
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, Papillon leans on a strong ensemble — Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about crime titles of 1973.
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When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.
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