I am confused about 2 things in the movie .
1. How did Andy knew about the prison's building material before he got the hammer ? In the movie he only find outs that the walls were made of weak material only when he got the material and started scratching his name . Until that moment ,he didn't knew the material behind the wall . So ,why did he even asked for that hammer in the first place OR had he made up his mind to escape the prison before even getting there?
2. How did he managed to put that poster back there after he escaped ? Although the poster was hung from the top part only ( I think ) ,how did he phased through that wall with clothes tied to his leg and how did the poster stayed perfectly sticked to the wall ?
i don't know if its the right place to ask this or not . remove if not so.
and thanks if anyone answers this !
1. He didn’t want the hammer to try and escape out of the prison, he asked for the hammer because he wanted to use it to help shape rocks into chess pieces. It’s only when he decided to carve his name into the wall did he realise the wall was made of more malleable material.
2. I always assumed from scenes where you see him chiselling away that he’d pinned the poster via the top two corners so he could easily lift away the poster from the wall but leave it hanging on there. It’s a bit of a plot hole that the poster is perfectly affixed to the wall after he’s escaped, so a bit of suspension of disbelief required on that one - I just take it the same way, he’s got the poster hanging on by just the top two corners so it falls back into place once he’s climbed through. It doesn’t necessarily react like that (when the warden breaks it and rips it off it kinda looks like all four corners are fixed) but it is what it is.
1
SoulMaekarMar 26, 2026
+1
They say in the movie. He uses a rock hammer to help break down the rocks into somewhat similar shapes as chess pieces before using a rock blanket to finish the job.
1
Ala-PetersonMar 26, 2026
+1
People keep spay "plot hole" but I don't think they know what it means
1
UnbuiltIkeaBookcaseMar 26, 2026
+1
Or know what “keep spay” means either! 🙃
1
mjmilianMar 26, 2026
+1
1. I think he really wanted the rock hammer to do rock modelling.
2. If the poster was hung from the top, he could easily lift it up, crawl in and it would fall down covering the hole
1
Few-Chemical-5165Mar 26, 2026
+1
In the book which you obviously lose when you film a movie but he did some research in the library got the plans for the prison and figured it out.
1
ashbyashbyashbyMar 26, 2026
+1
It was a novella made into a full length movie, so surely we didnt miss too much detail?
Also, keeping a prison's plans available to prisoners seems dumb even in a work of fiction!
1
RyzenRaiderMar 26, 2026
+1
He wanted the rock hammer for a hobby of polishing rocks, and then later realized it could dig through the wall. He hadn't intended to escape until he realized that opportunity.
I don't think it's hard for him to get behind the poster. Lift up the bottom, get underneath it, push the bag of clothes in, then crawl in. As he enters the tunnel, the poster drops back into its normal position. Am I missing some physics here? Given the depth of the tunnel, Andy certainly would have worked out an efficient way to get into the tunnel to dig each night.
1
Remarkable-Onion-384Mar 26, 2026
+1
I think he always wanted to escape
1
DigiMagicMar 26, 2026
+1
Not discovering his escape route could have given him minutes or hours, so it made sense that he would try to keep it secret for as long as possible. He could have kept the poster attached only on top while he dug, but the final night, covered the back side in egg whites or something else sticky.
The hammer is a tool used by geologists to dig and split open rocks, Andy initially wanted it just for that, to pass time.
1
JakescardzMar 26, 2026
+1
Oh you noticed the most talked about plot hole of all time? It’s a movie not a documentary… who cares.
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