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Movies like Shepherds and Butchers

Key Features:
Legal drama, Capital punishment, Post-traumatic stress, Prison, South Africa, Moral dilemma, Social commentary, Psychological trauma, Courtroom drama
Tone:
serious, dramatic, restrained
Target Audience:
Drama enthusiasts, Social justice advocates, Viewers interested in legal themes, Fans of character-driven stories
Emotional Arc:
Anxiety → Despair → Reflection

Shepherds and Butchers

2017-05-12
Shepherds and Butchers Poster - Find Similar Movies

A lawyer takes on a case of a prison guard in South Africa who is traumatized by the executions he's witnessed.

Genres
Drama
Cast
Steve Coogan, Andrea Riseborough, Garion Dowds, Marcel Van Heerden, Deon Lotz, Eduan van Jaarsveldt, Lauren Steyn, Robert Hobbs, Inge Beckmann, Brett Williams
Crew
Oliver Schmitz
Rating
6.3(75 votes)
Shepherds and ButchersShepherds and Butchers
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Clemency
Clemency(2019)
6.3

Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.



...And Justice for All

An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is forced to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial under the threat of being disbarred.



Felon
Felon(2008)
7.1

A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.



Murder in the First

A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend an inmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.



Seven Days
6.7

A successful lawyer who, in order to save her daughter, is pressured into defending the innocence of a man slated to receive the death penalty.



Rampage
Rampage(1987)
5.9

Liberal district attorney decides to seek the death penalty for a man who slaughtered a family at Christmastime, then drank their blood. He escapes, though, and starts killing again.



The Accused
7.1

Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.



Criminal Law
5.549

Ben Chase is an on-the-rise Boston attorney currently defending a wealthy client in a high-profile murder case. Martin Thiel is the wealthy young man on trial for a particularly brutal murder. The verdict sets Thiel free. Within 24 hours another grizzly and all-too-familiar murder has taken place with striking similarities to the first crime. Chase inexplicably agrees to act as his defense attorney; but this time it will be to gather evidence that will put away his client for good.



Fracture
Fracture(2007)
7.263

A husband is on trial for the attempted murder of his wife, in what is seemingly an open/shut case for the ambitious district attorney trying to put him away. However, there are surprises for both around every corner, and, as a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse is played out, each must manipulate and outwit the other.



Rampage: Capital Punishment

A man takes over a TV station and holds a number of hostages as a political platform to awaken humanity, instead of money.



A Time to Kill
7.4

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.



Victim
Victim(1961)
7.5

A web of blackmail and murder attracts the attention of a barrister with a seemingly idyllic life, threatening to derail his career on the path of success.



Breaker Morant
7.1

During the Boer War, three Australian lieutenants are on trial for shooting Boer prisoners. Though they acted under orders, they are being used as scapegoats by the General Staff, who hopes to distance themselves from the irregular practices of the war. The trial does not progress as smoothly as expected by the General Staff, as the defence puts up a strong fight in the courtroom.



The Chamber
5.985

Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.



Juror #2
Juror #2(2024)
6.871

While serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, family man Justin Kemp finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict—or free—the accused killer.



Last Dance
5.644

Upon taking a new job, young lawyer Rick Hayes is assigned to the clemency case of Cindy Liggett, a woman convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. As Hayes investigates the background for her case, the two begin to form a deep friendship, while all the while the date for her execution draws nearer.



The Life of David Gale

A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.



Saw V
Saw V(2008)
6.2

Following Jigsaw's grisly demise, Detective Mark Hoffman is commended as a hero, but Agent Strahm is suspicious, and delves into Hoffman's past. Meanwhile, another group of people are put through a series of gruesome tests.



Silverton Siege
6.345

After a failed sabotage mission, a trio of anti-apartheid freedom fighters ends up in a tense bank hostage situation. Based on a true story.



The Green Mile
8.5

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.



Waiting for the Barbarians

At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.



The Onion Field
6.009

An LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.



Cape Fear
Cape Fear(1962)
7.4

Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.



Return to Sender
6.3

While fighting for a woman who sits on death row, a lawyer happens upon new information which brings into question the motives of a man associated with her client



Argentina 1985
7.823

In the 1980s, a team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time.



Ricochet
Ricochet(1991)
6.1

An attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.



King and Country
7.108

During World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.



The Star Chamber

As violence escalates in Los Angeles and heinous murders are committed, Steven Hardin, a young judge of the California Supreme Court, must struggle with his tortured conscience and growing despair as he watches helplessly as the ruthless criminals brought before his court go free because clever lawyers find obscure loopholes in the law.



Zulu
Zulu(2013)
6.7

As a child, Ali Neuman narrowly escaped being murdered by Inkhata, a militant political party at war with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. Only he and his mother survived the carnage of those years. But as with many survivors, the psychological scars remain.



The Children Act
6.576

In the midst of a marital crisis, a High Court judge must decide if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a teen with cancer despite his family's refusal to accept medical treatment for religious reasons.



Monster's Ball
6.764

A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.



Carne
Carne(1991)
6.798

After a dreadful incident coupled with an ungovernable paroxysm of violence, a butcher will fall into a downward spiral that will burn to the ground whatever dignity still remained in him.



Too Young to Die
5.4

An abused 15 year old is charged with a murder that carries the death penalty in this fact-based story.



Good
Good(2008)
6.1

When John Halder's latest novel is enlisted by powerful political figures in the Nazi party to push their agenda, his career and social standing instantly advance. But after learning of the Reich's horrific plans for the future and the devastating effects they will have on people close to him, John must decide whether or not to take a stand and risk losing everything.



Goodbye Bafana
6.857

The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.



Primal Fear
7.656

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.



A Violent Prosecutor

After a prosecution lawyer is framed and convicted for murder, he tries to catch the real murderer from jail with the help of a con artist.



Death Sentence
6.775

Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when protecting his family.



The Judge
The Judge(2014)
7.328

A successful lawyer returns to his hometown for his mother's funeral only to discover that his estranged father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder.



The Snows of Kilimanjaro

A union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.



Out of It
Out of It(1978)
6.5

The lawyer is visiting a prison to meet with a violent criminal who has been condemned to death. During the visit, things turn bad, there is a riot where prisoners escape and the criminal escapes taking a lawyer hostage.



The Mauritanian
7.4

The true story of the Mauritanian Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was held at the U.S military's Guantanamo Bay detention center without charges for over a decade and sought help from a defense attorney for his release.



Death and the Maiden

A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.



Reasonable Doubt
5.8

When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to throw the case against the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that he acquitted a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up.



Paulina
Paulina(2015)
6.377

Paulina is a young lawyer with a promising career in Buenos Aires, who chooses to go back to her home town. Her father, Fernando, is a well known judge. Against his will, Paulina decides to teach in a suburban high school as part of an inclusion program. One night, after the second week working there, she's brutally assaulted by a gang. With the disapproval of the people around her, she decides to go back to work, in the neighborhood where she was attacked, without realizing that her attackers may be even closer than she thought.



Courted
Courted(2015)
6.1

When a feared judge of the French court, Xavier Racine, encounters a French-Danish juror, Ditte Lorensen-Coteret, at a murder trial, their shared past is slowly uncovered.



Borgo
Borgo(2024)
6.8

Melissa is an experienced, exemplary prison guard. But a dangerous spiral is set into motion when she transfers to a Corsican jail, where she accepts help and protection from inmate Saveriu to get her bearings. Upon his release, he contacts Melissa expecting to collect.



Shepherd
Shepherd(2021)
5.483

When a deadly secret rots the mind of a grieving widower, the decision to work alone on a deserted island morphs into a terrifying race to save his sanity and his life.



Labyrinth of Lies
7.2

A young prosecutor in postwar West Germany investigates a massive conspiracy to cover up the Nazi pasts of prominent public figures.



The Shepherd: Border Patrol

A Texas cop battles ex-navy seals who are trying to traffic drugs from Mexico into the USA.



The Fear of 13
7.457

After 23 years on Death Row a convicted murderer petitions the court asking to be executed, but as his story unfolds, it becomes clear that nothing is what it seems.



The Collini Case
7.38

A young lawyer stumbles upon a vast conspiracy while investigating a brutal murder case.



Nightwatch
6

A law student takes a job as a night watchman at a morgue and begins to discover clues that implicate him as the suspect in a series of murders.



The Verdict
6.8

When his wife's murderer is released due to a procedural error, Luc will do everything in his power to stop it from happening... He is going to take justice into his own hands and will then compete with the constitutional state which let him down.



Decalogue V
7.9

Jacek, an angry drifter, murders a taxi driver, brutally and without motive. His case is assigned to Piotr, an idealistic young lawyer who is morally opposed to the death penalty, and their interactions take on an emotional honesty that throws into stark relief for Piotr the injustice of killing of any kind.



Accused
Accused(2014)
6.8

An assistant prosecutor zealously pursues a conviction in the case of a pediatric nurse accused of murdering her patients, but doubt arises when her evidence shows that the infants may have died of natural causes.



Killer of Sheep
6.5

An African-American man working at a slaughterhouse in the Watts area of Los Angeles leads a dissatisfied and listless existence.



Cape Fear
Cape Fear(1991)
7.249

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.



Jigsaw
Jigsaw(2017)
6.216

Law enforcement finds itself chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade, embroiled in a diabolical new game that's only just begun.



Dog Pound
Dog Pound(2010)
7.2

Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.



The Lazarus Project

After Ben Garvey foolishly turned back to crime, he thought his life was over when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. But his death sentence isn't quite what it seems, as Ben regains consciousness near an eerie psychiatric ward, where he's told he's been hired as the groundskeeper. With the state of his soul in question, and the love for his wife and daughter all the more real and powerful, Ben must figure out if he's truly cheated death, or if he's become part of something far more sinister.



The Confession
5.719

After his young son dies from the negligence at a hospital, Harry Fertig takes matters into his own hands and kills the doctor, nurse and clerk responsible. Slick lawyer Roy Bleakie, looking only to win a case and not caring of the matters involved, is asked by Fertig's boss to defend him. Shocked to hear that his client wants to plead guilty, the case causes Bleakie to question his own morals by defending an honorable man.



Bullhead
Bullhead(2011)
7.1

A young cattle farmer is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious beef trader.



Witness for the Prosecution

An ailing barrister agrees to defend a man in a sensational murder trial where the unconvincing testimony of the defendant's wife becomes a subject of confusion.



Saw
Saw(2004)
7.4

Two men wake up to find themselves shackled in a grimy, abandoned bathroom. As they struggle to comprehend their predicament, they discover a disturbing tape left behind by the sadistic mastermind known as Jigsaw. With a chilling voice and cryptic instructions, Jigsaw informs them that they must partake in a gruesome game in order to secure their freedom.



Caged
Caged(2021)
6.3

An African American male is imprisoned and placed in solitary confinement after being found guilty of murdering his wife, as he's haunted by internal demons and his dead wife, and pushed to the breaking point by an abusive female guard.



Saw
Saw(2003)
7

David, an orderly at a hospital, tells his horrific story of being kidnapped and forced to play a vile game of survival.



Philadelphia
7.7

Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.



Judgment at Nuremberg
8.021

In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.



In Hell
In Hell(2003)
6.588

A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the warden's entertainment.



Stoic
Stoic(2009)
5.2

A heated game of poker causes three men incarcerated for nonviolent offenses to brutalize their cellmate before taking drastic measures in order to cover up their crime.



The Lincoln Lawyer
7.2

Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite a surprise when he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what Mick initially thinks is an open-and-shut case with a big monetary reward develops into something more sinister.



Sacco & Vanzetti
7.609

Boston, 1920. Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are charged and unfairly tried for murder on the basis of their anarchist political beliefs.



Guilty
Guilty(2011)
7.17

Investigates the corrupt judicial system under which Alain Mar'caux and his wife Edith were arrested on accusations of pedophilia horrific acts they never committed- and the years he spent fighting to get out of prison, clear his name and keep his family.



The Attorney
7.8

Song Woo-seok is a lawyer with no clients. When his friend's son is falsely accused of a crime and tortured, he takes up the case and the course of his life changes for good.



Just Cause
6.2

A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.



7 Prisoners
7.1

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.



The Client
6.9

Kang Seong-hee, a famous lawyer, takes up a case wherein he has to defend a man who is the main suspect in his wife's death. However, a formidable public attorney tries to test his mettle in court.



The Verdict
7.4

Frank Galvin is a down-on-his-luck lawyer and reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing, when a former associate reminds him of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit by serving it to Galvin on a silver platter—all parties are willing to settle out of court. Blundering his way through the preliminaries, Galvin suddenly realizes that the case should actually go to court—to punish the guilty, to get a decent settlement for his clients... and to restore his standing as a lawyer.



For Queen & Country

A retired British soldier struggles to adjust to everyday life, with increasing difficulty.



Caged
Caged(1950)
7.111

A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.



All Day and a Night
6.218

While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.



The Trials of Cate McCall

In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.



Levity
Levity(2003)
6.1

Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the newly paroled man seeks redemption. Instead, redemption—in the form of a mysterious minister and two needy women— finds him.



Sons
Sons(2024)
6.785

Eva, an idealistic prison officer, is faced with the dilemma of her life when a young man from her past gets transferred to the prison where she works. Without revealing her secret, Eva asks to be moved to the young man’s ward – the toughest and most violent in the prison. Here begins an unsettling psychological thriller, where Eva’s sense of justice puts both her morality and future at stake.



The Hunt
The Hunt(2012)
8.095

A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.



Scum
Scum(1979)
7.1

Powerful, uncompromising drama about two boys' struggle for survival in the nightmare world of Britain's notorious Borstal Reformatory.



Jagged Edge
6.3

After a wealthy heiress is murdered in her beach house, her devastated husband becomes the prime suspect. He hires a lawyer who hasn’t taken a criminal case in years, and as they work together, a complicated romance develops amidst the trial.



Sleepers
Sleepers(1996)
7.601

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.



The Whole Truth
6.5

A defense attorney works to get his teenage client acquitted of murdering his wealthy father.



The Butcher Boy
6.8

Francie and Joe live the usual playful, fantasy filled childhoods of normal boys. However, with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother the pressure on Francie to grow up are immense. When Francie's world turns to madness, he tries to counter it with further insanity, with dire consequences.



Barbed Wire Dolls
4.6

Maria, an unfortunate young woman, kills her rapist father in self-defense, and is later tried, sentenced, and shipped off to a woman's penitentiary where she and her fellow inmates are subjected to psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of a psychotic lesbian warden.



Saw IV
Saw IV(2007)
6.166

Despite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.



Hypersleep
6

The old and overcrowded penitentiaries are just a memory. Inmates now serve their sentence in a state of deep sleep that renders them harmless, and has drastically reduced recidivism. Until one day, a psychologist in charge of monitoring the mental state of inmates finds himself confronted with a prisoner over whom he's lost all control.



In the Fade
6.901

Katja's life collapses after the deaths of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge.



A Horrible Way to Die

An escaped murderer is in pursuit of his ex-girlfriend, who has fled to start a new life in a small town.



Music Box
Music Box(1989)
7.1

A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.



Easy Money: Hard to Kill

JW is serving hard time in prison and struggling to get back on an honest path. There are glimmers of hope in his life – some venture capitalists are interested in a new piece of trading software he's developed, and while behind bars he's made peace with an old enemy. This all proves to be an illusion. On leave from prison, and back in contact with his former gang, JW learns that once you've walked in the shoes of a criminal there just may be no going back.



Michael Clayton
6.8

A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multi-billion dollar class action suit.

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