Currently sitting at the top of IMDb's Top 250 Movies (as voted by users) is The Shawshank Redemption, and it is easy to understand why. Writer and director Frank Darabont's 1994 adaptation of the Stephen King novella, "Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption," is the inspiring story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and his struggle to maintain hope, with help from a friend (played by Morgan Freeman) while serving time at the titular penitentiary.
Also topping our list of the 100 best '90s movies, The Shawshank Redemption is the kind of emotionally mesmerizing masterpiece that audiences tend to watch multiple times on end, in spite of its lengthy runtime of two hours and 22 minutes. However, if you are curious to seek other great movies about prison (or, at least, films that feature the same sort of tone and themes as this classic Stephen King movie) on streaming, look no further.
Midnight Express (1978)
Caught trying to smuggle drugs out of Istanbul, American student Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is sentenced to a Turkish prison.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Writer Oliver Stone (whose screenplay won an Oscar) and director Alan Parker's adaptation of Billy Hayes' memoir, Midnight Express is another classic film following a man's struggle to endure a lengthy prison sentence as he plans his escape.
Rent or buy Midnight Express on Amazon.
Buy Midnight Express on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Papillon (1973)
A French criminal (played by Steve McQueen) forms a friendship with a fellow inmate (played by Dustin Hoffman) at a South American penal colony who the joins him in a bid to break out.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: While not quite the hopeful story that Shawshank is, director Franklin J. Schaffner's adaptation of Henri Charrière autobiographical novel, Papillon, is still an engaging prison escape story with two investing protagonists.
Stream Papillon on Tubi.
Rent or buy Papillon on Amazon.
Buy Papillon on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
After being moved to a World War II-era concentration camp, Jewish-Italian restaurant server Guido (Roberto Benigni) uses humor and other tricks to keep his young son, Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini) blinded from their treacherous surroundings.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Co-writer and director Benigni gives an Academy Award-winning performance as a dad we would be proud to have in Life is Beautiful, which is one of the most essential films about maintaining your hope when all is lost.
Rent or buy Life is Beautiful on Amazon.
Buy Life is Beautiful on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (2008)
Asa Butterfield stars as a young, naive son of a German commandant (played by David Thewlis) who befriends a Jewish concentration camp prisoner his age (played by Jack Scanlon).
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Based on the novel by John Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is another Holocaust drama that, like Shawshank, focuses on a friendship that serves as the one silver lining for the title character.
Stream The Boy in the Striped Pajamas on Amazon Prime.
Buy The Boy in the Striped Pajamas on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon, in an Academy Award-winning performance) offers convicted killer Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) the empathy and guidance he needs while facing death row.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Another essential theme of Shawshank is, obviously, redemption, which is also the main theme of Dead Man Walking — a fact-based drama set mostly in a prison that is written and directed by Tim Robbins.
Stream Dead Man Walking on Pluto TV.
Rent or buy Dead Man Walking on Amazon.
Buy Dead Man Walking on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Convicted of vandalism, laidback Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) winds up on a Southern chain gang, where he comes at odds with those in charge.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: There are many similarities between Andy Dufresne and the title character of Cool Hand Luke, who becomes an influential figure among his fellow incarcerated community despite the pressures and corruption of the prison authority... and tries to escape multiple times.
Rent or buy Cool Hand Luke on Amazon.
Buy Cool Hand Luke on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Last Castle (2001)
A court-martialed U.S. Army Lieutenant General (played by Robert Redford) leads a revolt against a cruel warden (played by James Gandolfini) at a prison for criminally charged military personnel.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: The corruption that Andy and Red face in Shawshank is relatively tame compared to what Redford's John Irwin and other incarcerated soldiers face in The Last Castle — an underrated drama also starring Mark Ruffalo and Delroy Lindo.
Stream The Last Castle on Amazon Prime.
Buy The Last Castle on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Green Mile (1999)
Disillusioned prison guard Paul Edgecombe (Academy Award winner Tom Hanks) begins to suspect that death row inmate John Coffey (Academy Award nominee Michael Clarke Duncan) is innocent after learning an unbelievable secret about him in the 1930s South.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: The 1999 adaptation of The Green Mile is another Frank Darabont-directed classic based on an insightful and inspirational Stephen King story set at a prison but with a supernatural twist.
Rent or buy The Green Mile on Amazon.
Buy The Green Mile on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
An Atlanta businessman (played by Dan Aykroyd) hires his Black employee (played by Morgan Freeman) as a chauffeur for his stubborn mother (played by Jessica Tandy).
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: While not taking place in a prison, Best Picture Oscar winner Driving Miss Daisy is, like Shawshank, another moving period drama about adversity that traces the long friendship of its two protagonists, and is one of Morgan Freeman's best movies, too
Rent or buy Driving Miss Daisy on Amazon.
Buy Driving Miss Daisy on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Intouchables (2011)
After a paragliding accident leaves him disabled, the wealthy Philippe (François Cluzet) hires ex-convict Driss (Omar Sy) to be his live-in assistant
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Like Shawshank, the acclaimed French-language dramedy, The Intouchables is another moving story about two people brought together by unlikely or unfavorable circumstances and end up bringing out the best in one another.
Stream The Intouchables on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Intouchables on Plex.
Buy The Intouchables on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Into The Wild (2007)
Emile Hirsch stars as a college graduate who decides to leave behind his belongings, hitchhike to Alaska, and live off the land for a while.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: One of Shawshank's most heartbreaking plot developments sees Red, upon release, feel out of place in society, which mirrors' the real-life Chris McCandless' to find solitude in Into the Wild — writer and director Sean Penn's beautiful adaptation of Jon Krakauer's tragic non-fiction book.
Stream Into the Wild on Pluto TV.
Rent or buy Into the Wild on Amazon.
Buy Into the Wild on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Pursuit Of Happyness (2006)
Will Smith stars alongside his real-life child, Jaden Smith, as a single father and son struggling with homelessness in 1980s San Francisco.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Chris Bridges certainly felt imprisoned by poverty during the time of his life that inspired one of Will Smith's best movies, The Pursuit of Happyness, which is one of the most inspirational movies about not letting go of hope from its time.
Rent or buy The Pursuit of Happyness on Amazon.
Buy The Pursuit of Happyness on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Stand By Me (1986)
Four friends (played by Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Cory Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell) search for the corpse of a missing boy.
Why it is a great movie to check out if you are a fan of The Shawshank Redemption: Another great non-horror Stephen King movie is Stand By Me, Rob Reiner's adaptation of the novella, "The Body," which is a wonderful and often dark period piece with strong themes of friendship.
Stream Stand By Me on Netflix.
Rent or buy Stand By Me on Amazon.
Buy Stand By Me On Blu-ray on Amazon.
If you're a fan of The Shawshank Redemption, we certainly hope you'll enjoy these movies as well.
