The Shawshank Redemption · written by Frank Darabont · 1994

Red and the men begin building a memorial library in Brooks’s honor.

Scene 99 of 249 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 56 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 99

After a banker is wrongly imprisoned for murder, he uses patience, expertise, and friendship to survive Shawshank and build a path to freedom.

Scenes 1–8
Andy’s former life and conviction frame a banker whose apparent control has vanished.
Scenes 9–10
Inside prison, Andy needs a way to survive without surrendering the inner self he is trying to protect.
Scenes 11–30
Andy enters Shawshank and confronts its violence, hierarchy, and rules.
Scene 31
Andy and Red begin the friendship that will carry the film’s argument about hope and connection.
Scene 51
Andy tells Red that prisoners retain an inner life and hope, though Red warns hope can be dangerous.
Just before
Scene 96
Dressed to leave, Brooks prepares to mail his letter and carry out his plan.
Scene 97
Andy reads Brooks’s letter; Red grieves that Brooks could not adapt outside.
Scene 98
Andy notices ants above the library shelves and calls Red to look.
Scene 99
This scene

99INT -- WOOD SHOP -- DAY (1954)

Red is making something at his bench, sanding and planing.

RED (V.O.)

It never would have occurred to us,

if not for Andy. It was his idea.

We all agreed it was the right

thing to do...