The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American prison drama film which was adapted from the novella  by Stephen King. It was directed by and starred Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

The movie tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Robbins), a banker who is sentenced to life at Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite being innocent of the crime. While at Shawshank, Andy befriends fellow inmate Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, portrayed by Freeman. The story culminates with Andy's escape from Shawshank, which he carries out by tunneling out of his cell, using a succession of posters (first, Rita Hayworth; later, Marilyn Monroe and ) to conceal the tunnel. The movie ends with Andy and Red being reunited on a beach in Mexico following Red's parole from Shawshank.

The Shawshank Redemption received a great deal of critical acclaim, but was a disappointment at the box office. Years later, it became a hit when it was released to the home video market and started being shown regularly on cable television. The film has since become a cultural phenomenon, appearing on several "greatest movie" lists. Also, "shawshank" has become a pop-culture slang term with several different meanings. Two of the most common ones are 1) to be trapped in an undesirable situation, such as prison, for a long time; and 2) to seek to apprehend and incarcerate a suspect primarily in the interest of resolving a criminal case, without giving due consideration as to whether the suspect is actually guilty.

In the Simpsons universe, The Shawshank Redemption has been referred to in television episodes, comic stories, and video games.