15 Russian and foreign TV series about women's prison

Correctional colonies for minor girls are considered a special category of correctional and educational institutions.

Unfortunately, child crime continues to be a big problem, and therefore special colonies operate, but are under the vigilant control of relevant human rights organizations. They establish a special regime taking into account the characteristics of adolescent psychology.

Orange is the New Black (2013)

Rating 4.6 out of 5 on Review.

• Original title: Orange Is the New Black
• Year: 2013 (7 seasons)
• Country: USA
• Director: Andrew McCarthy, Phil Abraham, Michael Treem
• Genre: drama, comedy, crime
• Starring: Taylor Schilling, Kate Mulgrew, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Dascha Polanco, Selenis Leyva, Nick Sandow, Yael Stone, Taryn Manning, Adrienne C. Moore
• KinoPoisk rating: 7,85

Piper Chapman is an ordinary resident of Connecticut. She loves her prosperous life and all its pleasant little things. Shower in the morning, a nice breakfast, making love. But it happens that thanks to her fleeting infatuation with a major drug dealer, Piper finds herself imprisoned for a long fifteen months. From now on, she needs not only to get used to the new environment, but also simply to survive.

Be yourself

Experienced prisoners, “seasoned prisoners,” know that once in prison or in a zone, it is better not to show excessive emotions at first. Don't show everyone panic; There is also no need to curry favor with older prisoners. The best option here is natural, simple behavior, which, however, does not imply excessive openness and gullibility.

Yes, conflicts in the zone are inevitable, but it is still necessary, if possible, not only to avoid them, but also to level out any quarrels that arise. Oddly enough, a sense of humor helps a lot here.

Theft in a women's prison is unacceptable - the caught "rat" will first be severely punished, and later - until the end of his entire sentence - he will be despised. There are known cases where thieves were deliberately spat on in their food and forced to eat it all. “Ratting” in the zone is the most disgusting act, in the opinion of the prisoners and those watching.

Loyalty to other prisoners is an excellent policy. Subservience in the women's area is despised, but polite, calm treatment of friends in misfortune is approved. When communicating with other prisoners, you should always ask permission to do something. For example, if you want to sit on the bunk (bed) of another “lady,” you should find out if she will allow it.

Detachment and withdrawal into your own world is not the best way to survive in prison. Such behavior will inevitably lead a woman to depression, especially if her sentence is long. Over time, it is better to find common interests with other prisoners, learn to make something, sew, sculpt: such tactics will make it easier to survive isolation from society.

Wentworth (2013)

Rating 4.7 out of 5 on Review.

• Original title: Wentworth
• Year: 2013 (8 seasons)
• Country: Australia
• Director: Kevin Carlin, Catherine Millar, Steve Jodrell
• Genre: drama, crime
• Starring: Kate Atkinson, Celia Ireland, Robbie Magasiva, Katrina Milosevic, Jacqueline Brennan, Lauri McLennan, Nicole Da Silva, Sharina Clanton, Pamela Rabe, Danielle Cormack
• KinoPoisk rating: 7,94

Wentworth is a drama series with a very dynamic and exciting plot about the employees and prisoners of a top-secret women's prison in Australia. There are rules of survival here, failure to comply with which can cost your life. Each episode is the life story of one of the characters. We learn better about his character, about the life circumstances that led him to prison. And it turns out that the difference between prisoners and prison employees is not so big; both are prisoners, only each in their own way.

Four Minutes (2006)

Traude Kruger is an elderly, intelligent woman who gets a job as a piano teacher in prison.
Several prisoners begin to attend her classes, including the unusually talented Jenny. The teacher is perplexed how such a wondrous gift can coexist in the personality of this cruel criminal. She decides to help the prisoner develop her talent and allow her to perform at concerts.

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Original title : Vier Minuten Starring : Monika Bleibtreu, Hannah Hertzsprung, Sven Pippig Country : Germany Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.7, IMDb – 7.4 Age restrictions : 16+

Live first (2009)

Rating 4.3 out of 5 on Review.

• Year: 2009 (season 1)
• Country Russia
• Director: Viktor Buturlin
• Genre: drama, melodrama
• Starring: Svetlana Bakulina, Anatoly Rudenko, Nikita Zverev, Vladimir Gusev, Oleg Chernov, Pyotr Semak, Valentina Panina, Lidiya Bayrashevskaya, Kira Kreylis-Petrova, Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev
• KinoPoisk rating: 6,88

The story of an innocently convicted girl who ended up in the Gulag millstones. She was interested in music and wanted to study seriously, but her first youthful love led her to jail. Now she has to go through the first shock of meeting the criminal world, and then try to establish contact with her cellmates.

Revenge of a Deceived Woman (2004)

The list of the best films about a women's prison is completed by the Indian crime drama about a modest girl Sarika, who thanks fate for meeting Karan.
Things are heading towards the wedding, but suddenly the heroine is accused of aiding terrorists and put behind bars. 10 Best Prison Break Movies

Her lover promises to help, but disappears from her life. The warden of the women's colony does everything to complicate the fate of the new prisoner. For Sarika, prison turns into a school of survival, which changes the girl's character.

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Original title : Ek Hasina Thi Starring : Saif Ali Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Seema Biswas Country : India Rating : Kinopoisk – 8.0, IMDb – 7.6 Age restrictions : 16+

Cage (2001)

Rating 4.8 out of 5 on Review.

• Year: 2001
• Country Russia
• Director: Sergey Beloshnikov
• Genre: drama
• Starring: Irina Apeksimova, Tatyana Lesnevskaya, Lev Prygunov, Andrei Rudensky, Nikolai Chindyaykin, Sergei Astakhov, Natalya Goncharova, Louise Mosendz, Vera Mayorova, Raisa Ryazanova
• KinoPoisk rating: 7,08

Nastya is about thirty, she loves her family madly. All her dreams from the orphanage have come true - she now has family, friends, and interesting work next to her. But one day, the son and husband die under the wheels of an expensive jeep. The tragedy happens before Nastya's eyes.

The culprit of the incident turns out to be Elena Shalevich, the unbalanced wife of a very rich man. Vladimir Shalevich is trying to help both Nastya and his wife. Nastya rejects any conciliatory initiatives of Shalevich. Elena Shalevich's lawyer arranges a vile provocation against Nastya: they plant heroin on her... Nastya ends up in Butyrka. In the corridors of the prison, she accidentally runs into Elena Shalevich...

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

Third place is a South Korean drama about a woman who is accused of being an accomplice to a maniac who kidnapped and killed a child. For a crime she did not commit, Kam Zha Lee receives 13 years in a women's colony. She finds a common language with the prisoners there and, moreover, makes friends there. Thanks to her kind and sympathetic character, she even receives the nickname “Warm Lady Kam Ja”. All 13 years old, she has kept in her soul a plan for revenge on the man for whom she ended up in prison. And her prisoner friends will help her realize her revenge after her release.

White Roses of Hope (2011)

Rating 4, 2 out of 5 on Review.

• Year: 2011
• Country Ukraine
• Director: Stanislav Dremov
• Genre: melodrama
• Starring: Alexander Pashkov, Olga Arntgolts, Oleg Morozov, Mikhail Dorozhkin, Oksana Semenova, Irina Zarya, Denis Demin, Irina Bunina, Svetlana Orlichenko, Olga Atanasova
• KinoPoisk rating: 6,07

Second half of the 80s. Zhenya graduates from music school, the girl has a beautiful voice. At a friend's birthday party, she meets Fedor, a graduate geologist. But Fedor is assigned to BAM. Zhenya is looking forward to letters from him. She's in love. A letter for Zhenya arrives at the hostel, but the evil guard sends the envelope back, with the stamp “The addressee has dropped out.”

There is no news from Fedor. Believing that she has been forgotten, Zhenya accepts the advances of Alexey, a guitarist from a musical group. And she marries him. Their son Maxim is born.

In the 90s, Zhenya, pregnant with her second child, undeservedly goes to prison. She leaves six months later with the wording “for lack of evidence of a crime,” but finds neither a husband nor a child...

Emmanuel in Prison (1983)

In eighth place is a film about an overly persistent journalist. Emmanuel is interested in the life of a large and influential bribe-taker. The civil servant raises his connections, and Emmanuel ends up in prison on a false but serious charge. This is a maximum security women's colony. There she faces several problems. This includes the bullying of the guards and the conflict with the local authority figure Albina. In a prison where knife fights take place at the instigation of the guards, you need to survive. And at the same time do not lose yourself. Things get even worse when four thugs escape from the death block and take over the women's camp.

Stronger than fate (2014)

Rating 3.9 out of 5 on Review.

• Original title: Stronger than fate
• Year: 2014 (season 1)
• Country Russia
• Director: Alexander Khvan
• Genre: melodrama
• Starring: Anastasia Richie, Natalia Antonova, Alexey Yanin, Maxim Ratiner, Alexey Eibozhenko, Dmitry Yanyshevsky, Elena Drobysheva, Dmitry Arbenin, Mikhail Zhigalov, Anna Yakunina
• KinoPoisk rating: 5,61

Anya, a kind, hardworking girl, lives with her mother Irina in the village of Opushkino. All her life, Irina works tirelessly to provide her daughter with a happy future, but the family barely makes ends meet.

One day, the son of the head of the village administration, the spoiled and wayward Gleb, comes from Moscow to a city celebration. All the local beauties are crazy about the “major” guy, but he unexpectedly looks at Anya, whom he had not noticed before.

But romantic dreams suddenly fade into the background when trouble strikes the family. Irina, defending herself from the advances of a visiting bandit, accidentally kills him...

Love Saved (2015)

Rating 3.9 out of 5 on Review.

• Year: 2015
• Country Russia
• Director: Natalia Srednikova
• Genre: melodrama
• Starring: Yulia Pozhidaeva, Boris Mironov, Konstantin Spirkin, Olga Azhazha, Andrey Arzyaev, Sergey Shanin, Oleg Leushin, Kristina Pakarina, Maxim Karushev, Maxim Makarov
• KinoPoisk rating: 5,33

Tatyana works as an investigator. Her work schedule does not allow for a normal personal life. Men don’t like that she can be called to work day and night, on weekends and holidays. At work she is a highly qualified and sought-after specialist, but in the evenings at home she is a sad, lonely woman. She devotes all her free time from work to her sister’s children, whom she loves very much.

But suddenly Tatyana meets Andrei, a man who accepts her for who she is. They fall in love with each other, and it seems that a long and happy life awaits them ahead. But Andrei has some kind of secret related to the death of his wife many years ago. And now Tatyana has to find out who he really is and what secret he is hiding from her...

Bangkok Hilton (1989)

Rating 4.9 out of 5 on Review.

• Original title: Bangkok Hilton
• Year: 1989
• Country: Australia
• Director: Ken Cameron
• Genre: thriller, drama
• Starring: Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott, Hugo Weaving, Joy Smithers, Lewis Faender, Judy Morris, Jerome Ehlers, Noah Taylor, Gerda Nicholson, Pauline Chan
• KinoPoisk rating: 8,23

Australian Katrina Stanton goes to London to visit her younger brother in search of her father. Having learned nothing, Katrina decides to fly back to Australia. At the airport she meets handsome photographer Arki Ragan, who volunteered to help the girl in her search. Since there were no tickets to Australia, Arki suggests that Katrina land in India, where she can relax a little. Before the flight, he gives her a professional camera in a special suitcase.

In India, the relationship between young people has ceased to be friendly, and they move into the same hotel room. Secretly from Katrina, Arki acquires a batch of heroin and hides it in the lining of a suitcase given to the girl. There were also no direct flights from Goa to Australia, and the girl was flying home via Bangkok. And when customs officers find drugs in Bangkok, Katrina is immediately arrested - in this country the death penalty is provided for crimes of this kind. Now Katrina’s life and freedom are in the hands of a lawyer and a well-wisher unknown to her, who have entered into an unequal battle with the local authorities.

Arrestantskaya (2008)

A regular college student is dating a guy. The standard situation is that the guy cheated on her. Out of the box, with another guy. Now he has two kinds of relationships. And there are also two people who are in love with him. A piquant plot, as a result of which the main character ends up in prison on trumped-up charges. In addition to everything, she is pregnant, and therefore is serving her sentence in a special department for women with children. Julia does not want to have an abortion and endures all the difficulties of imprisonment with dignity. After the birth, people appear who want to take the baby, among whom is her ex-boyfriend’s chosen one.

Bad Girls (1999)

• Original title: Bad Girls
• Year: 1999 (8 seasons)
• Country: UK
• Director: Lawrence Moody, Mike Adams, Jim O'Hanlon
• Genre: drama, crime
• Starring: Kika Mirilis, Victoria Alcock, Helen Fraser, Jack Ellis, Tracey Wilkinson, Victoria Bush, Alicia Eyo, Claire King, Linda Henry, James Gaddas
• KinoPoisk rating: 8,00

About the inmates of Larkhall Women's Prison.

Ruined Palace (1999)

An American film about a women's prison tells the story of school graduates Darlene and Alice.
After receiving their certificates, the heroines go on vacation to Thailand, where they intend to celebrate the beginning of adulthood. At the resort they meet a pleasant young man who inspires boundless trust in them. A few days later, the girls are detained at the airport with a large shipment of drugs. They are sent to a Thai prison known for its unbearable conditions.

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Original title : Brokedown Palace Starring : Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman Country : USA Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.1, IMDb – 6.4 Age restrictions : 12+ Good quality : from 05/14/2009

Yard (2018)

Rating 4.6 out of 5 on Review.

• Original title: Avlu
• Year: 2022 (3 seasons)
• Country: Turkey
• Director: Yuksel Aksu, Hülya Gezer, Shafak Bal
• Genre: drama, crime
• Starring: Demet Evgar, Ceren Moray, Nürsel Köse, Onur Ozturk, Ayça Damgaci, Çigdem Benli, Ummu Putgul, Saniye Samra, Hüseyin Turunç, Berna Eker
• Episode duration: 120 min.
• IMDb rating: 7.30

In your hands (2004)

Anna gets a job as a priest in a women's colony, where she meets Kate.
There are rumors about this prisoner that she has the gift of healing. Anna soon finds out that she is pregnant. She and her husband tried unsuccessfully to have a child for several years, so the news of pregnancy surprises the heroine. The examination reveals that the child has chromosomal defects. The woman is asked to have an abortion, otherwise her child may be born mentally retarded. But Anna hopes for a miracle and thinks that she needs to turn to Kate for help.

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Original title : Forbrydelser Starring : Anne Eleonora Jorgensen, Trine Dyrholm, Nicolaus Copernicus Country : Denmark Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.0, IMDb – 7.0 Age restrictions : 16+

Block 9 (2012)

• Original title: Unite 9
• Year: 2012 (7 seasons)
• Country: Canada
• Episode duration: 44 min
• Director: Jean-Philippe Duval, Louis Bolduc, Yan Lanouette Turgeon
• Genre: drama
• Starring: Yves Landry, Gillaine Tremblay, François Papineau, Emily Bibeau, Patrice L'Ecuyer, Celine Bonnier, Normand Danault, Paul Doucet, Salomé Corbeau, Luc Guerin
• IMDb rating: 7,60

The main character is a Quebec resident sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to murder her own father. The series chronicles her tense relationships with her family and close friend, and their interactions with the prison staff. The stories of some of her fellow sufferers are also revealed, as are the relationships between prisoners not only among themselves, but also with guards and other prison employees.

Main differences from IR for minor boys

In institutions for girls, the work of guards and educators is performed exclusively by women . They have an extremely limited strict regime of detention. Girls, regardless of the severity of the crime and recidivism, fall under the usual regime, and after 3 months, with good behavior, they are transferred to preferential maintenance.

Particular attention is paid to sanitary and hygienic conditions, aesthetic design and cultural events. Significant relaxations are allowed in terms of clothing. Labor activity is organized on a voluntary basis and fully complies with the standards established “in the wild” for women’s labor.

Find out more about the features of children's educational colonies for minors here.

If Tomorrow Comes (1986)

Rating 4.9 out of 5 on Review.

• Original title: If Tomorrow Comes
• Year: 1986 (1 season)
• Country: USA
• Duration: 304 min. Total
• Director: Jerry London
• Genre: drama, crime, detective
• Starring: Madolyn Smith-Osborne, Tom Berenger, David Keith, Jack Weston, Richard Kiley, Liam Neeson, Julian Holloway, Peter Banks, Olivier Pierre, Harry Taub
• Age: 16+
• KinoPoisk rating: 8,39

The heroine, a modest bank employee, Tracy Whitney, is on the verge of happiness and success. She is engaged to her beloved man, who, moreover, is fabulously rich and belongs to the highest circles of society. And now, due to terrible and absurd circumstances, everything goes to pieces: Tracy ends up in prison, framed by the mafia and betrayed by her loved ones. But she is not so easy to break: she directs all her iron will, sharp mind and irresistible feminine charm to take revenge.

Chicago (2002)

A boring and monotonous life pushes the heroine of the musical Roxie Hart into the arms of a man who promises her a dizzying career on stage.
When the girl realizes that this was just a trick to lure her into bed, she kills her lover with a pistol. Within the walls of the prison, she meets her idol - singer Velma Kelly, who also found herself behind bars on charges of murder. The interests of the bitchy diva are represented by a famous lawyer, for whose help Roxy also hopes.

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Original title : Chicago Starring : Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere Country : USA, Germany, Canada Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.7, IMDb – 7.2 Age restrictions : 16+ Good quality : from 01/15/2014

Don't swear (2016)

Rating 4.3 out of 5 on Review.

• Year: 2016 (season 1)
• Country Ukraine
• Episode duration: —
• Director: Sergey Kravets, Alexander Salnikov, Anton Tsivatny
• Genre: melodrama
• Starring: Vitaly Saliy, Valeria Khodos, Anastasia Blazhchuk, Fyodor Gurinets, Vyacheslav Dovzhenko, Konstantin Danilyuk, Marta Logacheva, Anna Lebedeva, Ekaterina Varchenko, Yana Sobolevskaya
• KinoPoisk rating: 5,72

The life of tenth grader Lyudmila Polishchuk changed in one day, September 1st. In the morning, the young girl went to school for the First Bell holiday, and returned... to prison, accused of committing a terrible murder. Luda did not remember anything - only her hands and clothes, blackened by the blood of the well-known politician throughout Crimea, Vladimir Meshkov. Which, according to investigators, it was she, Lyuda, who brutally killed with a knife. The family of the deceased is doing everything to ensure that the tramp girl is sentenced to life imprisonment.

Meshkov's younger brother Alexander, crazy with rage, even tries to kill Lyuda, but at the last moment he hesitates, promising her that she will never be released. The poor woman's misfortunes do not end there - already in the prison hospital, Lyuda finds out that she is pregnant, and understands that the murdered politician Meshkov actually committed a terrible outrage on her, which she will never be able to prove. In desperation, Lyuda gives her newborn daughter to her older sister, promising herself that she will do everything to later be reunited with her own blood.

Having experienced the harsh life in the zone, Lyuda still hopes for a new life. Another month - and 17 difficult years in the women's colony in the Luhansk region will be behind us. Just one more month - and Lyuda will leave her former prison existence and will be able to hug her own daughter, whom she has never seen all these years. But... 2014 comes, and all the plans of the convicted Lyudmila Polishchuk are not allowed to come true. The real hell of the war in Donbass awaits her, the betrayal of her loved ones, the terrible secrets into which she, as a girl, was unwittingly drawn. And a long road to the only loved one in this world.

At what age can you get there?

In accordance with current legislation (Article 20 of the Criminal Code), criminal liability in Russia begins from the age of 16. In this case, a person is recognized as a minor if at the time of committing the crime he was under 18 years of age. In this case, the girl is sent to a correctional colony for minor girls to carry out her punishment.

For serious crimes, criminal punishment can be imposed upon a teenager reaching the age of 14. The list of such atrocities is specified in Article 20 of the Criminal Code (Part 2). The following are sent to the colony :

• persons who committed murder (Article 105);
• causing serious (Article 111) or moderate (Article 112) harm to health;
• kidnapping (p. 126);
• theft (Article 158);
• robbery or robbery (Articles 161, 162);
• extortion (Article 163);
• car theft (Article 166);
• destruction of property (Part 2 of Article 167);
• terrorist attack, hostage taking or false report of a terrorist attack (Articles 205-207);
• malicious hooliganism (part 2 of article 213);
• vandalism (Article 214);
• theft of weapons and explosive devices (Article 226);
• theft of narcotic or psychotropic substances (Article 229);
• damage to vehicles or communications (Article 267).

The maximum age at which you can be there, and what happens next?

The stay of a teenage girl in a correctional colony is limited to 18 years of age. To complete her education or vocational training, she can stay until she turns 19 in accordance with Article 139 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation.

The decision to extend the period of stay in a colony is made by the head of the correctional institution with the approval of the prosecutor. The subsequent serving of the sentence is carried out in a regular general regime colony for adults.

Prisoner (1979)

• Original title: Prisoner
• Year: 1979 (8 seasons)
• Country: Australia
• Episode duration: 50 min
• Director: Kendal Flanagan, Steve Mann, Lee Spence
• Genre: drama, crime
• Starring: Elspeth Ballentyne, Betty Bobbitt, Sheila Florence, Maggie Kirkpatrick, Val Lehman, Patsy King, Gerda Nicholson, Colette Mann, Judith McGrath, Joy Westmore
• IMDb rating: 8,20

The setting is the top-secret Wentworth women's prison in Australia, where criminals of all stripes are serving their sentences. The series will tell about how they got there, about their life in prison and what follows. The viewer will also get to know the prison staff: learn about their immediate work and personal life.

PS What are your favorite TV series about women's prison? Share in the comments!)

Burn! (2017)

The main character of this Russian film about a women's prison works as a guard.
Alevtina has a unique voice, which she is embarrassed to demonstrate in public. One day, a prisoner records the warden’s singing on her phone and posts it on the Internet. The funniest comedies about prison

The woman is noticed and invited to Moscow to participate in the country's main song competition. Alevtina wants to change her life, but is afraid. She turns for help to the same prisoner who was a successful singer in the past.

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Starring : Inga Oboldina, Victoria Isakova, Anna Ukolova Country : Russia Rating : Kinopoisk – 6.7, IMDb – 6.2 Age restrictions : 12+ Good quality : from 01/18/2018