Underplayed Gems
The whole movie catalogue

Films and series, searchable by what they are

← Back to the shop

Menace II Society (1993)

Menace II Society poster
Directed by
Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
Genre
drama film, action film, crime film, hood film, coming-of-age film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
R
Rating
7.5 of 10 from 918 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb

How it feels

A teen in Watts struggles with gang life and violence in Los Angeles. He tries to survive and make choices about his future.

grittyintensebleakrawharshurgentvisceralunflinchingbleak

What happens

Menace II Society is a 1993 American teen crime drama film directed by the Hughes brothers in their directorial debut. Set in the Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the film follows the life of Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) as he struggles with the realities of his gang affiliation and inner-city life with his close friends. The film was released by New Line Cinema on May 26, 1993, and gained notoriety for its scenes of violence, profanity and drug-related content, but received critical acclaim for the performances of Turner, Jada Pinkett (in her theatrical film debut) and Larenz Tate, its direction, and its realistic portrayal of urban violence and powerful underlying messages. It grossed $30 million against a $3.5 million budget. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching and it picks from the whole catalogue, or browse by genre, country and year.

Lists: Korean thrillers worth the evening · Anime films beyond Studio Ghibli · Slow films for a rainy night · Horror that unsettles instead of startling · Series you can finish in a weekend · Nordic crime worth the subtitles · Good films that end in under 90 minutes · Documentaries that play like thrillers

Loading movies…

What should I watch?