# The Shawshank Redemption

18 Hacker News commenters recommended The Shawshank Redemption and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People praise its absorbing, easy-to-rewatch story of injustice; critics find it schmaltzy, manipulative and clichéd.

## Why people recommend it

- Exceptional, favorite, memorable film (4 comments): "Everything about it is depressing and somehow it’s the best movie ever." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46932594)) "The movie is exceptional which made all of the rest of it possible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087590)) "This is one of my favorite movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46932558))
- Absorbing, easy to rewatch (3 comments): "sitting down and just watching it, even though you’ve seen it countless times" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46934422)) "absorbs us and takes away the awareness that we are watching a film" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46932538)) "It's just such an easy watch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46946626))
- Strong Stephen King adaptation (3 comments): "Stand By Me and Shawshank Redemption are good examples of the adaptation being an improvement" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48392799)) "Based on a Stephen King short story, I'm a fan." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46934327)) "The Shawshank Redemption adaptation is great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50092223))
- Appeals to a broad audience (2 comments): "she felt it was an incredible film that deserved a wider audience" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46938089)) "It has elements that appeal to a broad audience" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087978))

## What people warn about

- Schmaltzy, manipulative, clichéd Freeman folksiness (3 comments): "Morgan Freeman can make even the lamest cliches sound "deep"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944837)) "Schmaltzy and manipulative. Freeman's folksiness is eye-rollingly clichéd." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46952320)) "I find it pretty dull, manipulative and schmaltzy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46943028))
- Too simple, feels like a kids movie (2 comments): "as an adult, it's feels like a kids movie. Nothing else holds up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944726)) "it was a bit too uncomplicated to me and smacks of" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46932908))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Good Will Hunting](https://hackerapproved.com/p/good-will-hunting.md): 10 recommend
- [Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/stalker.md): 9 recommend
- [The Lives of Others](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lives-of-others.md): 8 recommend
- [Margin Call](https://hackerapproved.com/p/margin-call.md): 7 recommend
- [Fight Club (1999 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fight-club.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Shawshank Redemption", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shawshank-redemption/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).