Shawshank Redemption Poster Plot-Hole Explained & The Real Solution

Nothing is more infuriating (within the realms of analyzing movies, at least) than when a nagging plot-hole ruins an otherwise flawless movie but, fortunately, this isn’t the case with The Shawshank Redemption. Based on the Stephen King story Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont adapted this under-the-radar novella into an even more under-the-radar movie that fell flat at the box office. Thankfully, The Shawshank Redemption did attract critical acclaim and award nominations and has since become a bona fide classic thanks to rentals, VHS and cable TV airings. In 2020, The Shawshank Redemption is widely considered one of the best stories ever put to film.

Starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, Andy Dufresne (Robbins) is wrongly sent to jail for murdering his cheating wife and her illicit lover. A professional man thrust into a world of criminals and violence, Dufresne befriends jail yard lifer Red (Freeman) and uses his economic nous to make prison at least somewhat bearable, despite facing the corruption and unsavory types one would expect to find behind bars. The Shawshank Redemption‘s greatest trick is luring the audience into thinking Dufresne’s story is about a man accepting his unjust punishment when it’s actually a tale about quiet resistance and unwavering determination.

The Shawshank Redemption has been praised for its performances, script, cinematography, and direction, so it’s incredibly annoying when someone points out a minor plot-hole that subsequently becomes one of those glaring, impossible to un-see goofs. But even though The Shawshank Redemption‘s long-debated error has gained plenty of attention, the solution is right there on the screen, proving that Frank Darabont is still outsmarting viewers some 26 years later. Here’s why The Shawshank Redemption‘s plot-hole about a hole isn’t a plot-hole at all.

The Shawshank Redemption’s Plot-Hole Explained

After earning some degree of pull with prison officials, Andy Dufresne is permitted a poster of Raquel Welch for his cell and some small tools to carve sculptures from prison yard stones. The Shawshank Redemption‘s big twist reveals that over a span of many years, Dufresne secretly used this minute rock hammer to tunnel an escape route from his cell to the sewer system. The huge poster of Raquel Welch from One Million Years B.C. is used to cover the increasingly deep hole in Andy’s cell, keeping the banker’s escape plan a secret for an impressive total of 19 years. The reveal is made when Shawshank’s warden investigates Dufresne’s empty lodgings and starts throwing rocks in anger. One projectile hits Ms. Welch and tears straight through, revealing the cavernous tunnel behind it. A classic, timeless movie moment of the highest order… but how on Earth did Andy Dufresne reattach the poster from inside the tunnel?

Every night for 19 years, Dufresne would’ve removed the poster, hammered away at his tunnel, returned into his cell, and then fixed Welch back to the wall once again. But the fateful night of his actual escape, Andy climbs into the hole and, with all the determination in the world, couldn’t have physically re-fixed his poster to the wall from within the cavity. In real life, Andy surely would’ve been forced to leave his escape route exposed, with the poster discarded on the cell floor. Obviously, this wouldn’t be anywhere near as dramatic as Norton hurling the rock, and some have accused The Shawshank Redemption of prioritizing dramatic impact over storytelling logic.

Why Fans Obsess About Andy Dufresne’s Poster

Whatever your opinions on The Big Bang Theory, the sitcom does offer a few pearls of wisdom on movie culture, and one episode sees Jim Parsons’ Sheldon learn about a glaring plot-hole in Raiders of the Lost Ark. For the remainder of the episode, Sheldon desperately tries to prove that his beloved Indiana Jones movie is perfect, but he simply can’t ignore the film’s fatal flaw. This is exactly why the positioning of Andy Dufresne’s poster is such a hot topic of debate among The Shawshank Redemption fans. As the extraordinary prison tale became more renowned in the late 1990s and early 2000s, critics began to hail The Shawshank Redemption as a perfect movie with no weak links. The fact that such a well-rounded and intelligently constructed movie with exemplary foreshadowing and one of the greatest movie twists of all time could be undone by a simple lapse of logic is incredibly annoying. Like Tiger Woods losing the U.S. open because he forgot which end of the club to hit with.

Andy Dufresne’s escape from Shawshank is improbable by its very nature – that’s what makes The Shawshank Redemption‘s ending so uplifting. How didn’t anyone hear Andy digging? How did the tunnel manage to avoid pipes and other obstacles? Did none of the guards notice a draft emanating from Raquel Welch? However, these queries have plausible (albeit unspoken) explanations, ensuring Andy Dufresne’s jailbreak remains at least somewhat realistic. But attaching the poster back to the wall from inside the hole appears to have no implicit explanation, unraveling all of the hard work behind The Shawshank Redemption‘s ending.

Andy’s Other Posters Offered A Huge Clue

Anyone still rankled by Andy Dufresne’s logic-defying poster can rest easy – The Shawshank Redemption provides a suitably plausible explanation for how Raquel Welch found her way back onto Andy’s cell wall following the banker’s dramatic departure. In order to avert suspicion from the iconic actress and the massive hole she was hiding, Andy requests an assortment of other posters to decorate his cell, including Einstein poking out his tongue, Marilyn Monroe, and, as per Stephen King’s original book, Rita Hayworth. Crucially, at least some of these posters are affixed by their top corners only, with the bottom two hanging freely. This is a prison, after all, and as privileged as Andy might’ve been within Shawshank, sticky tape was undoubtedly hard to come by. It makes sense that the cell posters would only be attached at the top, and knowing that Andy didn’t necessarily tape his pin-ups at all four corners gives a potential explanation for the Raquel Welch plot-hole.

How Andy Refastened The Poster After He Escaped

Essentially, he didn’t. When the red mist descends and Norton begins his tirade towards Red in Andy Dufresne’s empty cell, the camera gives only a brief shot of the Raquel Welch poster. In this moment, it’s clear that the image is only taped to the wall on its right-hand side, whereas the left is hanging loose like Andy’s other posters. This means Andy could’ve slipped into the tunnel through the open corner without removing any of the three corners attached to the wall. The poster is clearly big enough to allow it. Once Andy was safely behind Raquel, the poster would then flap back down, covering his exit route and buying more time before the guards began their search. Andy might’ve removed the poster entirely while he was hammering away at his tunnel over the years, but during the escape itself, it seems he just lifted the single unfixed corner. Meanwhile, the 3 taped sides would’ve created enough tension for the poster to rip when Norton launched a rock at it.

This scenario is still fairly improbable. How did a grown man squeeze behind the poster without damaging it, and would the poster really just flop back down into position? But as with every other unanswered question about Andy’s escape, the audience can at least imagine their own potential answers, and unlike reattaching the poster from inside, possible explanations do exist. The escape of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption remains incredibly far-fetched, but as long as the breakout sits within the realm of reality, the movie’s ending works. Andy didn’t re-tape the poster back to the wall after climbing into his hand-made tunnel, meaning The Shawshank Redemption can go back to being considered a flawless cinematic masterpiece.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3623 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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