The owner of the film is Andy, a successful banker, who was unjustly imprisoned and killed because his wife had an affair. After entering Shawshank prison, he made friends with several inmates, who were energetic and kind-hearted in prison, and became close friends with Red, a black man who failed to be paroled many times. In fact, the content is not complicated, but a seemingly trivial matter like a prisoner escaping from an American prison seems to be really no big deal in the United States. But what is shown to us is the confusion, pain, struggle, expectation, despair and simple happiness of the little people in the play.
It tells the trivial details of their lives, their attitudes towards things around them, and all kinds of small and simple happiness in life, showing the small and simple happiness of such a group of people in prison, showing their empty expectations and despair of having to face reality, and their powerless struggle and helplessness in a stagnant prison. But the superb feature of the film lies in creating a subjective paradox, thus creating a myth that appears in reality. When other prisoners asked Andy why he came here, Andy replied, I am innocent. Rhett said that everyone who came here was innocent. Therefore, it is worth pondering, why is this innocent person detained in a guilty place? In the slow development of the plot, it may be understood that the people in prison are innocent, which is not so much ridicule and satire as a kind affirmation of human expectations. The influence of the environment on people is subtle and far-reaching, and most people in prisons have been institutionalized. As Rhett said, you will hate it when you first enter prison, then you will get used to it, and finally you will find that you can't live without it, and you can't live without it. This is why Lao Bu hanged himself after he left Xiaoke to win.