Top 10 Films About the Wrongfully Convicted

What’s great about many of the films on this list is that they actually changed things. Because of the determination of a few filmmakers, people’s lives were irrevocably changed for the better. And if the movies themselves didn’t help free people in prison, then they do a damn good job of depicting their fight for freedom.

For the sake of brevity, I’m limiting this list to the wrongfully convicted who served time in prison. Village scandal movies like The Hunt, or prisoner-on-the-run flicks like The Fugitive were not considered.

10. After Innocence (2005)

“In the past 10 years, whenever I go apply for a job, it says, ‘Have you ever been convicted of a crime?’ it doesn’t say, ‘If you ever been wrongfully accused of a crime.’”

That quote, spoken early in After Innocence by one of its subjects, says everything you need to know about this documentary, which hears the stories of many men who have been exonerated from death row due to DNA evidence.

9. The Trials of Darryl Hunt (2006)

Darryl Hunt was 19 when he was convicted of the rape and murder of a young, white newspaper editor, and it took him just as many years to prove his innocence. One of the final scenes of this film, in which Darryl literally faces the victim’s mother (who still believes Darryl is guilty) is utterly devastating.

8. Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001)

One thing that separates Murder on a Sunday Morning from the other films on this list is that it was filmed as the case was actually happening.

Shortly after 15-year-old Brenton Butler was charged with killing a woman, French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade was given unprecedented access to Butler’s legal team, and followed them as they tried to proclaim Butler’s innocence in court. Murder on a Sunday Morning is a gritty, unique look at a wrongful conviction, and justly won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

7. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

“I don’t think you ought to be doing this to yourself, Andy. This is just shitty pipedreams. I mean, Mexico is way the hell down there and you’re in here, and that’s the way it is.”

“Yeah, right. That’s the way it is. It’s down there and I’m in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.”

That’s goddamn right.

6. Paradise Lost Films (1996, 2000, 2011)

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5. West of Memphis (2012)

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost documentaries are raw and important. Three films spread over 15 years that helped the West Memphis Three case gain national attention and support. Without those films, I’m certain that wrongly convicted child murderers Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin would still be in prison, if not dead by execution. Amy Berg’s West of Memphis is far more polished than the Paradise Lost documentaries, mainly because it had the financial weight of Peter Jackson behind it. West of Memphis pushes the story even further, nearly indicting a male relative of one of the murdered boys as the real killer.  I love all of these films, but if forced to choose, would give a slight edge to West of Memphis as the strongest among them.

4. The Central Park Five (2012)

There’s a scene in the breathtaking documentary, The Central Park Five, that speaks of the lasting horror of a prison sentence. It took several years for five black men to be found innocent of a vicious gang rape they never committed. Once freed, one of the men is interviewed at his home and gives a stoic, horrifying description of life on the outside. He notes how he rarely leaves his small room, because it is the size of a prison cell, which comforts him. He says when he’s talking to a person at a social gathering, he always backs into a corner and constantly scans the room, a habit picked up in the prison yard.

We like to think that once an innocent man is released from prison, he holds his arms out wide and screams praises of victory. The Central Park Five shows something different. It shows that, while free, nothing can stop you from backing yourself into a corner.

3. In the Name of the Father (1993)

Gerry Conlon was one of four people wrongly convicted of carrying out IRA orders and bombing two pubs in Guildford, England. Tortured into a conviction, Gerry spent several years in prison before finally being released. I won’t describe what happened while he was inside, but know that In the Name of the Father is my favorite film by the great Jim Sheridan, and contains nearly my favorite Daniel Day-Lewis performance. This one rocks me to the core every time I watch it.

2. The Hurricane (1999)

Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put in a prison cell but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

I’ve never understood why Norman Jewison’s flawless bio drama didn’t receive more acclaim. I think it’s a perfect film detailing the power of the fight. It also contains nearly the best performance Denzel Washington has ever given.

1. The Thin Blue Line (1988)

I discuss Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line frequently on this blog, most recently when I listed it as my second favorite documentary of all time. I talk about it for a few reasons: one, it’s a damn fine film, and two, it deserves a wider audience. This is the film that got a man released from death row. The conviction of Morris’ journalistic take on the case of a slain police officer actually saved a man’s life. If that doesn’t speak to the power of cinema, then I certainly don’t know what does.

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