Movie · 1973 · Crime, Drama · 2h 31m · PG · English
Curator score: 7.3/10 (206.6K ratings)
The greatest adventure of escape!
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.3/10
IMDb: 8.0/10
Letterboxd: 4.03/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 73%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 7.8/10
Director
Franklin J. Schaffner
Production
Allied Artists Pictures, Solar Productions, Corona-General
Cast
Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Anthony Zerbe, Robert Deman, Woodrow Parfrey, Bill Mumy, George Coulouris, Ratna Assan, William Smithers, Val Avery, Gregory Sierra, Vic Tayback, Mills Watson, Ron Soble, Barbara Morrison, Don Hanmer, E.J. André, Richard Angarola
Curator Review
Verdict
A muscular, old-school prison-escape epic with strong performances, vivid locations, and a clear emotional core about endurance, friendship, and the refusal to be broken. It’s long and occasionally episodic, but the scale and conviction make it a standout for viewers who like survival dramas with a classic Hollywood sweep.
Best for
prison break stories
survival dramas
1970s adventure epics
performance-driven character studies
films about resilience and injustice
Skip if
you want a fast, tightly plotted thriller
you prefer modern pacing and polish
you’re not interested in bleak imprisonment or suffering
you want a purely factual prison drama without mythic embellishment
Overview
Papillon is one of those large, weathered studio epics that turns punishment into a test of spirit. Franklin J. Schaffner stages the prison island as a brutal machine designed to erase identity, then keeps finding ways to make escape feel both physical and existential. The result is a film that is as much about refusing surrender as it is about breaking out.
Worth noting
Steve McQueen gives the movie its hard, watchful center, while Dustin Hoffman brings a nervous, human counterweight that deepens the friendship at the story’s core. The film can feel episodic, and its length is part of the ordeal, but that’s also what gives it its force: the suffering accumulates, and so does the determination.
Bottom line
If you like prison dramas that play like survival odysseys, this is essential viewing. It has the grit of a punishment tale and the sweep of a classic adventure, with a melancholy edge that keeps it from ever feeling triumphant in a simple way.
Top Letterboxd reviews
theriverjordan (5★) · 370 likes
In “Papillon,” existence itself becomes an act of rebellion upon the confines man has made for himself on earth.
Director Franklin J. Schaffner’s film about two men serving sentences on the French Guinea penal colony of “Devil’s Island,” was penned by Dalton Trumbo — a man who knew something of suffering penance for injustice.
“Papillon” is rife with a spirit of resilience.
Trumbo had come out on the other side of the Hollywood blacklist era, and star Steve McQueen -… more
Lara Pop (4.5★) · 323 likes
The art of the one-line review isn't writing one line but breaking down the words into five lines to honor Steve McQueen and his five steps ofendurance he made day by day in his solitary cell, so I'll do just that:
'heyyoubastards I'mstillhere'
I know it's six lines. But Papillon never lived by the rules, did he? He looked for freedom in his every waking moment. For him, freedom stood above everything. Nothing could stop… more
DirkH (5★) · 254 likes
Confession 1: This was the first time I watched it.
Confession 2: I'm too stunned by it to say anything coherent other than that it is a powerhouse in each single aspect of filmmaking.
Boy, did I love this one!
Ian West (4★) · 152 likes
Survival of the unbreakable friendship.
Mr. DuLac (4.5★) · 137 likes
A temptation resisted is a true measure of character.-Dega
The 1970 memoirs of Henri Charrière (aka: Papillon) has come under a lot of scrutiny over the years and it's commonly believed that most of the stories presented in the book are in fact about other prisoners rather then Charrière himself. While it brings into question if Papillon is based on fiction or fact, it doesn't diminish it as an incredibly compelling film.
Steve McQueen leaves his coolest guy on… more