16 shows and movies about life in lock up

In some parts of the world, jail is where one awaits trial and prison is where one goes once convicted. In other places – like Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town – everyone is lumped together and the subtleties mean nothing. Whichever term you use, it’s a nasty place to end up; incarceration, being stripped of rights, violence and brutality are synonymous with such institutions.

But, for some reason, we are fascinated and intrigued by prison stories, fact and fiction. This list of movies, series and documentaries all deliver consistently high ratings on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Google.

They are particularly relevant at the moment, as ordinary law-abiding citizens around the world have experienced what it’s like to be locked down and to have their liberties severely curtailed.

Alcatraz, aka The Rock, in the San Francisco bay, was thought to be escape-proof. This 1979 movie relates the true story of the three inmates who checked out before their sentences were complete, and were never found. Clint Eastwood stars, and 90% of Google users love it.

IMDB rating: 7.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%

This local crime drama won six South African Film and Television Awards, including Best Film. It follows multiple characters in and around the Cape Flats, and their battles with crime and gangsterism, in and out of prison.

Two seasons, 16 episodes, this reality series is about teenage girls in Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility in Madison, Indiana, which has since been closed down.

You’d be forgiven for thinking Raphael Lowe is completely off his head. He was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and spent 12 years inside. Then he went around the world investigating some of the worst prisons in the world and their inmates.

IMDB rating: 7.0/10

Says Screen Rant: “Over the course of six episodes, Jailbirds documents the lives of various prisoners at Sacramento County Jail, each with a different crime and a different story. True fly-on-the-wall insight makes Jailbirds stand out from other prison documentaries.”

IMDB rating: 7.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 84%

First there was Love After Lockup, and then came Life After Lock Up, which follows all the drama of five couples as they try to navigate their way in the outside world. Expect drama of the soapie variety.

Stream five seasons of this homegrown drama series set in a women’s jail in Mzansi where power and survival mean everything.

IMDB rating: 7.3/10

This Spanish series focuses on Macarena Ferreiro, who landed up behind bars after falling in love with her boss and committing various fraudulent crimes. It’s a story of a white-collar criminal surviving in the harsh prison world.

IMDB rating: 8.2/10

In 1968, Johnny Cash performed his now-legendary show at Folsom Prison. The Man In Black spent seven single nights in jail for various misdemeanours of the years but he fancied himself an outlaw, romanticising and empathising with prisoners. Now, Los Tigres del Norte return to the prison for a concert of their own.

One of the earliest terrifying accounts of an American in a foreign prison for a relatively minor crime, this is the “true” story of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) who was arrested in Turkey for trying to smuggle hashish. Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning) directed; Oliver Stone wrote it.

IMDB rating: 7.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%

Based on the life story of scriptwriter John W Fredericks, this is the story of a young man who makes his way in prison by becoming the storyteller in the cell, and befriending a gang boss – which ensures his survival. Emotional and touching.

IMDB rating: 7.6/10

TRAILER

Created by Jenji Kohan (Weeds), OITNB is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman and her experiences in a minimum security federal prison. It’s a dramedy, part drama and part comedy. Six of the seven seasons are on Netflix.

IMDB rating: 8.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%

Wentworth Miller stars as Michael Scofield, a man who deliberately gets himself sent to prison, for the sole purpose of breaking his brother out and saving him from the electric chair – a plan that involves him getting a full body-suit tattoo with all the means to pull off this escape. It ran for four original seasons, got lucky with a fifth, and the sixth has been on and off the table. Think you’re a true Prison Break fan? There are some fun facts here that you might not know.

IMDB rating: 8.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 60%

The HBO limited series remains one of the best series of 2016. After a woman is murdered, the man who spent the night in her bed is arrested and becomes absorbed by the judicial and prison systems. Did he do it? Watch and see. John Turturro is brilliant as the defence attorney.

IMDB rating: 8.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%

Full disclosure: personally, I haven’t been able to get more than a few minutes into this because it’s freaky and uncomfortably oppressive, with its story of a dystopian future where prisoners on the upper levels get to feast, while those on lower storeys get progressively less food. Spain, who hurt you? It’s been interpreted as a metaphor for capitalism.

IMDB rating: 7/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 80%

A truly tragic and heartbreaking story. Browder was sent to Rikers Island when he was 16 years old and accused of stealing a backpack. His family couldn’t afford the bail and he remained incarcerated there for three years before the charges were dropped. There is no happy ending.

IMDB rating: 8.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100%

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