Best movies like The Escapist
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like The Escapist? Share your familiarity to navigate others find tv shows and films you've viewed already that might suit them too. Aid in growing the cohort of people putting forward videos to one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Denis Hopkins, a pilot, lives with his pregnant wife Valerie and has a comfortable lifestyle. When a gang of criminals led by the sadistic Ricky Barnes breaks into his home, he offers whatever the criminals want to protect his wife and unborn child, but the evil Ricky kills Valerie anyway. Their baby is saved, and later Barnes is arrested and sentenced to life in the maximum security prison, Sullen Voe. Denis fakes his own suicide, then assaults a police car in order to get himself arrested and sent to prison with the intention of tracking down and killing Ricky Barnes. He does not reveal his true name and is called John "What" by the prisoners and guards. Denis escapes from successive prisons, forcing his eventual transfer to Sullen Voe. When he reaches his objective, Ricky Barnes schedules a confrontation, but things do not quite turn out the way Denis had expected.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, rough
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Best tv shows and movies like The Escapist (2002):
Similar in 81%
Wrong Turn at Tahoe (2009)
Plot Summary:
A debt collector for the mob (Academy Award(R)-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.) finds his fate taking a series of treacherous turns after his powerful boss and mentor (Miguel Ferrer) is caught in a dangerous double cross with the most dangerous drug dealer around (Academy Award(R)-nominee Harvey Keitel) in this crime thriller from writer/director Franck Khalfoun.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, serious, exciting
Similar in 84%
Harold Robbins' Body Parts (2001)
Plot Summary:
Ty's pal J.J. frames him in a murder and cocaine theft in Hong Kong in 1992. Ty's wife Rachel may be in on the con, so, when Ty gets early release from prison as a gesture of good will from the city's new Mainland government, he doesn't bother to look her up. But she finds him in Southern California to warn him that J.J. wants him dead. Whack J.J. first, she tells Ty, so he heads for Manila where J.J. runs a lucrative business under the cover of exporting tropical fish. But what is that business and who's pulling the strings? With the help of Inez, a young Filipina prostitute, Ty gets to the heart of the matter even after Inez no longer has the stomach to pursue the guilty ones.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 132
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 89%
Half Past Dead 2 (2007)
Plot Summary:
Long time inmate Twitch (Kurupt) gets himself transfered to a tougher prison than the re-opened Alcatraz. He claims it's to be closer to his lady but his real motives are a bit more grandiose. There he crosses paths with Burke (Bill Goldberg) a bulky prisoner who can take care of himself. Twitch, despite being less muscular, is just as mouthy and is pretty much the same. But there is a gang war brewing between the black and hispanic inmates that explodes into a hostile takeover of the prison when the black's gang leader is shot dead and the finger points at Burke. But the sh!t really hits the fan when the real killer and leader of the hispanics, Cortez (Robert Madrid) takes Twitch's girlfriend and Burke's daughter hostage.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, action packed, fast, campy
Similar in 84%
Rockaway (2007)
Plot Summary:
Trane is a decorated war hero just shipped home to the States from Afghanistan after the brutal murder of his wife and child back in Rockaway, Queens. Upon his return, Trane encounters his old friend Dave, who describes the new forces of crime and prostitution that have moved into their neighborhood and caused the destruction of his family.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 428
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, crime drama
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 80%
Rebellion (2009)
Plot Summary:
In a district within Hong Kong five gangs have an uneasy truce as they all work within the area. Chaos then ensues when triad leader Jimmy is shot. Jimmy's wife Cheung Wah then appoints his bodyguard Po as the temporary leader of the gang over Jimmy's #2 man Blackie. Po must now find the assassin, control the seething Blackie, and keep their rival gangs at bay before all hell breaks loose.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 319
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, tense, captivating, psychological, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Hide (2008)
Plot Summary:
A modern day Bonnie and Clyde - with a twist - that follows two lovers down a path of destruction, mayhem, and murder as they live in a world where it is acceptable to take whatever they want with murderous consequences.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, Argentina
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, suspenseful, disturbing, crime drama, independent film, scary, atmospheric, captivating, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Job (2003)
Plot Summary:
CJ is a sexy, cold-blooded assassin who wants to quit the business. She agrees to carry out one last hit, but for the first time in her career as an assassin, she is unable to finish the job.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, captivating, semi serious, hood
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 83%
La Fuga (2001)
Plot Summary:
In the summer of 1928, several inmates from the National Penitentiary in Buenos Aires managed to escape. The film narrates the fate of each of these runaways in search of their destiny - tough men with their own ethical codes and ready to do anything not to return to prison. Some of them will suffer violent deaths, while others manage de disappear. Sordid and moving stories, not excluding tenderness and love, mercy or horror sealed with a pact of prison love that will remain in the heart of Buenos Aires, as witness of the yearned-for freedom.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 834
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, Argentina
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, realistic, adaptation directed by original author
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 88%
Dead in a Heartbeat (2002)
Plot Summary:
An unlikely duo, Lieutenant Tom Royko of the Seattle Bomb Squad and renowned heart surgeon, Dr. Gillian Hayes, find themselves in a race against time to track down a disturbed bomber who is inexplicably causing Dr. Hayes' patients to explode.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 452
Genere: Drama, Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, exciting, realistic
Similar in 90%
Last Run (2001)
Plot Summary:
Frank Banner used to specialize in helping Soviet spies defect safely to the West. Banner's wife was shot to death aiding such an escape. Now, with the Cold War over, Banner is called upon to safely escort an ex-K.G.B. man who is wanted dead by both the CIA and the Russian Mafia.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 533
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK, Hungary
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, realistic
Similar in 75%
Vendetta (2013)
Plot Summary:
Special ops interrogation officer Jimmy Vickers (Danny Dyer) tracks down a gang who slaughtered his parents while at the same time avoiding being tracked down by his old unit and the cops. With police closing in and his old unit on his trail, he has to evade capture long enough to complete his gruesome crusade.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious
Similar in 86%
Proximity (2001)
Plot Summary:
When William Conroy (Rob Lowe), a former college professor, is sentenced to life in prison for vehicular manslaughter it seems his life is over. But when a fellow inmate tells him that in the past two years fourteen inmates have died at the prison, and then turns up dead the next day, Conroy realizes he is in more danger than he ever imagined. Conroy's suspicions are confirmed when the van carrying the inmates crashes. Seizing the opportunity, Conroy flees the scene and elicits the help of his lawyer. What the two discover is a grisly murder ring set up within the prison walls that incriminates those at the highest levels of the correctional system.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 650
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, serious, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 82%
The Piano Player (2002)
Plot Summary:
A tale about the relationship between a businessman who launders money for a Mafia figure and his gangster bodyguard.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 930
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Country: UK, Germany, Spain
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, bleak, realistic, surprise ending
Similar in 76%
Living & Dying (2007)
Plot Summary:
Four desperate bank robbers are forced to abandon their lucrative heist plans and become the reluctant heroes when two of their hostages turn out to be psychotic killers who won't stop until everyone in the bank has been ruthlessly slaughtered. As the police surround the building and the killers begin methodically executing the hostages.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, rough, bleak, realistic
Similar in 89%
Letters from a Killer (1998)
Plot Summary:
A man is falsely convicted of the murder of his wife. During his time in jail, he finds comfort from four women with whom he corresponds. After his second court appearance, he is finally freed from prison only to be framed for yet 2 more murders which he did not commit. With the help of his former prison guard, he once again sets out to clear his name.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense
Similar in 85%
Zero Tolerance (1994)
Plot Summary:
After surviving a sneak attack on himself and fellow agents Jimmy and Gene as they were transporting drug kingpin Raymond Manta out of a Mexican jail, FBI agent Jeff Douglas becomes an uwitting pawn of the White Hand drug cartel. Mistakenly told that his already murdered family is being held hostage, Jeff is forced to turn one-time courier for the White Hand, whose leaders are Manta and four others named Helmut Vitch, Milt Kowalski, Russ LaFleur, and Hansel Lee. After surviving a car-bombing in Las Vegas, Jeff learns the truth about his family being murdered, and he sets out to exterminate the White Hand cartel. Unofficially aided by an agent named Megan, whose mother was raped and murdered years ago, Jeff steals FBI files and begins his campaign of revenge on the White Hand cartel.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 655
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: suspense, independent film, exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, fast
Similar in 79%
Back in the Day (2005)
Plot Summary:
A young man slides back into a life of crime after reuniting with a shady acquaintance from his past.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 800
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, serious, realistic, hood, neo noir
Similar in 90%
Prison on Fire (1987)
Plot Summary:
Ching and Yiu and problems they face with Mickey, a fellow inmate and "Assassin", a prison guard. Yiu is sentenced to three years for manslaughter. In a fight for his father, he pushed a man and was run over by a bus. Ching was sent to prison for killing his wife for being a prostitute. During the end of the film, inmates decide to go on hunger strike to protest against the cigarette price rise, this causes problems with Assassin. Ching bit Surface's ear off and gets an extended sentence, continued on Prison on Fire II, Yiu is released later on.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Female Convict Scorpion (2008)
Plot Summary:
When a band of assassins invade the home of their target Hei Tai they find only his lovely, innocent, bride-to-be, Nami and force upon her a cruel dilemma: either she kills her fiancee’s sister or they kill her fiancee. Trapped, and unable to confide in the person she loves most, Nami kills her fiancee’s sister and is sent to prison where she survives only by becoming as ruthless as those around her. Trained to fight by a fellow inmate, Nami develops the skills and strength to escape and sets out on a quest for revenge. After killing two of the assassins she’s reunited with Hei Tai who’s still unaware she killed his sister. As their love is rekindled Nami decides to abandon her crusade of vengeance when the remaining assassin finds them and tells Hei Tai what Nami did. Nami realizes she can never rest until she finds and defeats the assassins’ employer, but now her beloved’s torn between helping her and his own personal desire for revenge.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 404
Genere: Action
Country: Japan, Hong Kong
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, retro, naughty, bleak, realistic
Similar in 89%
Prison on Fire II (1991)
Plot Summary:
Ching is a prisoner in a Honk Kong jail that has a large population of Mainland Chinese prisoners. Ching escapes to see his young son, who he has been put in an orphanage. He surrenders himself to authorities, but the vengeful chief of security, Zau, arranges for Ching to be set up in the eyes of the Mainland gang, led by the affable Dragon. Dragon and Ching both then escape separately, and while fugitives, hook up together and bond. Ching is recaptured and instigates a riot to save his own hide from the Mainlanders. In the chaos Ching gets revenge on Skull (who, working with Zau, set him up) and Zau.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Con Games (2001)
Plot Summary:
A decorated Army veteran goes undercover as a prison inmate to investigate the death of a Senator's grandson, who was killed while behind bars. Once under lock and key, he finds himself at the mercy of an all-powerful guard whose deadly influence reaches far beyond the prison walls. His only chance for freedom now is to escape ... or die.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 388
Genere: Action
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspense, tense
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 86%
Breakout (1975)
Plot Summary:
A bush pilot is hired for $250,000 to go to Mexico to free an innocent prisoner.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: light, suspenseful, exciting, entertaining, rough, serious, realistic, fast, tense, romantic
Similar in 81%
Marked Man (1996)
Plot Summary:
A jailed auto mechanic must run for his life after he witnesses the murder of a fellow inmate by two prison guards.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 351
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, campy
Similar in 86%
Three (2002)
Plot Summary:
The final installment in director Lucas Belvaux's trilogy follows Pascal, a cop who sees a return to credibility in the capture of escaped convict Bruno--who in turn is harbored by Pascal's morphine-addicted wife Agnes. Pascal's already precarious ties to Agnes are strained further when he meets and falls for her fellow schoolteacher friend Cecile. With Pascal focused on Bruno and Cecile, Agnes is forced to find a fix on her own.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 926
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, contemplative, bleak, art house, thought provoking
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 79%
Soo: Revenge for a Twisted Fate (2007)
Plot Summary:
Tae-soo tries to steal from a gang. The gang catches Tae-Soo's brother, Tae-Jin, instead. The incident causes the brothers to separate. Tae-Soo becomes a mob fixer and an assassin. Tae-Jin becomes a police detective. When a call brings the brothers together, they get ready for brotherly bonding, but Tae-Jin gets killed. Tae-Soo decides to get revenge on his brother's killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 416
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, crime drama, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Ten Dead Men (2008)
Plot Summary:
You can’t outrun your past. That is the extremely painful lesson that Ryan (Brendan Carr)is learning right now, as spectres of his past life of crime have returned to haunt him, destroying the only person he holds dear, and nearly killing him in the process. Ryan decides that if he cannot escape then he must confront them head-on in what can only be called a desperate suicide run.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 695
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, tense, captivating, suspense, rough, realistic, suspenseful, political thriller
Similar in 81%
Detonator (2003)
Plot Summary:
A former FBI agent must stop a crazy man from blowing up bombs.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 423
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 75%
An Innocent Man (1989)
Plot Summary:
Jimmie Rainwood was minding his own business when two corrupt police officers (getting an address wrong) burst into his house, expecting to find a major drug dealer. Rainwood is shot, and the officers frame him as a drug dealer. Rainwood is convicted of drug dealing, based on the perjured evidence of a police informant. Thrown into a seedy jail, fighting to prove his innocence is diffucult when he has to deal with the realities of prison life, where everyone claims they were framed.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: tense, psychological, suspense, intense, suspenseful, disturbing, rough, serious, realistic, scary
Similar in 82%
The Gunman (2004)
Plot Summary:
When Detective Ben Simm's wife is killed, he has to learn to be both father and mother to his little girl while searching for a Vigilante that has his own sense of justice.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 465
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, serious, suspenseful, independent film, bleak, realistic
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 85%
Travellers (2011)
Plot Summary:
Four friends set out on a motorcycle adventure weekend, clocking up miles in an attempt to outrun their age and urban lifestyles. After bartering with a local land owner for a place to set up camp, they spend the night reminiscing over their wasted youth. The following morning they spot an ominous looking caravan, and decide to investigate. Within minutes, an idiotic prank leads to a series of brutal events and a deadly race for survival. A modern plunge back into the worlds created by movies such as 'Deliverance' and 'Southern Comfort' but with a gritty British twang. Kidnap, murder and a hidden past are just some of the reasons these four adventurers should have stayed at home. An action thriller that will make you question who the villains really are. You cant outrun what's in your blood.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 559
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, atmospheric, rough, serious, tense, captivating, bleak, realistic
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)