Boyz n the Hood

Director John Singleton gave us one of the best dramas of the 1990s in what just so happened to be his directorial debut. A raw portrait of Black life in South Central Los Angeles, Boyz n the Hood tells the story of Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who moves in with his stern father Furious (Laurence Fishburne, as outstanding as ever) as a young boy. We follow Tre, now a teen who aspires to go to college, as he gets entangled in a world of gang rivalries with his friends.

Boyz n the Hood isn't a film simply about gang violence, but one that showcases the ways America's long history of systemic racism and anti-Blackness have trapped its characters in a cycle of violence and poverty. It marked a major shift in the ways Black stories were told in American cinema through the lens of Black filmmakers, and laid the groundwork for more to come, from Menace II Society to Juice and beyond. It also launched the careers of its stellar cast with breakout roles for Gooding Jr., Nia Long, Regina King, Ice Cube, and Morris Chestnut. — O.W.

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