Movies Like The Penal Colony
If you liked The Penal Colony (2017), a drama movie directed by Manos Cizek and Lindsey Aliksanyan, 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

Girl in the Box (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaThe true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
- 2

Bronson (2009)
★ 6.9/10Also dramaA young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.
- 3

All Day and a Night (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also dramaWhile 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.
- 4

Home (2021)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaAn ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
- 5

Skin (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaBased on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
- 6

El Chicano (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also dramaA pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
- 7

Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
★ 7/10Also dramaThe story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills…
- 8

Outlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
★ 7/10Also dramaA chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.
- 9

The Unforgivable (2021)
★ 7.4/10Also dramaA woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
- 10

Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaA prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
- 11

Kisses (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaTwo kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
- 12

Brute Force (1947)
★ 7.3/10Also dramaTimeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's…
- 13

Hounddog (2008)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaA drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
- 14

The Kill Team (2019)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaWhen Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma…
- 15

Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
★ 7.2/10Also dramaYoung teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even…
- 16

Farming (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also dramaBased on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of…
- 17

Hungry Hearts (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaThe relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
- 18

Adopt a Highway (2019)
★ 6.9/10Also dramaRuss Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn…
- 19

Three Christs (2017)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaDr. Alan Stone breaks new ground for treatment of the mentally ill through an experiment on three paranoid schizophrenic patients who believe they are Jesus Christ.
- 20

Nowhere to Run (1993)
★ 6.6/10Also dramaEscaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.