Movies Like It Happened Between Bars

If you liked It Happened Between Bars (1955), a drama movie directed by Giorgio Cristallini, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
All Day and a Night (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
2
Mia Madre (2015)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Margherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.
3
Nostalgia (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Felice returns to his native Rione Sanità in Naples to look after his dying mother, having lived abroad for the last forty years. Here he discovers that his old friend Oreste has become a notorious crimeboss.
4
Barron's Cove (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the…
5
Along the Ridge (2006)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A young father and his two children struggle to find harmony after his wife leaves them for another man.
6
Lorelei (2020)
★ 6/10Also drama
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
7
The Raffle (1991)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Struggling with a financial crisis, a good-looking widow decides to put herself up for grabs. However, going through with it becomes almost impossible with a new love and the legal system thrown into the mix.
8
Home (2021)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
9
The Padre (2018)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
American retired Judge Randall Nemes and his hired gun, Gaspar, track down a con man posing as a priest in a small Colombian town only to be thrown off-course by a scrappy 16-year-old girl intent on reuniting with her…
10
The Return (2003)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A former alcoholic returns home after ten years in prison for the murder of her husband. As her recollection of the murder returns, things take a different turn.
11
Imperial Dreams (2014)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
12
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also drama
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
13
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
14
Winged Creatures (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an…
15
M (1951)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
In the city, someone is murdering children. The police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.
16
Strange Weather (2016)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
17
American Skin (2019)
★ 7/10Also drama
A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own…
18
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
19
The Day of the Owl (1968)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a small island town to look into the death of a construction supplier. Once there he is shocked by the influence the Mafia has over…
20
Open Doors (1990)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Tommaso Scalia is a man who commits three murders: he kills his superior who sacked him, the man who replaced him and his wife. He wants a quick trial and an early execution, but an earnest, principled assistant judge…