The Shawshank Redemption

Name: The Shawshank Redemption
Genre: Crime, Drama
Released: 1994
Duration: 142 min
Cast: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown

1994 · Movie · R · 142 min

Crime Drama

IMDB TMDB

Audience evidenceThe verdict — who this is for, by the receipts

Made first for older men 1

The Shawshank Redemption's audience scores lean most toward older men at 100 of 100 1. Its overall reach is rated targeted — targeted reach aimed at a specific demographic segment 2. Relative to the expected cast make-up for its production origin, on-screen representation registers above the baseline for White and below it for Hispanic 3. On content balance it reads entertainment-first at 3 of 100, weighting storytelling over explicit messaging 4.

The receipts — every claim above is sourced

1
Audience scoreolder men 100 of 100 is the top quadrant.WhatSphere audience model, score_version 1
2
ReachAudience breadth rated targeted.WhatSphere audience model, score_version 1
3
RepresentationRepresentation vs production-origin baseline: White 66, Hispanic 28.WhatSphere representation model, score_version 1
4
Content balanceContent balance entertainment-first at 3 of 100.WhatSphere content-balance model, score_version 1

WhatSphere presents the sourced record; it does not cast the judgement. Every statement above is drawn from a stored, sourced row — shown beside it — and nothing is asserted beyond what those receipts support.

Data updated March 2, 2026Scored, pending verification.Think a score is wrong? Submit a correction.

Synopsis

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.