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The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption

Drama · Crime · 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.

Movie details

The Shawshank Redemption

“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”

1994 Drama · Crime 2h 22m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

9.3 / 10

3.2M votes

Rotten Tomatoes

89 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

82 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

8.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Shawshank Redemption?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Frank Darabont

Written by

Frank Darabont

Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins

Andy Dufresne

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman

Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding

Bob Gunton

Bob Gunton

Warden Norton

William Sadler

William Sadler

Heywood

Clancy Brown

Clancy Brown

Captain Byron T. Hadley

Gil Bellows

Gil Bellows

Tommy

James Whitmore

James Whitmore

Brooks Hatlen

Court is in session

Put The Shawshank Redemption on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.