# The best prison movies of all time

From The Shawshank Redemption to A Man Escaped: the prison films critics and fans rank highest (Looper, SlashFilm, Collider).

- 770 votes · 12 items
- Jul 8, 2025 · frame24_boston
- https://even.best/en/l/1981/the-best-prison-movies-of-all-time

## Top 12

1. **The Shawshank Redemption (1994)** (75 · ▲84 ▼9) — Hope behind bars; for years the top-rated film on IMDb.
2. **A Man Escaped (1956)** (63 · ▲73 ▼10) — Robert Bresson's meticulous escape from a Nazi prison.
3. **Cool Hand Luke (1967)** (57 · ▲66 ▼9) — Paul Newman as the ultimate anti-hero on a chain gang.
4. **Le Trou (1960)** (54 · ▲58 ▼4) — Jacques Becker's escape film, tense to the last minute.
5. **Grand Illusion (1937)** (50 · ▲55 ▼5) — Jean Renoir's anti-war film set in a POW camp.
6. **Escape from Alcatraz (1979)** (48 · ▲56 ▼8) — Clint Eastwood and the escape that may have worked.
7. **The Great Escape (1963)** (37 · ▲48 ▼11) — Allied prisoners plan a mass breakout; Steve McQueen's motorbike.
8. **Papillon (1973)** (32 · ▲46 ▼14) — Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman on Devil's Island.
9. **A Prophet (2009)** (31 · ▲39 ▼8) — Jacques Audiard's rise of a young inmate in a French prison.
10. **Midnight Express (1978)** (30 · ▲45 ▼15) — An American jailed in Turkey, written by Oliver Stone.
11. **The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)** (28 · ▲41 ▼13) — A prison camp film that won Best Picture.
12. **The Green Mile (1999)** (27 · ▲40 ▼13) — Tom Hanks on death row with a man who heals.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.