Movies like To Escape (2026)
The best movies like To Escape (2026) are The Escapist (2008), There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) and Dark Passage (1947). If To Escape hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)8.7/10 from 31,820 votes
- NewestShe Rides Shotgun (2025)Released 2025
The Escapist (2008)
Frank Perry is an institutionalized convict twelve years into a life sentence without parole. When his estranged daughter falls ill, he is determined to make peace with her before it's too late. He develops an ingenious escape plan, and recruits a dysfunctional band of escapists - misfits with a mutual dislike for one other but united by their desire to escape their hell hole of an existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThere Was a Crooked Man... (1970)
A charming but ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison, where he enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Passage (1947)
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Escape (1963)
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMaze (2017)
Inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP Maze, which was to become the biggest prison escape in Europe since World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Way Back (2010)
A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscape from Alcatraz (1979)
San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mustang (2019)
While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but he learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFigures in a Landscape (1970)
Two escaped convicts are on the run in an unnamed Latin American country. But everywhere they go, they are followed and hounded by a menacing black helicopter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmancipation (2022)
Inspired by the gripping true story of a man who would do anything for his family—and for freedom. When Peter, an enslaved man, risks his life to escape and return to his family, he embarks on a perilous journey of love and endurance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShe Rides Shotgun (2025)
Newly released from prison and marked for death by unrelenting enemies, Nate must now protect his estranged 11-year-old daughter, Polly, at all costs. With scant resources and no one to trust, Nate and Polly forge a bond under fire as he shows her how to fight and survive—and she teaches him the true meaning of unconditional love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscape Plan (2013)
Ray Breslin is the world's foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He's framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killer Is Loose (1956)
A savings-and-loan bank is robbed; later, a police wiretap identifies meek bank teller Leon Poole as the inside man. In capturing him, detective Sam Wagner accidentally kills Poole's young wife, and at his trial Poole swears vengeance against Wagner. Poole begins his plans to get revenge when he escapes his captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStir Crazy (1980)
New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery, they no longer have to worry about employment — they're sent to prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVirginia City (1940)
Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Express (1978)
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Colditz Story (1955)
The Germans believed that no man could escape from Colditz Castle, set as it was in the heart of the Reich, 400 miles from any neutral frontier. This film, based on Pat Reid's epic novel, tells the story of how the British, French, Dutch and Polish prisoners of war who were incarcerated in Colditz set out to prove their captors wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBandit (2022)
After escaping a Michigan prison, a charming career criminal assumes a new identity in Canada and goes on to rob a record 59 banks and jewellery stores while being hunted by a rogue task force. Based on the true story of The Flying Bandit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrute Force (1947)
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like To Escape?
The closest matches to To Escape are The Escapist (2008), There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) and Dark Passage (1947). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after To Escape?
Start with The Escapist (2008), the closest match to To Escape.
What is the highest-rated movie like To Escape?
The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,820 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like To Escape?
She Rides Shotgun (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like To Escape?
Yes: The Escapist (2008), There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) and Dark Passage (1947).
How are movies similar to To Escape chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside To Escape, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.