prison escape, manipulation, sacrifice, chess ...
Time:
year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
west point, iraq, new jersey
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Philippines, USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Grier and Haig are thieving mercenaries who engineer a prison break from the outside.
Style:
grindhouse, realistic, serious, rough, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens
Plot:
prison, women in prison, sexploitation, blaxploitation, exploitation, women's prison, sleaze, woman with a gun, voyeur, tropical island, gang rape, escape ...
Time:
year 1972, 70s
Place:
the philippines, asia
Is relevant?
661
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
A prison story. Father Jack finds love with a male guard in the prison. Some of the other inmates suspect he's been sentenced for paedophilia.
Style:
serious, tense, emotional, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
gay, prison, gay relationship, gay interest, gender, lgbt, true love, vengeance, fall in love, love affair, twists and turns, gangster ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
england
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
658K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: 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, scheme, prison escape, conspiracy, determination, fbi, confined, siblings relations, brother ...
Time:
2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
south america, chicago, texas, california, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 90 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, heroin, injustice, interracial relations, fighting the system, women in prison, prison guard, smuggling, false accusation, betrayal, destiny ...
Time:
80s
Place:
thailand, asia, australia, london, bangkok thailand ...
Is relevant?
88K
Genre: Action, Drama, 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, prison life, convict, prison riot, jail, aryan brotherhood, prison gang, fighting the system, male nudity, brutality, court, organized crime ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
usa, california
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Romania, Canada
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A grieving upper class woman becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank prison, hoping to escape her troubles and be a guiding figure in the lives of the female prisoners. Of all her friendships with prisoners, she is most fascinated by Selina - ...
Style:
serious, psychological, costume drama, period piece, suspense ...
Plot:
prison, lesbian, lesbian interest, supernatural ability, obsession, death in the family, women's prison, lgbtq, lesbian teen, lesbian relationship, gays and lesbians, danger ...
Time:
19th century, victorian era, 1870s
Place:
britain, england, europe, venice
Is relevant?
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:
cerebral, rough, serious, clever, disturbing ...
Audience:
boys' night, date night, teens, teen drama
Plot:
gang, skinhead, racism, prison, neo nazism, neo nazi, character change, nazism, juvenile delinquency, murder, politics, african american ...
Time:
20th century, year 1998, 90s
Place:
los angeles, usa, california, america, north america ...
Is relevant?
107K
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:
touching, inspirational, factual, thought provoking, sociological ...
Plot:
boxing, prison, prison life, racism, courtroom, legal, injustice, death penalty, african american, discrimination, justice, lawyer ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, 60s, 70s, 1940s ...
Place:
new jersey, africa, canada, toronto ontario canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Australia, USA, South Africa, Germany
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison…
Style:
political, suspense, tense, atmospheric, dramatic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, apartheid, prison escape, escape, political prisoner, political activism, political activist, politics, human spirit, prison break, rebelliousness, political persecution ...
Time:
year 1979, 70s, 20th century
Place:
south africa, africa, cape town south africa, adelaide south australia, australia ...
Is relevant?
14K
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:
sincere, tense, sexy, realistic, serious ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
juvenile delinquency, prison, juvenile prison, teenage boy, teenage protagonist, accidental killing, male pubic hair, prison life, reformatory, sodomy, juvenile detention, youth ...
Time:
year 2010, 21st century
Place:
montana
Is relevant?
320K
Genre: Horror, Mystery, 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, mind bending ...
Plot:
survival, struggle for survival, confined, food shortage, cannibalism, social injustice, prison, social differences, isolation, rivalry, danger, survival horror ...
Time:
future, 2010s
Place:
iberian peninsula
Is relevant?
Genre: 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, suspense, suspenseful, exciting, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, prison escape, alcatraz, escape, prison life, freedom, jail, island, prison warden, harassment, prison guard, convict ...
Time:
year 1960, 20th century, year 1979, year 1961, year 1962 ...
Place:
san francisco, bay area, usa, canada
Is relevant?
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:
tense, realistic, bleak, cult classic, atmospheric ...
Plot:
friendship, prison, violence, gang, murder, transvestite, prison gang, marijuana, survival, prison rape, drug, mentor protege relationship ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
usa, philadelphia, pennsylvania, paris france, puerto rico ...
Is relevant?
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, erotic, rough, suspense, art house ...
Plot:
women's prison, women in prison, prison, female female relationship, juvenile detention, prison sex, voyeur, prison life, survival, teenage life, confined, naked woman ...
Time:
21st century
Is relevant?
74K
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:
tense, psychological, clever, intense, tricky ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, survival, prison life, hostage, convict, prison guard, confined, prison escape, manipulation, danger, criminal heroes, rebelliousness ...
Time:
year 2009, 21st century
Place:
spain, iberian peninsula, basque country, south america, europe
Is relevant?
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, tense ...
Audience:
manly, adult
Plot:
vengeance, vigilantism, justice, prison, vigilante, revenge, master criminal, lawyer, retribution, fighting the system, twists and turns, murder ...
Time:
year 2009, 21st century
Place:
philadelphia, usa
Is relevant?
95K
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, homoerotic, psychological, art house ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
prison escape, prison, island prison, friendship, wrongful conviction, life sentence, escape, jail, escape plan, male friendship, solitary, survival ...
Time:
year 2017, year 1931, 1930s, year 1969, 20th century ...
Place:
south america, colombia, france, former yugoslavia, venezuela ...
Is relevant?
105K
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
Meet Jack Foley, a smooth criminal who bends the law and is determined to make one last heist. Karen Sisco is a federal marshal who chooses all the right moves … and all the wrong guys. Now they're willing to risk it all to find out if ...
Style:
sexy, romantic, entertaining, neo noir, witty ...
Audience:
date night, boys' night
Plot:
heist, prison, bank robbery, hot and sexy, robbery, fbi, runaway, love story, making love, hotel, crime gone awry, opposites attract ...
Time:
90s, year 1998, 20th century
Place:
usa, miami, michigan, florida, detroit
Is relevant?
41K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Alcatraz is an American television series created by Elizabeth Sarnoff, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, and produced by J. J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. The series premiered on Fox on January 16, 2012, as a mid-season replacement. ...
Style:
suspenseful, captivating, cliffhanger, stylized, serious ...
Plot:
prison, twists and turns, investigation, police investigation, murderer, uncover truth, time travel, law enforcement, warden, police detective, partner, secret agenda ...
Time:
20th century, 60s, 21st century
Place:
usa, san francisco, bay area
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
After working as a drug courier and getting into a brutal shootout with police, a former boxer finds himself at the mercy of his enemies as they force him to instigate violent acts that turn the prison he resides in into a battleground.
Style:
tense, suspense, disturbing, rough, exciting ...
Plot:
prison, revenge, maximum security prison, kidnapping, prison guard, prison warden, murder, prisoner, extreme violence, violence, boxer, police shootout ...
Time:
year 2017, 2010s
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
