Hood Movies: Top 50+ Urban Hood Movies

1

Blindspotting

Collin (Daveed Diggs), a convicted felon, is struggling to finish the last three days of his probation. Collin, along with his short-tempered best friend Miles (Rafael Casal), works for a moving company located in Oakland, a city in the Bay Area.…

2

Bullet Boy

Upon being released from prison, Ricky (Ashley Walters) is collected by Wisdom, an eccentric and naive friend who is desperate to establish himself within their neighbourhood. Immediately after arriving back, Wisdom accidentally breaks a wing mirror…

3

Hot Boyz

The movie starts with Kool jumping out of a two-story window running towards his red Chevrolet Corvette only to be given chase by the Los Angeles Police Department. He seems to have escaped pursuit until they tail him again and the…

4

Moonlight

In Liberty City, Miami, Cuban drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali) finds Chiron (Alex Hibbert), a withdrawn child who goes by the nickname “Little”, hiding from a pack of bullies in a crackhouse. Juan allows…

5

42nd Street

It is 1932, the depth of the Depression, and noted Broadway producers Jones (Robert McWade) and Barry (Ned Sparks) are putting on Pretty Lady, a musical starring Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels). She is involved with wealthy Abner Dillon (Guy…

6

Neds

Neds follows the story of John McGill, a young boy growing up in 1970s Glasgow. While a brilliant student who excels in his studies at school, his studious nature causes conflicts with his working-class family and the wider, gang-riddled…

7

Chi-Raq

In Chicago’s Southside, a war rages between two rival gangs: the Spartans, led by rapper/gang leader Demetrius nicknamed “Chi-Raq”, and the Trojans, led by gang lord Cyclops. Demetrius’s lover, Lysistrata, grows disillusioned…

8

Car Wash

Originally conceived as a musical, Car Wash deals with the exploits of a close-knit, multiracial group of employees at a Los Angelescar wash. In an episodic fashion, the film is set over a single day on a Friday in the month of July,…

9

1 Day

Flash (Dylan Duffus) receives a phone call from Angel (Yohance Watson) announcing that he’s being released early from prison and wants the £500,000 he’s left Flash for safekeeping. Flash is £100,000 short of the full amount and is…

10

Band of the Hand

The story involves a group of five juvenile delinquents in their teens who are doomed to be prosecuted as adults for their crimes unless they take part in a new and experimental “program” led by a Vietnam veteran Native…

11

The Wood

Roland (Taye Diggs) is getting married (and is currently missing) and Slim (Richard T. Jones), who scoffs at the idea of marriage, is furious at Roland for disappearing. The story reminisces back to Mike’s (Omar Epps, portrayed as a youth…

12

One Eight Seven

Trevor Garfield (Samuel L. Jackson) is an African American high school science teacher at Roosevelt Whitney High School, a high school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Dennis Broadway (Method Man),…

13

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

A young African American orphan (Mario Van Peebles) is taken in by the proprietor of a Los Angeles brothel in the 1940s. While working there as a towel boy, he is raped by one of the prostitutes at a young age. The women name him…

14

The Job

A hit woman is contracted to perform one final job before she leaves her life of cold-blooded killing behind forever. She is now faced with the challenge of dealing with carrying out the contract she accepted and her own moral values.

15

Zoot Suit

In Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez weaves a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial — when a group of young Mexican-Americans were charged with murder — resulting in the racially fueled Zoot Suit…

16

Back in the Day

Reggie Cooper (Ja Rule) is a young man who lives with his father (Giancarlo Esposito) in order to avoid the violent gang activity that almost claimed his life when he was a teenager. However, when his recently paroled mentor, J-Bone (Ving Rhames)…

17

Bully

Ali Willis and Lisa Connelly are friends with Bobby Kent and Marty Puccio. They all go out on a double date. While in a parked car, Ali performs oral sex on Bobby, while Lisa and Marty have sex in the back seat. Lisa later learns…

18

Fighting

Present day New York City: Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum) is a street hustler. One day while selling counterfeit goods at the corner of Radio City Music Hall, a group of young men attempt to force Shawn to relocate with his merchandise.…

19

My Family

In 1999, Fred Barron was considering producing a British sitcom the same way sitcoms were produced in the U.S. My Family was to feature a group of writers rather than the standard one or two, something that had been attempted in the UK…

20

Dirty

Officer Armando Sancho (Clifton Collins, Jr.) is a former Mal Creado (“badly created”) gang member who is forced to choose between his conscience and his loyalty. Recruited into an undercover, anti-gang unit of the LAPD, Sancho brings…

21

Setup

In Detroit three friends, Sonny (50 Cent), Dave (Brett Granstaff) and Vincent (Ryan Phillippe), plan out a detailed heist. Their plans turn deadly when Vincent betrays the others, shooting Sonny and Dave (who dies on the spot). Sonny manages to…

22

Kidulthood

The setting of the film takes place in an area of West London, in 2002. At a local school, student Katie is seen to suffer intense physical and emotional bullying by a group of girls, as well as by Sam Peel (Noel Clarke). When her…

23

Straight Out of Brooklyn

Dennis, living in a Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn, New York has had enough of poverty, and witnessing his alcoholic father beat his mother. His father is depressed and troubled from working hard for “the white man” for so many…

24

Strapped

Diquan Mitchell, a young ex-con, played by Woodbine, attempts to turn his life around and start legitimate work. However, his girlfriend gets in legal trouble and the police force him into a complicated undercover operation that involves selling…

25

Boulevard Nights

Boulevard Nights is a 1979 film directed by Michael Pressman. It is about life in East Los Angeles and its street gangs. It concerns two brothers, Raymond (Richard Yniguez) and Chuco (Danny De La Paz). Raymond is ‘straight’…

26

Streets Is Watching

Streets Is Watching is a musical film in which Jay-Z compiles many of his unreleased music videos into a continuous film. The film takes place in Jay-Z’s old neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The film uses music from…

27

Gladiator

Tommy Riley and his father have just moved to start a new life. Tommy’s father has accumulated many gambling debts but has found a new job that requires him to travel extensively, leaving his son alone at home. Tommy also has a hard time…

28

Mi Vida Loca

Mi Vida Loca tells the story of young Mexican-American women in Los Angeles and the struggles they have in a life of poverty and early motherhood while being members of an infamous street gang. Mousie (Seidy López) and Sad…

29

Bones

In 1979, Jimmy Bones (Snoop Dogg) is a numbers runner who is respected and loved in his neighborhood as its respected member and protector. He is betrayed and brutally murdered by corrupt cop Lupovich (Michael T. Weiss) and drug pusher Eddie Mack…

30

Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.

Chantel Mitchell (Ariyan A. Johnson) is an African-American, 17-year-old high school junior who lives in Brooklyn, New York. Chantel is very smart, although her sharp tongue, abundant ego, and occasional naivete undermine her efforts.…

31

Never Die Alone

Hardened criminal and drug dealer King David (DMX) returns to his unidentified East Coast city, where he can find redemption by settling an old score with drug lord Moon (Clifton Powell). He keeps tape-recorded journals about his life and…

32

Bullet

Butch “Bullet” Stein (Mickey Rourke) is a 35-year-old Jewish ex-convict and junkie, who is released from prison after serving an 8-year sentence for being an accomplice to a robbery, perpetrated by his…

33

Beat Street

Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to various elements of early hip hop culture. Kenny Kirkland (Guy Davis) is a budding disc jockey and Master of…

34

Fruitvale Station

The film depicts the story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old from Hayward, California, and his experiences on the last day of his life, before he was fatally shot by BART Police in the early morning hours of New Year’s…

35

Next Day Air

Leo works for Next Day Air (NDA), a package delivery company, but is going to get fired for any more mistakes. While delivering a package addressed to Jesus in apartment 303, Leo accidentally delivers it to apartment 302. Before Leo can…

36

The Mack

After returning home from a five-year prison sentence, John “Goldie” Mickens, has a plan to achieve money and power in Oakland, California by becoming a pimp. Goldie’s criminal ways juxtapose his brother Olinga’s Black Nationalist…

37

Cooley High

In 1964 on Chicago’s Near-North Side, Preach – an aspiring playwright – and Cochise – an all-city basketball champion – are best friends who are both celebrating the final weeks of their senior year with their…

38

State Property 2

State Property 2 is a 2005 American crime film directed by Damon Dash and produced and distributed by Lionsgate Entertainment. A sequel to 2002’s State Property, the film stars rap artists…

39

Snow on tha Bluff

Three college students drive to the new Bluff, an Atlanta neighborhood, intending to buy some drugs from a dealer. Clearly naive, they joke about flirting in hopes of getting free drugs, and reassure one another that they have nothing to fear. One…

40

Crooklyn

In 1973, nine-year-old Troy Carmichael and her brothers Clinton, Wendell, Nate, and Joseph live in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The children live with their parents, Woody, a struggling musician, and Carolyn, a schoolteacher. The…

41

Dope

Malcolm Adekanbi and his best friends, Jib and Diggy, are high school “geeks” living in “The Bottoms,” a crime-frequent neighborhood in Inglewood, California. Malcolm is confident he will be admitted to his dream…

42

Blood In, Blood Out

Miklo is a man of Mexican and White American ethnicity who grew up in El Pico Aliso barrio in east Los Angeles. Upon moving back home from Las Vegas, Nevada, Miklo goes to stay with his two cousins Paco and Cruz. Miklo tells Cruz that…

43

3 Strikes

Robert Douglas (Brian Hooks) is in prison for one of two felonies he has previously committed. While in prison, he watches to a local news report that states California has instituted the habitual offenders law, commonly referred to as the…

44

City of God

The film begins with a scene of chickens being prepared for a meal. A chicken escapes and an armed gang chases after it in a favelacalled the Cidade de Deus (“City of God”). The chicken stops between the gang and a young…

45

Clockers

In a Brooklyn, New York, New York City, New York housing project, a group of clockers — street-level drug dealers — sell drugs for Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo), a local drug lord. Rodney tells Ronald “Strike”…

46

Freedom Writers

In 1994, in Long Beach, California, Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) has been accepted to teach English for at-risk students at Woodrow Wilson High School, a once highly acclaimed school, but where racial tensions have increased since the Los…

47

Blue Hill Avenue

Four friends—Tristan (the leader), Simon (the right-hand man), E-Bone (the hot head) and Money (the mediator)—are street smart kids growing up in the tough Roxbury section of Boston in the 1980s. Starting out as small-time dope dealers on Blue…

48

Tales from the Hood

Tales from the Hood is a 1995 horrordramaanthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff and executive-produced by Spike Lee. The film presents four short urban-themed horror stories based on problem concepts that…

49

American Me

The film depicts 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles. It focuses on Montoya Santana, a teen who, with his friends, J.D. (William Forsythe) and Mundo (Pepe Serna), form their own gang. They soon find themselves committing…

50

Gridiron Gang

Sean Porter (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) works at Kilpatrick Detention Center in Los Angeles. He becomes frustrated at not being able to help the kids get away from their problems in life when they are released from the…

51

Love & Basketball

Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) have wanted to be professional basketball stars since they were kids. Monica wanted to play for the Los Angeles Lakers and wear Magic Johnson’s number: 32. Quincy…

52

Shottas

The film tells the story of two young men, Biggs (Errol) (Ky-Mani Marley) and Wayne (Spragga Benz), who grow up together in the tough and dangerous streets of (Waterhouse) Kingston. They rob a soda truck and shoot the truck driver while they…

53

New Jersey Drive

New Jersey Drive is a 1995 crime drama film about joy riding black teenagers in 1990s Newark, New Jersey, then known as the “car theft capital of the world”. The film was written and directed…

54

State Property

Frustrated with being broke, Beans (Sigel) decides that the only way to grasp the American Dream is to take it. The film follows Beans and his crew, the ABM, as they take over the city, creating mayhem as their empire builds. Beans now struggles to…

55

Sugar Hill

Through the course of the film, several flashbacks are shown involving the Skuggs brothers, including (in the beginning of the film) the drug-overdose death of their mother Ella (Khandi Alexander), the non-fatal shooting of their drug-addicted…

56

How High

Two underachieving pot smokers, Silas (Method Man) and Jamal (Redman) are visited by the ghost of Silas’s recent deceased friend Ivory (Chuck Deezy). Ivory was cremated and Silas used his ashes as fertilizer for a new batch…

57

Next Friday

After Craig Jones (Ice Cube)’ successful fight against the neighborhood bully Deebo (Tommy Lister Jr.) in the previous film, rumors spread that Deebo will be breaking out of jail soon and will be looking to enact revenge on Craig. As a result,…

58

Waist Deep

Ex-con Otis Samuel Sr. or “O2” on account of his ability to vanish from a crime scene like oxygen, has done his time and is determined to stay out of trouble and never leave his young son, Otis, Jr. When O2 shows up late to pick Junior…

59

He Got Game

Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen), the top high school basketball player in the United States, is being pursued by the top college basketball programs in the nation. His father, Jake, is a convicted felon serving time at Attica Correctional…

60

Do the Right Thing

Mookie (Spike Lee) is a 25-year-old delivery man living in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with his sister Jade (Joie Lee). He and his girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez) have a toddler son named Hector (Travell Toulson). He works at the local…

61

Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album by American hip hop group N.W.A, released August 8, 1988, on group member Eazy-E‘s record label Ruthless Records. Production for the album was handled by Dr.…

62

Jason’s Lyric

Jason (Allen Payne) is a responsible young man who has a job in a television repair shop and lives at home with his hard-working mom (Suzzanne Douglas). Joshua (Bokeem Woodbine) is the younger brother, who is just released from prison. Previously…

63

Friday After Next

The movie begins when a robber (Rickey Smiley), disguised as Santa Claus, breaks into Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day’s (Mike Epps) house at 3:37 AM on Christmas Eve. Craig fights with the robber, trashing their apartment while making…

64

Fresh

12-year-old Michael a.k.a. “Fresh” stops at a latina woman’s apartment to pick up dime bags of heroin before he goes to school. Fresh notices that she has given him the wrong amount, trying to swindle him out of his delivery. Fresh…

65

Coach Carter

In 1999, Ken Carter takes over the head coaching job for the basketball team at his former high school Richmond, having played on the team himself and earning records. Carter quickly sees that the athletes are rude and disrespectful, and are in…

66

Colors

Two white cops, Bob “Uncle Bob” Hodges, a respected 19-year LAPD officer and Vietnam veteran, and rookie officer Danny “Pac Man” McGavin have just been teamed together in the C.R.A.S.H. unit that patrols East…

67

ATL

Rashad is a teen living in Atlanta, Georgia with his Uncle George, and his little brother, Ant. He and his brother were raised by George since their parents died in a car accident, and they work with him as part of his custodial company.…

68

South Central

Bobby Johnson is a young black gang member of Hoover Street Deuces, or simply “Deuce”. He gets paroled from the Youth Authority and he meets up with his best friend/fellow gang member Ray Ray, Loco and Bear. As it turns out,…

69

In Too Deep

Jeffrey Cole (Epps) is a recent graduate of the Cincinnati police academy who dreams of working undercover. Cole manages to get an undercover assignment the day of graduation and earns the praise of his superiors. Good at earning the trust of…

70

Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

Ashtray, Tray for short, is sent to the inner city to live with his father. Tray gets an education about life on the streets from his psychotic, gun-toting cousin Loc Dog, Preach, and Crazy Legs. At a picnic Tray falls for the infamous Dashiki much…

71

Get Rich or Die Tryin’

Prior to the release of his mix-tape, 50 Cent was shot 9 times in Queens, New York in 2000. He managed to survive, but was dropped from his label, Columbia, and remained unsigned and in need of producing new music. In 2002, Eminem listened…

72

American Gangster

In 1968, Frank Lucas is the right-hand man of Harlem gangster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson. When Johnson dies of a heart attack, Lucas takes control of the Harlem crime scene. After handing in almost $1 million that…

73

Hustle & Flow

DJay (Terrence Howard) is a pimp and drug dealer who is dissatisfied with his life. After acquiring a keyboard and reacquainting himself with an old friend from school, Key (Anthony Anderson), who has become a sound technician,…

74

Four Brothers

The seemingly random murder of their adoptive mother, Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan), at a Highland Park, Michiganconvenience store, brings four brothers back home to Detroit, Michigan to find out what happened.…

75

8 Mile

In 1995 Detroit, Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith Jr. is a young, unhappy blue-collar worker from a poor family. He has moved back north of 8 Mile Road to the run-down trailer home in Warren, Michigan of…

76

Belly

The film begins in early 1999, with two young Queens, New York street criminals Tommy “Buns” Bundy (DMX) and Sincere (“Sin”) (Nas), along with their associates in crime Mark and Black. The four violently rob a…

77

Poetic Justice

Justice (Janet Jackson) is a young woman living in South Central, Los Angeles. She was named Justice by her late mother, who gave birth to her while attending law school. After the shooting death of her boyfriend Markell (Q-Tip), Justice…

78

Above the Rim

Kyle Watson is a talented basketball player who is about to graduate from high school. While he waits to find out if he will receive a scholarship to Georgetown University, he finds himself in a difficult dilemma over a playground…

79

Dead Presidents

In the spring of 1969, Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) is about to graduate from high school, and decides to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps rather than go to college. He is sent to Vietnam, leaving behind…

80

Paid in Full

Ace (Wood Harris) is a young man from Harlem stuck in a dead end job at a dry cleaning shop. His sister’s boyfriend, Calvin (Kevin Carroll), is a local cocaine dealer who tries to lure Ace into the drug trade with promises of fast…

81

Baby Boy

A 20-year-old man named Joseph “Jody” Summers lives with his 36-year-old mother Juanita in South Central Los Angeles. He spends most of his time with his unemployed best friend Sweetpea, and does not seem interested in becoming a…

82

Juice

Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Q (Omar Epps), Raheem (Khalil Kain), and Steel (Jermaine ‘Huggy’ Hopkins) are four teenage African-American friends growing up together in Harlem. They regularly skip school, instead spending their days…

83

Set It Off

Francesca “Frankie” Sutton (Fox) is a Los Angeles bank teller who witnesses a robbery. Although she had no prior knowledge of the robbery, the bank fires Frankie after the police uncover a connection between her and one of the…

84

Training Day

Ambitious LAPD Officer Jake Hoyt is up for promotion and is assigned to Detective Alonzo Harris, a decorated but secretly corrupt narcotics officer, for a one-day evaluation. Driving around in Alonzo’s Monte Carlo, they…

85

Menace II Society

Caine Lawson and his best friend Kevin “O-Dog” Odum enter a local store to buy malt liquor, where the Korean cashier and his wife rush them to buy their beer and leave. After their purchase, the cashier insults O-Dog by…

86

New Jack City

The story begins in Harlem, 1986, and Nino Brown and his gang, the Cash Money Brothers (CMB), become the dominant drug ring in New York City once crack cocaine is introduced to the streets. His gang consists of his best friend, Gee Money;…

87

Boyz n the Hood

Ten-year-old Tre Styles lives with his single mother, Reva in Inglewood, California. After Tre gets into a fight at school, his teacher informs Reva that Tre is highly intelligent but has a volatile temper and lacks respect. Worried about…

88

Friday

Craig Jones, a young man living in South Central Los Angeles, has just lost his job after being framed for stealing on his day off. Not having any plans, he hangs out on his front porch with his best friend, Smokey, a snappy, mischievous drug…

Hood Movies: Top 50+ Urban Hood Movies

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