Crime stories and coming-of-age: 10 movies like ‘Boyz n the Hood’
As far as debut movies go, they haven’t often come more powerful and important than John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood, the classic combination of crime drama and coming-of-age story that made a huge impact on cinema.
In addition to launching Singleton’s hugely successful directorial career, the film also served as springboards for stars Cuba Gooding Jr, Morris Chestnut, Regina King, Nia Long, Angela Bassett, and Ice Cube, all of whom would go on become stars in their own right. Not only that, but it secured a well-earned ‘Best Picture’ nomination at the Academy Awards, with Singleton also becoming both the youngest and first African-American filmmaker to be shortlisted for ‘Best Director’.
Inspired by Singleton’s own upbringing in Los Angeles, many of the situations and characters in Boyz n the Hood were lifted directly from his own experiences and the people he grew up around, resulting in a socially-conscious and thematically-rich tale rooted in some semblance of truth that refused to pull any of its punches.
It’s incredible to think the director was only 22 years old when he first called action, and while there are plenty of movies that contain similar spiritual and thematic DNA as Boyz n the Hood, it’s truly one of a kind. With that in mind, though, there are plenty of companion pieces for fans of Singleton’s debut to check out, and not just because they unfold in a similar setting.
Street-level crime stories like Boyz n the Hood:
While Boyz n the Hood can’t be credited solely with the increase in stories about underrepresented communities being made in mainstream Hollywood, it certainly played a huge part. The film’s box office success and awards season recognition definitely marked a turning point, with four notable titles releasing within the next two years alone.
Allen and Albert Hughes’ Menace II Society told the story of a teenager desperate to escape the inevitabilities of gang life in the Los Angeles projects, telling an emotionally-driven and hard-hitting drama wrapped in very real cultural concerns. Along similar lines, South Central follows an ex-con recently freed from a ten-year sentence for murdering a gang leader distraught to discover that his young son has fallen in with the very same crew he was desperate to leave behind for good.
Ernest R. Dickerson’s Juice may unfold in New York City and not LA, but the narrative tracing a quartet of close-knit friends as they wrestle with the consequences of trying to prove themselves and rob a convenience store flows through many of the same undercurrents. New Jack City contains a great deal more action than Boyz n the Hood, but Mario Van Peebles’ influential thriller nonetheless pits ambitious criminal upstarts against the authorities in a street-level battle where nobody ever truly wins in the long run.
For something completely and utterly different, Rapman’s Blue Story may read as being somewhat evocative of Boyz n the Hood in that it centres on two best friends who happen to be members of opposing factions with dreams of becoming something else entirely, but carves out its own niche by being a musical.
Unconventional coming-of-age stories like Boyz n the Hood:
Everyone knows the basic ins and outs of a coming-of-age movie, but Boyz n the Hood painted them in completely fresh and unmistakable vibrant strokes. It’s not an easy thing to do, but there’s more than a few worthy candidates to seek out in the aftermath of revisiting Singleton’s classic.
City of God managed to secure a ‘Best Director’ nomination at the Oscars without even being in the running for ‘Best International Feature Film’, but Fernando Meirelles’ staggering visuals are just one of the many reasons why the haunting crime epic detailing the rampant criminality on the streets of Rio de Janeiro that swept even the youngest members of society up in its inescapable wake is a must-see.
Rick Famuyiwa made a pair of vastly different coming-of-age films almost two decades apart, but they’re equally memorable in their own right. The Wood uses a wedding as the framing device to allow three old friends to reminisce about their childhoods and the lessons they learned along the way, with Dope finding another trio bonding over their shared interests before an encounter with a drug dealer and a stash of stolen pills threatens to spiral out of control.
Not only was Boyz n the Hood inspired by Cooley High, but the high school comedy was also a massive influence on Wesley Snipes and Spike Lee, who were left enthralled by Michael Schultz’s story of aspiring playwright Preach and basketball star Cochise dealing with girls, grand theft auto, and life-or-death situations of their own making. Robert De Niro’s directorial debut A Bronx Tale doesn’t have much in common with Singleton’s movie on the surface, but the narrative heads down several similar alleys as a young man finds himself torn between the lure and financial gain of organised crime and a life on the straight-and-narrow path embodies by his hardworking family.
10 movies like Boyz n the Hood:
- Menace II Society (The Hughes Brothers, 1992)
- Juice (Ernest R. Dickerson, 1992)
- New Jack City (Mario Van Peebles, 1991)
- South Central (Stephen Milburn Anderson, 1992)
- Blue Story (Rapman, 2019)
- City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)
- Dope (Rick Famuyiwa, 2015)
- Cooley High (Michael Schultz, 1975)
- The Wood (Rick Famuyiwa, 1999)
- A Bronx Tale (Robert De Niro, 1993)
