A classic 90s thriller based on a novel by Stephen King is streaming right now on Peacock.
Starring Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins, Clancy Brown, and many more, The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne (Robbins) after he is sentenced to two consecutive life terms following the murder of his wife and her lover.
Though he knows he did not commit these crimes, he is sent to serve his time at Shawshank State Penitentiary, a prison notorious for its tough inmates and brutality.
Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis ‘Red’ Redding (Freeman), and becomes part of a money laundering operation led by the prison warden, Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton).
The cast is rounded out by William Sadler, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore.
Despite receiving rave reviews at the time of its release in 1994, Frank Darabont’s film was a box office flop, raking in only $16million (£11.8m) during its initial theatrical run.
It went on to receive seven Academy Award nominations, which bumped its earnings to $73.3m (£54m).
The Shawshank Redemption gained a cult following after it began being shown regularly on the TNT network, and decades after its release, it is still broadcast regularly.
The film sits at an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus reading: ‘Steeped in old-fashioned storytelling and given evergreen humanity by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, The Shawshank Redemption chronicles the hardship of incarceration patiently enough to come by its uplift honestly.’
In their review, Orlando Sentinel said: ‘The Shawshank Redemption is both resigned and inspirational, grittily realistic and vaguely surreal, matter-of-fact and operatic.
‘Somehow, these opposites are combined into a remarkably smooth and lyrical composition.’
The Chicago Tribune added: ‘The Shawshank Redemption may be working with stuff we’ve seen before, but it’s surprisingly strong and engrossing. Even elitists in the audience who dismiss King as a shock schlockmeister may be amazed at this picture’s narrative grip.’
Boston Globe wrote: ‘Never will you be so glad of the voyeuristic nature of filmgoing. Because The Shawshank Redemption is as close to prison as you’ll want to get. And Robbins and Freeman make what could have been an endurance test an utterly engrossing experience.’
Meanwhile, the Arizona Republic said: ‘Darabont has crafted an intelligent, perceptive picture. But at nearly 2.5 hours, it’s an emotional endurance match, blanketing the audience with an oppressive mood under which prisoners live until you feel the weight and drag of their empty days.’
The Guardian branded it the ‘greatest film ever made’ in a retrospective article last year, echoing several appraisals over the decades.
Speaking to Deadline in 2019, Darabont reflected on the legacy of The Shawshank Redemption.
‘I’m just exceptionally gratified by all of it,’ he began. ‘Grateful that the movie has hung in the way it has, but also grateful for the fact that it keeps finding a new generation of viewers because the older generation wants to share it with their younger generations.’
He continued: ‘It’s surreal to me. It’s mind-blowing. But it’s a testament to the power of a good story that speaks to people. It speaks to those people who are willing to open their hearts to a story that wears its own heart on its sleeve. If those things line up, then you’ve got something that might stick around awhile.’
The Shawshank Redemption is streaming now on Peacock.
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