Movies like Girls in Prison (1994)
The best movies like Girls in Prison (1994) are Brute Force (1947), King Ivory (2025) and Bad Boys (1983). If Girls in Prison hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 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 31,828 votes
- NewestKing Ivory (2025)Released 2025
Brute 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 · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing Ivory (2025)
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. "Big Mac."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Boys (1983)
Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear Mr. Gacy (2010)
A chronicle of the interaction between college student Jason Moss and the object of his obsession, serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSleepers (1996)
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCape Fear (1991)
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Life of David Gale (2003)
A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grissom Gang (1971)
Violent crime caper set in 1930s Kansas in which a gang kidnap an heiress and attempt to recover a ransom. However, the scheme is jeopardised when the leader falls in love with their beautiful captive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLadies They Talk About (1933)
A moll, imprisoned after participating in a bank robbery, helps with a breakout plot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Concrete Jungle (1982)
An unfortunate and naive girl is set up by her boyfriend and convicted of drug smuggling. She is sent to a women's correctional facility where she must constantly struggle to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaw Deal (1948)
Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be killed while fleeing. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than Rick intended...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMcVicar (1980)
John McVicar was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him? This is the true story of his life, his criminal exploits and his eventual rehabilitation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unforgivable (2021)
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShort Eyes (1977)
A young man who is charged with child molestation is placed in New York City’s infamous Tombs prison. When the other inmates in his cell block find out what he is charged with, life becomes extremely difficult for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe United States of Leland (2003)
A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Sender (2015)
A nurse mistakes a stranger who pays her a visit for her blind date and soon, the man rapes her and turns her life upside down. The woman works to reclaim her life and exact revenge on her assailant after he's paroled from prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNowhere to Run (1993)
Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFargo (1996)
Jerry Lundegaard is a small-town Minnesota car salesman deeply in debt and willing to do almost anything to get out. Police chief Marge Gunderson discovers a string of violent crimes as Jerry's schemes spiral out of control.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShaft (2000)
New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild at Heart (1990)
Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTough Enough (2006)
From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwimming Pool (2003)
A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the unexpected arrival of the publisher's daughter induces complications and a subsequent crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time in America (1984)
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCube Zero (2004)
A young programmer whose job is to watch over the reality-warping Cube defies orders to rescue an innocent mother trapped in one of its rooms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisRomeo + Juliet (1996)
In this contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this36 Fillette (1988)
A 14-year-old pursues romance with a man while vacationing with her family in Switzerland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Girls in Prison?
The closest matches to Girls in Prison are Brute Force (1947), King Ivory (2025) and Bad Boys (1983). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Girls in Prison?
Start with Brute Force (1947), the closest match to Girls in Prison.
What is the highest-rated movie like Girls in Prison?
The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,828 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Girls in Prison?
King Ivory (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Girls in Prison?
Yes: Brute Force (1947), King Ivory (2025) and Bad Boys (1983).
How are movies similar to Girls in Prison chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Girls in Prison, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.