» Prison Planet (1992, USA)
Poorly acted, non-prisonny, pretty awful sci-fi flick. At least it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
» A cavallo della tigre / On the Tiger’s Back (1961, Italy)
An ingenuous petty crook is literally dragged into an escape. Terrific film, but no tigers.
» The Smashing Bird I Used to Know (1969, UK)
Sympathetic treatment of a guilt-ridden, traumatised teenager and other girls in a remand home.
» Femmine in Fuga / Women in Fury (1984, Italy / Brazil)
Young woman taking big rap for brother is hunted, and hunted. Silly WIP fare.
» The Outer Gate (1937, USA)
Innocent man in prison plots revenge against the man who put him there.
» Us (2019, USA)
Fine horror movie. No prison, but some prison-related social commentary, perhaps. You decide.
» Shaun the Sheep (2015, UK / France / USA)
Wonderful, witty animation with a delightful prison sequence.
» The Forgiven (2017, UK)
Heavyweight bout between Archbishop Tutu and a racist prisoner. Cape Town, 1996.
» Tomorrow’s Joe (2011, Japan)
Second filmed version of a famed boxing manga; rivalry, honour, rising through adversity and a bit of prison.
» The Informer (2019, UK)
The Informer has a little more complexity than most action thrillers. But not so much that it explains why IMDb’s précis (“An ex-convict working undercover intentionally gets himself incarcerated again in order to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison”) pretty much misses the point entirely. ‘Intentionally gets himself incarcerated’, yes, but he returns […]