Best Prison Film

Kiss of the Spider Woman is a 1985 drama film adapted from Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel. The story centers on two prisoners – one an inmate and the other a political convict – who develop a close relationship within a Buenos Aires jail. William Hurt and Raul Julia star in this adaptation directed by Héc...

Starred Up is a 2013 British prison drama by David Mackenzie, notable for Jack O'Connell's violent young offender placed with his inmate father.

A Twelve-Year Night is Alvaro Brechner's 2018 Uruguayan-led drama about Tupamaro prisoners, including future president Jose Mujica.

The Prisoner is a 1955 British psychological drama by Peter Glenville, starring Alec Guinness and nominated for five BAFTAs.

Clemency is Chinonye Chukwu's 2019 U.S. death-row drama; she was the first Black woman to win Sundance's U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize.

In Prison Awaiting Trial is a 1971 Italian drama by Nanni Loy, notable for Alberto Sordi's Kafkaesque ordeal in Italy's pretrial detention system.

King Rat is a 1965 POW film written and directed by Bryan Forbes, adapted from James Clavell's Changi Prison-based novel.

Made in Britain is a 1982 British television film by Alan Clarke, notable for Tim Roth's debut as a racist skinhead in state custody.

The Hurricane is a 1999 biographical prison drama by Norman Jewison, notable for Denzel Washington's Oscar-nominated portrayal of Rubin Carter.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is a 1983 POW drama by Nagisa Oshima, starring David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto in a Japanese camp on Java.

The Inner Cage is a 2021 Italian prison drama by Leonardo Di Costanzo, notable for its standoff between guards and inmates in a closing jail.

The Mustang is Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's 2019 prison drama, starring Matthias Schoenaerts as an inmate in a wild-horse training program.

Bad Boys is a 1983 juvenile prison drama by Rick Rosenthal, notable for Sean Penn's early starring role as a Chicago youth in a reform school.

Everynight... Everynight is Alkinos Tsilimidos's 1994 Australian prison drama set in Pentridge's H Division; it won Montreal's Best First Fiction Film Prize.

The One That Got Away is a 1957 British war film about Franz von Werra, the only Axis POW to escape Allied captivity and return home.

The Criminal is a 1960 British neo-noir prison crime film by Joseph Losey, starring Stanley Baker as paroled gangster Johnny Bannion.

The Colditz Story is a 1955 British POW escape film by Guy Hamilton, based on Pat Reid's memoir of imprisonment at Colditz Castle.

Some Mother's Son is a 1996 Irish-British drama by Terry George, notable for viewing the 1981 Maze hunger strike through two prisoners' mothers.

Stir is Stephen Wallace's 1980 Australian prison drama, based on writer Bob Jewson's experience of the 1974 Bathurst prison riot.

The Wooden Horse is a 1950 British POW escape film directed by Jack Lee, based on Eric Williams's Stalag Luft III tunnel memoir.

Life is a 1999 American prison comedy-drama, notable for Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence as bootleggers serving life sentences in Mississippi.

Animal Factory is a 2000 prison drama directed by Steve Buscemi, notable for adapting Edward Bunker's novel with Willem Dafoe as an inmate mentor.

O.G. is Madeleine Sackler's 2018 U.S. prison drama starring Jeffrey Wright, filmed entirely inside Indiana's Pendleton Correctional Facility.

20,000 Years in Sing Sing is a 1932 Michael Curtiz pre-Code prison drama, based on warden Lewis E. Lawes's nonfiction book and starring Spencer Tracy.

McVicar is a 1980 British prison drama by Tom Clegg, starring Roger Daltrey as armed robber and later writer John McVicar.

Crown Heights is a 2017 biographical legal drama, notable for recounting Colin Warner's wrongful murder conviction and his decades-long exoneration fight.

Invisible Stripes is a 1939 Warner Bros. crime film by Lloyd Bacon, starring George Raft as an ex-con struggling after parole.

Castle on the Hudson is a 1940 Anatole Litvak prison film starring John Garfield, remaking 20,000 Years in Sing Sing from Lewis E. Lawes's book.

Paradise Road is a 1997 wartime prison drama by Bruce Beresford, notable for depicting women interned by Japan in Sumatra during World War II.