The Very Best Movies About Life in the Ghetto
The best ghetto movies explore life in urban communities. This list includes Black ghetto movies, hood movies, and ghetto comedies. Characters that live in the ghetto are often depicted as impoverished, engaged in or concerned about gang activity, and mixed up in drugs and other bad behaviors. While some want to escape the lives the were born into, others want to stick around and rule their neighborhoods. Ghetto films began appearing in the late '80s and early '90s with one of the most widely known examples being Menace II Society and Boyz in the Hood. These movies focus on African American characters who were born and raised in the "ghetto." Other movies like Baby Boy, Training Day, and City of God tackle life in the ghetto from other perspectives. There are also white ghetto film like 8 Mile. All-in-all this a bigger list than just the top 10 ghetto movies.
What are the best ghetto movies? What are some example of hood films? Ghetto films deal with the urban culture of minorities, and frequently with the plight of growing up in that type of environment. Use this ghetto movie list as a starting off point to vote on what you think are the best films in the genre and to find new movies that you'd enjoy watching.
- 1
- Actors: Tyrin Turner, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vonte Sweet, Larenz Tate, MC Eight
- Directed by: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
After growing up in the gang lifestyle of the Los Angeles projects, 18-year-old Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) wants a way out. Everyone around him, including his unpredictable friend O-Dog (Larenz ...moreAvailable On:
- 21991
- Actors: Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut
- Directed by: John Singleton
Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is sent to live with his father, Furious Styles (Larry Fishburne), in tough South Central Los Angeles. Although his hard-nosed father instills proper values and respect in him, ...more - 31992
- Actors: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Cindy Herron Braggs
- Directed by: Ernest R. Dickerson
Four Harlem friends -- Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Q (Omar Epps), Steel (Jermaine Hopkins) and Raheem (Khalil Kain) -- dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. ...more - 41995
- Actors: Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Tommy "Tiny" Lister, John Witherspoon
- Directed by: F. Gary Gray
It's Friday and Craig Jones (Ice Cube) has just gotten fired for stealing cardboard boxes. To make matters worse, rent is due, he hates his overbearing girlfriend, Joi (Paula Jai Parker), and his ...more - 52002
- Actors: Wood Harris, Mekhi Phifer, Kevin Carroll, Esai Morales, Chi McBride
- Directed by: Charles Stone
In the late 1980s, Ace (Wood Harris) is a young man employed by a Harlem dry cleaning shop, working hard to stay out of the drug business. While making deliveries, he meets Lulu (Esai Morales), a ...more - 61993
- Actors: Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Regina King, Joe Torry, Maya Angelou
- Directed by: John Singleton
Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice (Janet Jackson) writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to attend a convention because of her ...more
