City of God is a 2002 Brazilian movie directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, and this film made $30.6 million at the US box office. This is a great movie that shows the evil of gangs. It also dramatizes how people can change and how living in poverty can turn you to a life of crime. You can stream it now on Roku.

City of God shows how living in poverty, and then suddenly having money, can change people. A great example is the character of Lil Dice (Douglas Silva), who is a kid in the beginning of the film, but even at a young age, he has a thirst to kill other people. This is shown in a scene, where he and four other people hold up a motel and steal cash and jewelry. T

his movie is truly groundbreaking, because it isn’t afraid to include a character as crazy as Ze Pequeño (played by Leandro Firmino), who is based on a real drug trafficker who operated in Brazil in the 1970s and 80s. He is king of the city for a short time, until it all comes crashing down. 

The film follows the protagonist Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), who is inspired by taking photos and wants to work for a newspaper. Rocket doesn’t get involved in a life of crime like his brother. However, there are instances when he has a gun and tries to do a hold up, but he ends up not doing it. Instead, he goes to a diner and meets a girl there as well. Rocket doesn’t turn to a life of crime like everyone else in the film. 

There is a tension in the movie between Ze Pequeño and Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele), and this relationship is complicated by a murder and does not end well for either character. In the one scene, children steal from a store, and Ze Pequeño eventually forces one of the children to shoot another one. This scene is important, even though it is so hard to watch, because it shows the lengths that people will go to just to be accepted into something. 

Towards the end of the film, you can see everything starting to fall apart, with a massive shootout between the two rival gangs in the City of God, and Ze Pequeño is eventually arrested and taken in. What happens next will absolutely shock you. 

Overall, you should definitely check this movie out this summer. It does a really good job telling us what people in poverty will do for money and the toxic danger of gang life. It’s a great film, and if you like this one you should also check out Oldboy and Nightcrawler.