The Departed currently dominates The Shawshank Redemption 83–17
The Departed dismantles cinema's most beloved film. The bracket doesn't care about reputation.
The Verdict Decade Duel
Shawshank is routinely cited as people's all-time favorite film, the one they'd take to a desert island, the one they stop on when it's playing on cable at midnight. And it still gets dominated here. Scorsese's film moves at a pace that makes Darabont's patience feel like a liability — Nicholson monologuing over a body, DiCaprio's hands shaking in the bar, the elevator scene arriving before you've processed the last betrayal. The gap between a film people love when asked and a film people pick when forced to choose is real, and The Departed lives in that gap. It doesn't wait for affection. It takes the vote before you've finished thinking.
The Numbers
| The Shawshank Redemption | The Departed | |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-Head | 17% | 83% |
| Overall Win Rate | 55% | 60% |
| Championships | 11 | 39 |
| Avg Decision | 0.8s | 1.0s |
| Budget | $25M | $90M |
| Box Office | $28M | $291M |
Where This Matchup Sits
BingeBracket tracks 88 Drama films — The Shawshank Redemption is in the top quarter, The Departed is in the top quarter.
Looking at shared opponents, Pulp Fiction stands above both of them on the platform. For all their differences, neither film can get past it.
The Departed with 39 titles and The Shawshank Redemption with 11 — the tournament record and the head-to-head point the same direction.
The Departed has the lower TMDB score (8.2 vs 8.7), but voters here keep picking it. There's a difference between a film people respect and a film people reach for.
Where to Watch
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