Best movies like Poetic Justice
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In this film, we see the world through the eyes of main character Justice, a young African-American poet. A mail carrier invites a few friends along for a long overnight delivery run.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: road movie, hood, touching, realistic, sentimental, sincere, serious, emotional, compassionate, erotic
Best tv shows and movies like Poetic Justice (1993):
Similar in 90%
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1992)
Plot Summary:
Chantel Mitchell (Ariyan Johnson), a hip, articulate, black high-school girl in Brooklyn, is determined not to become "just another girl on the IRT" (the IRT is one of NYC's subway lines). She dreams of medical school, a family, and an escape from the generational poverty and street-corner life her friends seem to have accepted as their lot. But personal and sexual challenges confront Chantel on her way to fulfilling these dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, surprise ending, hood, black cinema
Similar in 80%
Night Catches Us (2010)
Plot Summary:
After growing up during the tumultuous 1960s, ex-Black Panther Marcus returns to his home in Philadelphia in 1976 and reconnects with Pat, the widow of a Panther leader. Marcus befriends Pat's young daughter and attempts to conquer his demons. Interfering with Marcus's good intentions are the neighborhood's continuing racial and social conflicts, as well as old enemies and friends -- both with scores to settle.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, political, gloomy, independent film, black cinema
Similar in 79%
Claudine (1974)
Plot Summary:
Diahann Carroll was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe award for her gripping portrayal as the indomitable Claudine in this heartwarming comedy. While struggling to support herself and her six children in Harlem by working as a maid for a wealthy family, Claudine (Carroll) meets a charming garbage man, Roop (James Earl Jones). But although Roop is smitten with the lovely single mother, his own life trials make him slow to respond to her invitation to a lifetime of love. The touching story of Claudine will inspire smiles and tears in viewers of all ages.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: black comedy, grim, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, realistic, independent film, black cinema
Similar in 78%
Gang Related (1997)
Plot Summary:
Two corrupt cops have a successful, seemingly perfect money making scheme- they sell drugs that they seize from dealers, kill the dealers, and blame the crimes on street gangs. Their scheme is going along smoothly until they kill an undercover DEA agent posing as a dealer, and then try to cover-up their crime.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: hood, detective, neo noir, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, psychological thriller
Similar in 78%
Set It Off (1996)
Plot Summary:
Four black women, all of whom have suffered for lack of money and at the hands of the majority, undertake to rob banks. While initially successful, a policeman who was involved in shooting one of the women's brothers is on their trail. As the women add to the loot, their tastes and interests begin to change and their suspicions of each other increase on the way to a climactic robbery.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: hood, touching, neo noir, uplifting, social, sad, tear jerker, crime drama, cult classic, exciting
Similar in 75%
Jason's Lyric (1994)
Plot Summary:
The story of a young man who must confront his own fears about love as well as his relationships with family and friends.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: hood, sexy, romantic, erotic, tense, rough, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 90%
Why Did I Get Married? (2007)
Plot Summary:
The film is about the difficulty of maintaining a solid relationship in modern times. Eight married college friends plus one other non-friend (all of whom have achieved middle to upper class economic status) go to Colorado for their annual week-long reunion, but the mood shifts when one couple's infidelity comes to light. Secrets are revealed and each couple begins to question their own marriage.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: melancholic, sentimental, realistic, humorous, talky, semi serious, touching, christian film, black comedy, hood
Similar in 80%
Slam (1998)
Plot Summary:
Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. Unable to find a job, Ray copes with the despair and poverty of his neighborhood by using his wits and verbal talent. Written by Offline Publicist Young Ray Joshua lives in the Washington, DC, district known as Dodge City, which is dominated by gang wars. One day he is arrested when his drug dealer is gunned down while talking to him. He is put to prison where two rival gangs, Thug Life and the Union, want to recruit him as a member.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, hood, psychological, talky, uplifting, tense, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Baby Boy (2001)
Plot Summary:
The story of Jody, a misguided, 20-year-old African-American who is really just a baby boy finally forced-kicking and screaming to face the commitments of real life. Streetwise and jobless, he has not only fathered two children by two different women-Yvette and Peanut but still lives with his own mother. He can't seem to strike a balance or find direction in his chaotic life.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: hood, light, emotional, melancholic, stylized, intense, sincere, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 86%
Juice (1992)
Plot Summary:
Four Harlem friends -- Bishop, Q, Steel and Raheem -- dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. Bishop, the magnetic leader of the group, has the gun. But Q has different aspirations. He wants to be a DJ and happens to have a gig the night of the robbery. Unfortunately for him, Bishop isn't willing to take no for answer in a game where everything's for keeps.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: hood, cult classic, tense, social, neo noir, dark, sexual, crime drama, atmospheric, rough
Similar in 81%
A Better Life (2011)
Plot Summary:
A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sincere, thought provoking, inspirational, hood, independent film, romantic, captivating
Similar in 81%
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Plot Summary:
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 52000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: inspirational, captivating, social, realistic, tense, touching, serious, poignant, hood, art film
Similar in 88%
Love & Basketball (2000)
Plot Summary:
A young African-American couple navigates the tricky paths of romance and athletics in this drama. Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. They've followed the game all their lives and have no small amount of talent on the court. As Quincy and Monica struggle to make their relationship work, they follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: touching, sexy, uplifting, romantic, intense, sentimental, hood, tear jerker, cute, teen
Similar in 83%
Disappearing Acts (2000)
Plot Summary:
Zora Banks is a school teacher and aspiring singer hoping to become a successful star while taking a break from heartache. Franklin Swift is a down-on-his-luck construction worker and not-quite divorced father of two hoping to start his own business. The two meet and fall in love and during the course of the stormy relationship, they both come to some startling conclusions about love and each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, sentimental, talky, romantic
Similar in 89%
Cooley High (1975)
Plot Summary:
In the mid-1960s, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...parties, hanging out, meeting new friends. Then life changes for two of the guys when they meet a pair of career criminals and get falsely arrested in connection with stealing a Cadillac. We follow their lives through the end of high school and the dramatic end to their school.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: hood, black comedy, funny, entertaining, cult classic, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Gridlock'd (1997)
Plot Summary:
After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. Their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being chased by drug dealers and the police.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, hood, harsh, talky, stylized, realistic, disturbing, rough, humorous, black comedy
Similar in 82%
Imperial Dreams (2014)
Plot Summary:
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, rough, serious, hood, inspirational, feel good, social, crime drama, realistic
Similar in 83%
Thicker Than Water (1999)
Plot Summary:
In Los Angeles, two rival gang leaders are also trying to be music producers. When DJ's equipment shorts out and Lonzo is cut out of the action by a record producer, the two join forces, which also requires a tentative peace between gangs. With backing from Gator, a smooth New Orleans drug king, DJ and Lonzo start dealing, organizing their gangs into pushers. Just as their finances are looking up, one of Gator's team pulls a double cross and two of DJ and Lonzo's gang bangers start a shooting war. Can the erstwhile music producers salvage anything of their bond or their plans?.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 689
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: hood, crime drama, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cynical, surprise ending
Similar in 84%
First Time Felon (1997)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by the true story of Greg Yance. In the film, Yance (Epps) is a hood who goes to jail for possession of drugs. He is given a choice: 5 years in jail or a couple of months in boot camp. He chooses boot camp and finds out it is tougher than he thought it would be. He braves it through and comes home a better man. He then has to deal with the real world, and never gives up no matter what the odds.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: hood, inspirational, tense, rough, serious, realistic, black cinema
Similar in 89%
Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010)
Plot Summary:
Four couples reunite for their annual vacation in order to socialize and to spend time analyzing their marriages. Their intimate week in the Bahamas is disrupted by the arrival of an ex-husband determined to win back his recently remarried wife.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, talky, semi serious, christian film, romantic, black comedy, black cinema
Similar in 77%
Love Jones (1997)
Plot Summary:
Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: romantic, sexy, light, sentimental, talky, hood, romantic drama, erotic, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 83%
The Best Man (1999)
Plot Summary:
Harper, a writer who's about to explode into the mainstream leaves behind his girlfriend Robin and heads to New York City to serve as best man for his friend Lance's wedding. Once there, he reunites with the rest of his college circle.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: romantic, clever, romantic comedy, light, black comedy, hood, sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous
Similar in 88%
Above the Rim (1994)
Plot Summary:
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Sport, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: hood, inspirational, independent film, tense, touching, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, light
Similar in 77%
Menace II Society (1993)
Plot Summary:
Menace II Society is a coming of age tale detailing the summer after its protagonist Caine (Tyrin Turner) graduates from high school. This is Caine's story, which details real life in today's tough inner city.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 63000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, realistic, stylized, hood, rough, serious, harsh, intense, bloody
Similar in 83%
Belly (1998)
Plot Summary:
Tommy Brown and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: hood, independent film, stylized, crime drama, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, fairy tale, neorealism
Similar in 78%
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Plot Summary:
Boyz n the Hood is the popular and successful film and social criticism from John Singleton about the conditions in South Central Los Angeles where teenagers are involved in gun fights and drug dealing on a daily basis.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 151000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, thought provoking, hood, cult classic, brutal, bleak, independent film, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
South Central (1992)
Plot Summary:
A man is put to prison for 10 years. Coming out of prison he wants to live a normal life and stop with crime but his son has yet followed the criminal path of his father.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: hood, captivating, social, sexual, crime drama, tense, rough, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
Plot Summary:
A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: hood, harsh, stylized, serious, rough, exciting, sexual, crime drama, realistic, semi autobiographical
Similar in 87%
The Wood (1999)
Plot Summary:
In the panicky, uncertain hours before his wedding, a groom with prenuptial jitters and his two best friends reminisce about growing up together in the middle-class African-American neighborhood of Inglewood, California. Flashing back to the twenty-something trio's childhood exploits, the memories capture the mood and nostalgia of the '80s era.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: feel good, realistic, touching, hood, melancholic, humorous, sentimental, semi serious, inspirational, black comedy
Similar in 79%
Friday (1995)
Plot Summary:
Craig and Smokey are two guys in Los Angeles hanging out on their porch on a Friday afternoon, smoking and drinking, looking for something to do.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 122000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: funny, feel good, hood, cult classic, light, semi serious, hilarious, independent film, black comedy, realistic