Best movies like Escape From Pretoria
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison….
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Australia, USA, South Africa, Germany
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: political, suspense, tense, atmospheric, dramatic, thought provoking, suspenseful, psychological thriller, inspirational, mindfuck
Best tv shows and movies like Escape From Pretoria (2020):
Similar in 82%
Maze (2017)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP Maze, which was to become the biggest prison escape in Europe since World War II.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Ireland, Sweden, Germany
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, suspense, suspenseful, complex
Similar in 82%
Tunnel of Bones (2011)
Plot Summary:
Based on a real event, this is the spectacular escape of seven prisoners in 1991 from the Villa Devoto prison in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the process of digging a tunnel to escape, they make a bizarre and frightening discovery just as they are about to break through to freedom. One escapee promises to report their findings when they are all free and once out, he pays his debt to "the tunnel of bones,"sharing their macabre story with a local journalist, and ultimately the world.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 250
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense
Similar in 82%
Chronicle of an Escape (2006)
Plot Summary:
The true story of four men who narrowly escaped death at the hands of Argentina's military death squads during the 1970s is brought to the screen in this thriller. In 1977, Claudio Tamburrini (Rodrigo de la Serna) was a goalie for a minor-league football team when he was abducted by members of the Argentine military police and taken to an unofficial detention center on the false suspicion that he was a terrorist. Over 30,000 people lost their lives at the hands of Argentinean authorities under the military junta that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983, and as he was tortured by intelligence agents looking for information he didn't have, Tamburrini fully expected to become another victim. After many sessions of brutal torture, Tamburrini and his fellow captives Guillermo (Nazareno Casero) and Tano (Martin Urruty) were being readied for execution when, in a final desperate act, Tamburrini dove out a window during a rainstorm.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, disturbing, crime drama, thrilling, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
The Escapist (2008)
Plot Summary:
Frank Perry is an institutionalized convict twelve years into a life sentence without parole. When his estranged daughter falls ill, he is determined to make peace with her before it's too late. He develops an ingenious escape plan, and recruits a dysfunctional band of escapists - misfits with a mutual dislike for one other but united by their desire to escape their hell hole of an existence.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: tense, harsh, rough, suspenseful, atmospheric, realistic, psychological thriller, mindfuck, sincere, mind bending
Similar in 89%
The Last Rampage (2017)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the infamous prison break of Gary Tison and Randy Greenwalt from the Arizona State prison in Florence, in the summer of 1978.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, suspense, disturbing, crime drama
Similar in 75%
A Twelve-Year Night (2018)
Plot Summary:
Uruguay, 1973. Having been crushed by the military dictatorship, surviving members of the Tupamaro guerillas are imprisoned and tortured. They must find a way to endure the coming 12 years.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: Uruguay, Spain, Argentina, France, Germany
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, realistic, tense, inspirational, political, sad, art house, informative
Similar in 75%
The Highwaymen (2019)
Plot Summary:
In 1934, Frank Hamer and Manny Gault, two former Texas Rangers, are commissioned to put an end to the wave of vicious crimes perpetrated by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a notorious duo of infamous robbers and cold-blooded killers who nevertheless are worshiped by the public.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: suspense, road movie, tense, captivating, factual, exciting, suspenseful, funny, gothic, emotional
Similar in 79%
Balibo (2009)
Plot Summary:
As Indonesia prepares to invade the tiny nation of East Timor, five Australian based journalists go missing. Four weeks later, veteran foreign correspondent Roger East is lured to East Timor by the young and charismatic José Ramos-Horta to tell the story of his country and investigate the fate of the missing men. As East's determination to uncover the truth grows, the threat of invasion intensifie.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, political, tense, controversial, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Kill the Messenger (2014)
Plot Summary:
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspenseful, thought provoking, clever, captivating, disturbing, spiritual, neo noir, emotional
Similar in 82%
Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008)
Plot Summary:
The story of Jacques Mesrine, France's public enemy No. 1 during the 1970s. After nearly two decades of legendary criminal feats -- from multiple bank robberies and to prison breaks -- Mesrine was gunned down by the French police in Paris.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, stylized, tense, witty, breathtaking
Similar in 75%
Felon (2008)
Plot Summary:
A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: brutal, realistic, tense, emotional, serious, sincere, social, grindhouse, cerebral, rough
Similar in 85%
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)
Plot Summary:
Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Canada, Italy
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: bleak, tense, realistic, suspense, intense, serious, suspenseful, psychological, dramatic, stylized
Similar in 87%
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Plot Summary:
After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, black and white, retro, thought provoking, crime thriller, sincere, uplifting
Similar in 90%
Imperium (2016)
Plot Summary:
Nate Foster, a young, idealistic FBI agent, goes undercover to take down a radical white supremacy terrorist group. The bright up-and-coming analyst must confront the challenge of sticking to a new identity while maintaining his real principles as he navigates the dangerous underworld of white supremacy. Inspired by real events.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: clever, political, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, tense, suspense, intense, psychological thriller, social
Similar in 85%
True Story (2015)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered around the relationship between journalist Michael Finkel and Christian Longo, an FBI Most Wanted List murderer who for years lived outside the U.S. under Finkel's name.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 72000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, psychological, captivating, serious, enigmatic, suspenseful, intense, tricky, realistic
Similar in 82%
Escape at Dannemora (2018)
Plot Summary:
The stranger-than-fiction account of a prison break in upstate New York in the summer of 2015, which spawned a massive manhunt for two convicted murderers who were aided in their escape by a married female prison employee with whom they both became sexually entangled.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 440 min
Plot tags: melancholic, captivating, atmospheric, entertaining, anthology, anime, grindhouse, non fiction, historical drama, interesting
Similar in 88%
Escape Plan (2013)
Plot Summary:
Ray Breslin is the world's foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He's framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 254000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, suspense, twist ending, clever, entertaining, intense, serious, action packed, brutal
Similar in 80%
Changeling (2008)
Plot Summary:
Christine Collins is overjoyed when her kidnapped son is brought back home. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, the police captain has her committed to an asylum.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 263000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: psychological, heartbreaking, sentimental, tense, bleak, disturbing, touching, suspense, detective, emotional
Similar in 88%
Midnight Express (1978)
Plot Summary:
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: disturbing, realistic, suspense, depressing, psychological, serious, tense, controversial, grim, bleak
Similar in 88%
The Mauritanian (2021)
Plot Summary:
A detainee at the U.S military's Guantanamo Bay detention center is held without charges for over a decade and seeks help from a defense attorney for his release.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, suspense, tense, captivating, inspirational, serious, social, dramatic, disturbing, art house
Similar in 77%
Brubaker (1980)
Plot Summary:
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, factual, harsh, serious, captivating, political, tense, psychological, edutainment
Similar in 85%
The Hurricane (1999)
Plot Summary:
The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, inspirational, factual, motivational, epic, political, twisted, sincere, uplifting
Similar in 75%
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, South Africa
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, political, inspirational, educational, social, novela, cult classic, informative
Similar in 82%
Cry Freedom (1987)
Plot Summary:
A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko, a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Zimbabwe, USA
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: inspirational, political, cult classic, political thriller, edutainment, tense, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating
Similar in 86%
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
Plot Summary:
This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: disturbing, thought provoking, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, intense, suspenseful, captivating, suspense
Similar in 90%
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Plot Summary:
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his, former Sheriff, partner.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 108000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, disturbing, realistic, political thriller, tense, suspenseful, psychological, intense, atmospheric
Similar in 87%
The Life of David Gale (2003)
Plot Summary:
A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 125000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany, Spain, USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, thought provoking, suspense, twist ending, serious, psychological, emotional, disturbing, rough, philosophical
Similar in 81%
Papillon (1973)
Plot Summary:
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 137000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 151 min
Plot tags: inspirational, psychological, grim, realistic, depressing, visually stunning, philosophical, uplifting, epic, dark
Similar in 87%
Goodbye Bafana (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, France, Belgium, South Africa, Italy, UK, Luxembourg
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, realistic, political, inspirational, novela, sincere, clever, contemplative
Similar in 82%
In the Name of the Father (1993)
Plot Summary:
A small time thief from Belfast, Gerry Conlon, is falsely implicated in the IRA bombing of a pub that kills several people while he is in London. He and his four friends are coerced by British police into confessing their guilt. Gerry's father and other relatives in London are also implicated in the crime. He spends fifteen years in prison with his father trying to prove his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 184000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: political, sentimental, inspirational, touching, dramatic, factual, sincere, thought provoking, emotional, realistic