Best tv shows like City of Men
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
City of Men is a Brazilian television programme created by Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles, the directors of the film City of God. The series was watched by 35 million viewers in Brazil and was released internationally on DVD shortly after the film. In 2007, a feature length film based on the series was released. It is often cited as a 'spin-off' of the film; City of Men is a less violent and more light-hearted affair with dramedy elements. However, the two do share some common aspects: the directors, some of the actors, and the setting of the Brazilian favela with its background of gangsters and poverty. The programme tells the stories of Luis Claudío and Uolace, better known by their nicknames Acerola and Laranjinha, respectively, who are two best friends who live in a notorious Rio slum, in a community of drug-dealers, hustlers, and teenagers struggling to fulfill their dreams.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: stylized, atmospheric, rough, serious, captivating, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like City of Men (2002):
Similar in 81%
This Is England '88 (2011)
Plot Summary:
Set during Christmas 1988, Lol is haunted by the devastating events that took place two and a half years before. She and Woody both find themselves struggling to cope with their lives without each other after he leaves the gang. Lol is carrying the burden of her guilt, whilst Woody is trying to build a domestic life with a new girlfriend and a potential promotion at work. Shaun has started drama college and, although still in a relationship with Smell, he has grown close to a girl performing in his Christmas play.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: touching, rough, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, retro, gloomy, period drama, masterpiece
Similar in 82%
15: The Movie (2003)
Plot Summary:
Fast, frenetic, and furious best describe the story of five teenage boys all but abandoned by the system, estranged from any parents, and discarded by life in general. They build a world of there own in which gangs, drugs, fighting, body piercing, self-harm, and even suicide are considered commonplace. The film highlights their harrowing place in time and this small world; where brotherhood is valued above all else. Impressively acted by actual street kids, the movie highlights a gritty side of modern-day Singaporean life.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 821
Genere: Drama, Comedy
Country: Singapore
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, bleak, serious, homoerotic, controversial, gay cinema
Similar in 85%
This Is England '86 (2010)
Plot Summary:
This Is England '86 is a 2010 British drama miniseries written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, a spin-off from the 2006 film This Is England. Shaun has just finished his final exams and he realizes he is no longer a kid. It's mid 80's England, a World Cup summer, and the gang are back, looking for a laugh, a job, and something that resembles a future.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, disturbing, serious, realistic, gloomy, sexual, retro, rough
Similar in 83%
Sintonia (2019)
Plot Summary:
Told through three different characters' perspectives, the story of Sintonia explores the interconnection of the music, drug traffic, and religion in São Paulo. In the quest to be somebody, many paths will converge.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: Brazil
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: ironic, emotional, entertaining, realistic
Similar in 89%
This Is England '90 (2015)
Plot Summary:
Following on from This Is England ’86 and ‘88, this much-anticipated final chapter finds the gang embracing the rave scene of a new decade. But the utter hilarity and unadulterated joy of the second ‘summer of love’ soon gives way to a war torn winter. As the stark reality of life takes hold and, ultimately, takes life.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, retro, rough, bleak, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 84%
As Night Comes (2014)
Plot Summary:
Troubled 17-year-old Sean Holloway falls in with a group of teenage outcasts called 'The Misfits,' whose charismatic leader, Ricky, takes him under his wing. But as Sean becomes more and more entangled in the gang's anarchist ways, things begin to spiral out of control, and Sean realizes Ricky is a ticking time bomb on a rampage of revenge. On the eve of Halloween, as night comes, everything explodes….
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 236
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, psychological, tense, slasher, rough, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Outcast (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set in post-war Britain, ten year-old Lewis Aldridge is grief-stricken as he struggles to cope with the death of his beloved mother. Left under the care of his emotionally distant father Gilbert, whom he barely knows and who quickly remarries, Lewis is forced to bury his feelings.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 179 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, atmospheric, psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 77%
A Children's Story (2004)
Plot Summary:
The story focuses on the life of an 11-year old boy surrounded by criminality and poverty in the suburbs of Naples.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 457
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 85%
Rodents (1999)
Plot Summary:
The world of Salvador, a young and naive petty thief is changed by the arrival of his cousin Angel, an ex-convict in search of easy money, and with a hideout. Salvador gets wrapped up in Angel's twisted dealings in an attempt to escape from his suffocating family, dragging along his family and friends, in his criminal path. Where will this all lead?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 894
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Ecuador
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Streeters (2001)
Plot Summary:
Authentic and committed, moving and stormy drama of street kids from Mexico City. Wonderful adaptation of successful play about street kids who have more trouble with corrupt cops, than with dirty and heavy work.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 547
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, bleak, realistic, independent film
Similar in 88%
Almost Brothers (2004)
Plot Summary:
The strange friendship between two men of opposite social classes. Miguel is a senator. His childhood friend Jorge is a major drug-dealer. In the 1970s, they meet in prison: Miguel was there for political reasons, and Jorge, as a common criminal.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 645
Genere: Drama
Country: Brazil, Chile, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspense, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 83%
Asphalt Playground (2012)
Plot Summary:
Mitraillette is 12 years old and lives in Rose City, a housing estate he would not leave for anything. His whole world comprises his family, especially his 16 year-old cousin Isma, who has taken a fancy to Narcisse, the local crime boss. His older brother Djibril is 22, a student at the Sorbonne who dreams of becoming a lawyer. As for Mitraillette, he has his eye on Océane, the most beautiful girl in his school.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 337
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: captivating, humorous, tense, light, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious
Similar in 84%
Tough Enough (2006)
Plot Summary:
From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, rough, bleak, serious, gloomy
Similar in 83%
The Hillz (2004)
Plot Summary:
A promising college athlete takes a turn for the worse when he hooks up with old highschool friends during his summer break.
IMDB Rating: 2.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, surreal, realistic, captivating, suspenseful, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 78%
Spacked Out (2000)
Plot Summary:
Film following four teenage girls around Hong Kong. The story centers around a young girl who is dealing with a pregnancy.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 186
Genere: Crime, Drama, Family
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, disturbing, bleak, sexual, sexy
Similar in 85%
Monga (2010)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1980s, “Monga” centers on five boys (Mosquito, Monk, Dragon, White Monkey and A-Lan) who join the "Gang of Princes" who are tired of being pushed around. As the "Gang of Princes" rise in stature, they come into conflict with other gangs jealous of their rising power.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, exciting, serious, captivating, heroic, hood, rough, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Federal Hill (1994)
Plot Summary:
In Providence's Italian neighborhood, Federal Hill, five young are immersed in drugs, crime and violence. Everything changes when one of the guys in the band know love.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: black and white, independent film, tense, serious, realistic, romantic, rough, sexy, clever, enigmatic
Similar in 79%
LUV (2012)
Plot Summary:
Over the course of one day, a shy 13-year-old forms a bond with his troubled uncle.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, rough, realistic, hood, crime drama, independent film
Similar in 75%
Adulthood (2008)
Plot Summary:
After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, serious, realistic, cult classic, gloomy, bleak
Similar in 87%
Squeeze (1997)
Plot Summary:
Ty, Hector, and Bao are close friends in a tough section of Boston, where they're called "the PG-13 crew." They're 14, decent kids with few skills who've bailed out of school. A small gang of older tough guys, led by Marcus and Tommy, menace them, and when the PG-13s fight back and rob one of the gang, Marcus and Tommy vow to kill them. They seek protection from Derick, a drug dealer, who agrees to help if they'll sell drugs. Meanwhile, Ty is recruited to work at a community center by J.J., its quiet leader. Ty and his friends are in a squeeze: surrounded by violence, drugs, and no opportunities, is there any way out?.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 344
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: crime drama, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Sket (2011)
Plot Summary:
When a young woman is cruelly and indiscriminately attacked by a notorious gang led by the violent Trey, her little 16 year old sister Kayla wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means joining a rival girl gang led by the volatile and damaged man-hating Danielle.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, bleak
Similar in 87%
Gang Tapes (2001)
Plot Summary:
When a brutal carjacking yields a videocamera, a teenage boy decides to document his life and the lives of his fellow gangbangers.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, hood, tense, suspense, crime drama, realistic
Similar in 90%
Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000)
Plot Summary:
Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Crime
Country: Morocco, Tunisia, France, Belgium, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, bleak, social, disturbing, crying, islamic, realistic, masterpiece
Similar in 83%
City of Men (2007)
Plot Summary:
Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, suspense, harsh, disturbing, rough, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 85%
Bullet Boy (2004)
Plot Summary:
Ricky is just out of a young offenders institute, heading home to Hackney and determined to go straight. Instead, he heads straight for trouble when he becomes involved in a street confrontation, siding with his best friend Wisdom against a local rude boy. The trouble escalates into a series of tit-for-tat incidents that threaten to spiral out of control. Ricky's 12-year-old brother Curtis, hero-worships Ricky, though he appears smart enough to know he doesn't want to follow his example. Yet, despite the stern warnings from his mother and support from her friends in the community, might Ricky's bad boy allure be too attractive for Curtis to resist?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, realistic, hood, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 90%
City of God (2002)
Plot Summary:
Cidade de Deus is a shantytown that started during the 1960s and became one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous places in the beginning of the 1980s. To tell the story of this place, the movie describes the life of various characters, all seen by the point of view of the narrator, Buscapé. Buscapé was raised in a very violent environment. Despite the feeling that all odds were against him, he finds out that life can be seen with other eyes.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 788000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil, France, Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, hood, stylized, visual, cult classic, visually stunning, captivating, emotional
Similar in 86%
Gomorrah (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on Robert Saviano's bestselling book, this gritty Italian crime drama paints a portrait of the brutal Neapolitan crime organisation the Camorra, as seen through the eyes of Ciro Di Marzo, the obedient and self- confident right-hand man of the clan's godfather, Pietro Savastano.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, Germany
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, disturbing, realistic, dramatic, hood, crime thriller, bleak, rough
Similar in 78%
Sucker Free City (2004)
Plot Summary:
The film follows three young men as they are drawn into lives of crime. Nick (Crowley) uses his entry-level corporate job to commit credit card fraud and deals drugs on the side. K-Luv (Mackie) is a member of the "V-Dubs", an African-American street gang. Lincoln (Leung) is a rising figure in the Chinese mafia. Gentrification forces Nick's family to move out of their home in the Mission District into Hunter's Point where they are harassed by the V-Dubs. K-Luv's side business of selling bootleg compact discs leads him to enlist Nick's help to bootleg CDs and to negotiate a truce with Lincoln. Lincoln conducts an affair with his boss' daughter Angela (Carpio), a Stanford student engaged to a medical student classmate.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, tense, bleak, crime drama
Similar in 88%
The Corner (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Corner presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of 15-year-old DeAndre McCullough, his mother Fran Boyd, and his father Gary McCullough, as well as other addicts and low-level drug dealers caught up in the twin-engine economy of heroin and cocaine.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 376 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, sitcom, hood, crime drama, bleak, realistic
Similar in 78%
Top Boy (2011)
Plot Summary:
A thrilling and raw crime drama following a gang of drug dealers in Hackney, London - an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city drug and gang culture.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, suspenseful, rough, crime drama, dramatic, anime, hood, tense, bleak