Movies and series about prisoners, jails and everything that surrounds this small world are really attractive to viewers. That is why we have compiled the 7 best series and movies that deal with this topic and you can watch it now on Netflix.
Movies and series about prisons have always been popular among fans of the audiovisual world. And it is that the problems that the characters find behind bars have been a source of inspiration for directors, actors and spectators.
We are talking about protagonists and characters, who, despite the fact that they are there for a reason, we usually empathize with them for their struggle and survival. In addition, in the stories that are told from inside the cell, there are many positive aspects, such as loyalty, courage, friendship…
Well, thanks to Netflix, we will now be able to enjoy the world of prison from our comfortable sofa. Luckily, fans of prison cinema have a wide catalog in which they can choose on this subject from comedy to absolute drama and we are going to show you the most recommended ones.
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If you fall into this category, check out the following list of some of the best prison movies and series available on Netflix.
Orange is the New Black (2013)
Orange Is the New Black is probably the best known series on this list and recommended. And it is that, no list of Netflix prison series will be complete without this one.
Based on the memoirs of Piper Kerman, the story revolves around Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), who is sentenced to 15 months in a minimum security prison, due to her past life involving drug smuggling along with her lover.
Being her first time in prison, little by little she will learn to adapt to her environment and establish relationships that could get her into trouble in the future.
The first few seasons of this series are so engaging and well written that you won’t be able to take your eyes off them. But then it loses its charm and becomes something heavier, although if you are a fan of this, we will find little objectivity (I include myself).
The Hole (2019)
We’re going with a Spanish woman. Here we find ourselves before a dystopian thriller, where the main scenario that we are going to see and where the stories take place is a vertical prison one hundred stories high that houses two inmates per cell, with one cell on each floor.
The premise is simple, every day, a platform with food is lowered to each floor for a very short time to provide leftovers for the upper floor. As you go down to a lower floor, the availability of food decreases, since it depends on what the people on the upper floors eat.
Here the protagonist is Goreng (Ivan Massague), who wakes up in cell number 48, and we will see how, changing floors, he will have to face complex situations, always trying to escape from there and find a reason.
So They See Us (2019)
This miniseries on the platform will place us in 1989 when a runner was assaulted and raped in Central Park in New York, and subsequently five young men were accused of the crime. These five teenagers (the Central Park Five) maintained their innocence and spent years fighting convictions, hoping to be exonerated.
As They See Us will span a set of years from when the teens are first questioned about the incident in the spring of 1989, through their release in 2022, and finally to the settlement reached with New York City in 2014.
It exposes the entrenched racism of the time and raises several issues that remain relevant in today’s social and political climate.
Inside the most dangerous prisons in the world (2016)
The name of this Netflix prison series is self-explanatory. This one explores some of today ‘s most dangerous prisons , and a couple of the nicest, from around the world.
The presenters go inside these prisons as volunteer inmates to offer an inside look at what it feels like and show how bad some people have it.
The first season was presented by Paul Connolly, who was replaced by Raphael Rowe in the remaining four, who had already been a prisoner for 12 years for a crime he did not commit. Now it will be him, who also has experience, who must manage in jail.
Of course, this series is not recommended for minors, so imagine everything that can be seen.
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Prison Playbook (2017)
Prison Playbook is a South Korean comedy-drama series that revolves around the life of a baseball pitcher who is nearing the peak of his career but somehow ends up in jail after trying to protect his sister from a sexual assault.
His life, therefore, will take a 180º turn and now he will have to learn to survive and adapt to the prison environment. This series is going to deal with this issue of jail from absolute comedy, with the occasional dramatic point, yes.
According to the odd reviewer, you may even have a hard time watching American series again after watching this one, because it sets the bar so high. We leave you the link so you can get down to work, although it only has one season.
The night of 12 years (2018)
This Netflix movie has received positive reviews since it premiered, whose director is Alvaro Brechner. In it we are going to find ourselves in Uruguay, 1973 and a military dictatorship. One autumn night, three Tupamaro prisoners will be taken out of their cells in a secret military operation.
The order with which they are taken out is quite clear: “Since we cannot kill them, we are going to drive them crazy” . This is when these three men will remain incommunicado, tied up and relieving themselves in small rooms for twelve years.
If you are interested in seeing the psychological side of prison, this movie will thrill you, because it shows the mental struggles of prisoners to stay sane. In addition, it realistically portrays the problems within the prison walls, and you will probably be able to understand and imagine this kind of life better than ever.
In My Own Skin (2018)
With the ultimate goal of finding the truth, the family of Stefano Cucchi, the prisoner who died in unexplained circumstances, tries to find out what happened to him.
This Italian drama, quite hard to watch, portrays the life of a young convict who ended up in prison on minor drug charges. However, he began to look like someone had hit him; he lost weight and finally and without even realizing it around him, he died.
This is where his family comes in who, in trying to find out what happened to their relative, will have to push the envelope to find out the truth. You can enjoy it, how could it be otherwise, on Netflix.
