12 Completely Engaging Prison Films

      Prison films are arguably the most enthralling of all genres, as demonstrated by the following selections.

      From bleak depictions of life inside to escapades, World War II collaborations, and sincere examinations of capital punishment, these films are infused with inherent drama.

      Caged (1950)

      Credit: C/O

      As an early addition to the subgenre focusing on women in prison, John Cromwell’s Caged follows a 19-year-old married woman (Eleanor Parker) who is imprisoned after a failed bank robbery resulting in her husband's death. Hope Emerson portrays the sadistic prison authority, Evelyn Harper, in a narrative that reveals how prison can be the most corrupting force of all.

      This film, nominated for three Oscars, will be screened next month during SAPPH-O-RAMA, an event at New York City’s Film Forum celebrating sapphic cinema.

      The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

      Credit: C/O

      Is it a prison film or a war film? It can be considered both — David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai consistently defies expectations.

      Set in a Japanese prison camp in Thailand, the film depicts a struggle of wills between captured British Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and his captor, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa). Saito insists that Nicholson and his men construct a railroad bridge over the River Kwai, raising ethical questions about honor and the challenge of maintaining humanity in captivity.

      The film was the highest-grossing movie of 1957 and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture.

      Escape From Alcatraz (1979)

      Paramount Pictures – Credit: C/O

      This classic prison film, featuring Clint Eastwood, marks the star’s fifth and last collaboration with Dirty Harry director Don Siegel. It narrates a gripping tale of a real-life escape from the supposedly impregnable Alcatraz Island in 1962.

      Eastwood portrays Frank Morris, whose fate remains unknown since that cold night in the early '60s. This year, he would turn 98 if he is still alive.

      The FBI continues to pursue the investigation into the escape.

      The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

      Columbia Pictures – Credit: C/O

      One of the most cherished films of recent years, adapted from Stephen King’s Different Seasons — the same collection that inspired Stand by Me and Apt Pupil — The Shawshank Redemption centers on the struggle to retain one’s soul.

      Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a banker who receives consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife and her lover. He forms a friendship with Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman) and devises a plan to dig his way out, concealing the hole in his cell wall with a poster of Rita Hayworth.

      Penitentiary III (1987)

      Cannon Films Distributors – Credit: C/O

      The third installment in a successful independent prison film series written and directed by Jamaa Fanaka, Penitentiary III is particularly notable for the Midnight Thud fight scene.

      Are you unfamiliar with the Midnight Thud? Thud is the toughest fighter in the prison, portrayed by Raymond Kessler (also known as WWE’s Haiti Kid), who delivers one of the most riveting fight sequences ever filmed against our hero, Too Sweet (Leon Isaac Kennedy).

      Additionally, this film features the renowned Danny Trejo as See Veer.

      Con Air (1997)

      Buena Vista Pictures Distribution – Credit: C/O

      Trejo is among the ensemble of stars in Con Air, a unique prison film set on a plane where Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage, exuding coolness) confronts a whole aircraft full of criminals when Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom orchestrates a hijacking.

      This film is one of those that, if you haven't seen it in a while, will leave you continually exclaiming, “Wait, he’s in this, too?”

      The cast includes John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Dave Chappelle, and many others.

      The Great Escape (1963)

      United Artists – Credit: C/O

      Steve McQueen leads a stellar cast of POWs who boldly escape a Nazi prison camp in this iconic, dramatized account of British POWs' breakout from Stalag Luft III during World War II.

      Among the commercial adjustments made: the inclusion of three American characters in the story. Thankfully, McQueen's Captain Virgil Hilts is present to pull off that memorable motorcycle stunt.

      Hunger (2008)

      Pathé Distribution – Credit: C/O

      Next, we have a prison film from another Steve McQueen — the talented British director whose film 12 Years a Slave won the Best Picture Oscar in 2014.

      His directorial debut, Hunger, features his frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands, a real-life member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who led a hunger strike and participated in