BLACK
by isobelcox | created - 05 Apr 2018 | updated - 22 Mar 2021 | PublicThe best films featuring black protagonists and culture
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1. Atlantics (2019)
TV-14 | 106 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
In a popular suburb of Dakar, workers on the construction site of a futuristic tower, without pay for months, decide to leave the country by the ocean for a better future. Among them is Souleiman, the lover of Ada, promised to another.
Director: Mati Diop | Stars: Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, Traore, Nicole Sougou
Votes: 10,510
2. Attack the Block (2011)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.
Director: Joe Cornish | Stars: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones
Votes: 111,451 | Gross: $1.02M
3. Bad Boys II (2003)
R | 147 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two loose-cannon narcotics cops investigate the flow of Ecstasy into Florida from a Cuban drug cartel.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Mollà
Votes: 267,410 | Gross: $138.61M
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
PG-13 | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.
Director: Benh Zeitlin | Stars: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell Landes
Votes: 85,092 | Gross: $12.80M
5. Been So Long (2018)
100 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A dedicated single mother who, on an unusual night on the town, is charmed by a handsome yet troubled stranger.
Director: Tinge Krishnan | Stars: Michaela Coel, Mya Lewis, Arinzé Kene, George MacKay
Votes: 1,190
6. Boyz n the Hood (1991)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama
Follows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.
Director: John Singleton | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Hudhail Al-Amir, Lloyd Avery II
Votes: 154,769 | Gross: $57.50M
7. BlacKkKlansman (2018)
R | 135 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime
Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, Colorado, successfully infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan branch aided by a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace
Votes: 291,319 | Gross: $49.28M
8. Black Panther (2018)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
T'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.
Director: Ryan Coogler | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira
Votes: 838,059 | Gross: $700.06M
9. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, History
Footage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
Director: Göran Hugo Olsson | Stars: Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Abiodun Oyewole
Votes: 2,498 | Gross: $0.26M
10. Blindspotting (2018)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
While on probation, a man begins to re-evaluate his relationship with his volatile best friend.
Director: Carlos López Estrada | Stars: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones
Votes: 32,891 | Gross: $4.33M
11. Brown Sugar (2002)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Friends since childhood, a magazine editor and a hip-hop record executive stumble into romantic territory.
Director: Rick Famuyiwa | Stars: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Yasiin Bey, Nicole Ari Parker
Votes: 10,245 | Gross: $27.36M
12. Candyman (1992)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
Director: Bernard Rose | Stars: Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Kasi Lemmons
Votes: 100,212 | Gross: $25.79M
13. Chico & Rita (2010)
Not Rated | 94 min | Animation, Crime, Drama
Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment.
Directors: Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba | Stars: Eman Xor Oña, Limara Meneses, Mario Guerra, Jon Adams
Votes: 9,692 | Gross: $0.35M
14. Chi-Raq (2015)
R | 127 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago, Illinois.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett
Votes: 10,727 | Gross: $2.65M
15. Da 5 Bloods (2020)
R | 154 min | Adventure, Drama, War
Four African-American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis
Votes: 55,168
16. Dear White People (2014)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The lives of four black students at an Ivy League college.
Director: Justin Simien | Stars: Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner, Teyonah Parris
Votes: 26,568 | Gross: $4.40M
17. Detroit (2017)
R | 143 min | Crime, Drama, History
Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore
Votes: 55,975 | Gross: $16.79M
18. Coming to America (1988)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Romance
An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais, Feather
Votes: 223,687 | Gross: $128.15M
19. Daughters of the Dust (1991)
TV-PG | 113 min | Drama, History, Romance
A languid, impressionistic story of three generations of Gullah women living on the South Carolina Sea Islands in 1902.
Director: Julie Dash | Stars: Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbarao, Trula Hoosier
Votes: 3,293 | Gross: $1.64M
20. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,696,655 | Gross: $162.81M
21. Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
R | 118 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.
Director: Craig Brewer | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson
Votes: 64,982
22. Dope (2015)
R | 103 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Life changes for Malcolm, a geek who's surviving life in a tough neighborhood, after a chance invitation to an underground party leads him and his friends into a Los Angeles adventure.
Director: Rick Famuyiwa | Stars: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Kimberly Elise
Votes: 89,341 | Gross: $17.51M
23. Do the Right Thing (1989)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson
Votes: 112,501 | Gross: $27.55M
24. Dreamgirls (2006)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover
Votes: 77,312 | Gross: $103.37M
25. Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary
A look at the history of black horror films and the role of African Americans in the film genre from the very beginning.
Director: Xavier Burgin | Stars: Rusty Cundieff, Ernest R. Dickerson, Robin R. Means Coleman, Jordan Peele
Votes: 2,094
26. The Hate U Give (2018)
PG-13 | 133 min | Crime, Drama
Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.
Director: George Tillman Jr. | Stars: Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie
Votes: 40,168 | Gross: $29.72M
27. I Am Not a Witch (2017)
93 min | Comedy, Drama
In a remote Zambian community a girl is denounced as a witch and sent on a trajectory of exploitation, as a tethered member of a witches' camp, a witch for hire and a tourist exhibit.
Director: Rungano Nyoni | Stars: Maggie Mulubwa, Henry B.J. Phiri, Nancy Murilo, Margaret Spinella
Votes: 4,206 | Gross: $0.05M
28. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman embraces her pregnancy while she and her family set out to prove her childhood friend and lover innocent of a crime he didn't commit.
Director: Barry Jenkins | Stars: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris
Votes: 52,526 | Gross: $14.92M
29. The Fits (2015)
Not Rated | 72 min | Drama, Music
While training at the gym 11-year-old tomboy Toni becomes entranced with a dance troupe. As she struggles to fit in she finds herself caught up in danger as the group begins to suffer from fainting spells and other violent fits.
Director: Anna Rose Holmer | Stars: Royalty Hightower, Alexis Neblett, Da'Sean Minor, Lauren Gibson
Votes: 5,127 | Gross: $0.17M
30. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
PG-13 | 93 min | Documentary, History
Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
Director: Raoul Peck | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X
Votes: 23,519 | Gross: $7.12M
31. Friday (1995)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
It's Friday, and Craig and Smokey must come up with $200 they owe a local bully or there won't be a Saturday.
Director: F. Gary Gray | Stars: Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Tom Lister Jr.
Votes: 124,662 | Gross: $27.47M
32. Green Book (2018)
PG-13 | 130 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
Director: Peter Farrelly | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco
Votes: 573,039 | Gross: $85.08M
33. Jackie Brown (1997)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A flight attendant with a criminal past gets nabbed by the ATF for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the illegal arms dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda
Votes: 375,293 | Gross: $39.67M
34. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
R | 121 min | Drama
A young man searches for home in the changing city that seems to have left him behind.
Director: Joe Talbot | Stars: Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Rob Morgan, Tichina Arnold
Votes: 21,969 | Gross: $4.52M
35. Get Out (I) (2017)
R | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young African-American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.
Director: Jordan Peele | Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener
Votes: 697,747 | Gross: $176.04M
36. The Last King of Scotland (2006)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington
Votes: 196,101 | Gross: $17.61M
37. Morris from America (2016)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The romantic and coming-of-age misadventures of a 13-year-old American living in Germany.
Director: Chad Hartigan | Stars: Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, Patrick Güldenberg
Votes: 5,633 | Gross: $0.09M
38. Sorry to Bother You (2018)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.
Director: Boots Riley | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick
Votes: 88,283 | Gross: $17.49M
39. Moonlight (I) (2016)
R | 111 min | Drama
A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
Director: Barry Jenkins | Stars: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R. Hibbert
Votes: 332,057 | Gross: $27.85M
40. The Princess and the Frog (2009)
G | 97 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to face the same problem after she kisses him.
Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker | Stars: Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Oprah Winfrey, Bruno Campos
Votes: 167,012 | Gross: $104.40M
41. Mudbound (2017)
R | 134 min | Drama, War
Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
Director: Dee Rees | Stars: Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Mary J. Blige
Votes: 54,434
42. Pariah (I) (2011)
R | 86 min | Drama
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Director: Dee Rees | Stars: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Aasha Davis, Pernell Walker
Votes: 7,562 | Gross: $0.76M
43. Selma (2014)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 95,522 | Gross: $52.08M
44. She's Gotta Have It (1986)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Romance
Story of a woman and her three lovers.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, Spike Lee
Votes: 16,320 | Gross: $7.14M
45. Queen of Katwe (2016)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza
Votes: 18,690 | Gross: $8.81M
46. Soul Food (1997)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
One person can keep a family together and, when that one person is gone, a family can be torn apart.
Director: George Tillman Jr. | Stars: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach
Votes: 9,016 | Gross: $43.49M
47. Queen & Slim (2019)
R | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A couple's first date takes an unexpected turn when a police officer pulls them over.
Director: Melina Matsoukas | Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloë Sevigny
Votes: 34,635
48. Straight Outta Compton (2015)
R | 147 min | Biography, Drama, History
The rap group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.
Director: F. Gary Gray | Stars: O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr.
Votes: 218,590 | Gross: $161.20M
49. Strong Island (2017)
TV-MA | 107 min | Documentary, Crime
When filmmaker Yance Ford investigates the 1992 murder of a young Black man, it becomes an achingly personal journey, since the victim, 24-year-old William Ford Jr., was the filmmaker's brother.
Director: Yance Ford | Stars: Yance Ford, Harvey Walker, Kevin Myers, Lauren Ford
Votes: 4,126
50. Tangerine (2015)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A hooker tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
Director: Sean Baker | Stars: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan
Votes: 35,537 | Gross: $0.70M
51. A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A fast paced, womanizing nightclub promoter gets paid back in full when he scorns a beautiful woman with psychotic tendencies who will punish him for breaking her heart.
Director: Martin Lawrence | Stars: Martin Lawrence, Lynn Whitfield, Regina King, Bobby Brown
Votes: 5,407 | Gross: $34.75M
52. The Transfiguration (2016)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Horror
When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.
Director: Michael O'Shea | Stars: Eric Ruffin, Karin Cherches, Chloë Levine, Luis Scott
Votes: 4,071 | Gross: $0.02M
53. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 930,250 | Gross: $13.18M
54. Us (II) (2019)
R | 116 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Adelaide Wilson and her family are attacked by mysterious figures dressed in red. Upon closer inspection, the Wilsons realize that the intruders are exact lookalikes of them.
Director: Jordan Peele | Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker
Votes: 341,485 | Gross: $175.08M
55. What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
Director: Liz Garbus | Stars: Nina Simone, Lisa Simone Kelly, Roger Nupie, Al Schackman
Votes: 14,836
56. Widows (2018)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities take fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki
Votes: 104,166 | Gross: $42.40M
57. 13th (2016)
TV-MA | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, History
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Dolores Canales
Votes: 37,691
58. Girlhood (2014)
Unrated | 113 min | Drama
A girl with few real prospects joins a gang, reinventing herself and gaining a sense of self confidence in the process. However, she soon finds that this new life does not necessarily make her any happier.
Director: Céline Sciamma | Stars: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré
Votes: 10,053
59. Rocks (2019)
TV-MA | 93 min | Drama
A young teenage girl finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her younger brother after being abandoned by their single mother with no choice but to live out on the streets.
Director: Sarah Gavron | Stars: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu, Shaneigha-Monik Greyson
Votes: 5,554
60. Time (I) (2020)
PG-13 | 81 min | Documentary, Biography
Fox Rich fights for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year sentence in prison.
Director: Garrett Bradley | Stars: Sibil Fox Richardson, Robert G. Richardson, Mahlik Richardson, Remington B. Richardson
Votes: 6,301
61.
Small Axe (2020)
Episode:
Lovers Rock
(2020)
TV-MA | 70 min | Drama, History
A single evening at a house party in 1980s West London sets the scene, developing intertwined relationships against a background of violence, romance and music.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Dennis Bovell, Saffron Coomber, Frankie Fox, Daniel Francis-Swaby
Votes: 5,302
62.
Small Axe (2020)
Episode:
Mangrove
(2020)
TV-MA | 127 min | Drama, History
Mangrove tells this true story of The Mangrove Nine, who clashed with London police in 1970. The trial that followed was the first judicial acknowledgment of behavior motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Gary Beadle, Darren Braithwaite, Richie Campbell, Ben Caplan
Votes: 5,894
63. Soul (2020)
PG | 100 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
Directors: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House
Votes: 380,183
64. The Climb (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man from the suburbs with no mountaineering experience decides to climb Mt Everest to show a woman he'd do anything for her.
Director: Ludovic Bernard | Stars: Ahmed Sylla, Alice Belaïdi, Kévin Razy, Nicolas Wanczycki
Votes: 8,315
65. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
R | 126 min | Biography, Drama, History
Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.
Director: Shaka King | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback
Votes: 91,538
66. Coming 2 America (2021)
PG-13 | 110 min | Comedy, Music
The African monarch Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States and must return to America to meet this unexpected heir and build a relationship with his son.
Director: Craig Brewer | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, Jermaine Fowler
Votes: 75,479
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