6 Best Prison Escape Movies of All Time

By Vlad Zakh · March 16, 2026

Meticulous planning and desperate hope make prison escapes tense and inspiring. A Man Escaped and Le Trou are the French classics of patient planning, Escape from Alcatraz has inmates plotting a daring break, and The Shawshank Redemption has a wrongly convicted banker enduring decades inside. Papillon and The Great Escape round out the six.

A Man Escaped (1956)

TMDB ★ 8.1

A French resistance fighter carefully plans his escape from a Nazi prison before his execution date.

Directed by Robert Bresson · 1h 41m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Le Trou (1960)

TMDB ★ 8.2

A group of prisoners meticulously plans an escape by tunnelling beneath their cell.

Directed by Jacques Becker · 2h 12m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Criterion Channel

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

IMDb ★ 9.3 RT 89% Metacritic 82

Hope as an active choice, not a passive feeling, patiently built over two and a half hours.

Directed by Frank Darabont · 2h 22m · Rated R

Nominated for 7 Oscars21 wins & 43 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, TNT, TBS, tru TV · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

TMDB ★ 7.6

An inmate at the supposedly escape-proof Alcatraz prison plots a meticulous breakout.

Directed by Don Siegel · 1h 53m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Philo, Paramount+ Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Papillon (1973)

TMDB ★ 7.6

A wrongly convicted man endures brutal conditions in a penal colony while relentlessly plotting his escape.

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner · 2h 31m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Great Escape (1963)

IMDb ★ 8.2 RT 94% Metacritic 86

Allied prisoners of war plan an elaborate mass breakout from a heavily guarded German camp.

Directed by John Sturges · 2h 53m · Rated NR

Nominated for 1 Oscar3 wins & 12 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Philo, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Prison Escape Movies of All Time

A Man Escaped (1956)

Le Trou (1960)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Papillon (1973)

The Great Escape (1963)

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