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Movies like Spes contra Spem: Free Inside

The best movies like Spes contra Spem: Free Inside are 13th (2016), Caesar Must Die (2012) and Time (2020). If Spes contra Spem: Free Inside hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. 13th (2016)

    An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. Caesar Must Die (2012)

    Inmates at a prison in Rome rehearse for a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  3. Time (2020)

    Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. Riot 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

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. 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

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. The 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 this
  7. Dog Pound (2010)

    Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. Unthinkable (2010)

    The government gets wind of a plot to destroy America involving a trio of nuclear weapons for which the whereabouts are unknown. It's up to a seasoned interrogator and an FBI agent to find out exactly where the nukes are.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

    Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  10. Deliver Us from Evil (2006)

    Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. Level 16 (2018)

    The teenage girls of Vestalis Academy are meticulously trained in the art of being “clean girls,” practicing the virtues of perfect femininity. But what exactly are they being trained for? Vivien intends to find out.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. Titicut Follies (1967)

    Employing methods of direct cinema–observation, limited stylization, and non-intervention–this stark look into the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts shows its denizens, who were often kept in barren cells and infrequently bathed, forced to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and the indifference and bullying by many of the hospital's staff.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. Bronson (2009)

    A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Room 237 (2012)

    A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Jamesy Boy (2014)

    Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted murderer who becomes his mentor.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996)

    Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story. Lesser learns that Panzram's past is much more violent than he thought, but also that he's capable of being a much better person than the rest of the prison staff believes - or so Lesser thinks.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  17. Papillon (2017)

    Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis Dega, a counterfeiter who needs his protection.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. Land of the Blind (2006)

    A soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  19. Life in a Day (2011)

    A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

    The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.

    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 Spes contra Spem: Free Inside?

The closest matches to Spes contra Spem: Free Inside are 13th (2016), Caesar Must Die (2012) and Time (2020). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Spes contra Spem: Free Inside?

Start with 13th (2016), the closest match to Spes contra Spem: Free Inside.

What is the highest-rated movie like Spes contra Spem: Free Inside?

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,826 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Spes contra Spem: Free Inside?

Time (2020) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there Italian movies like Spes contra Spem: Free Inside?

Yes: Caesar Must Die (2012) and Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970).

How are movies similar to Spes contra Spem: Free Inside chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Spes contra Spem: Free Inside, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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