Movies About Racism
by Paok-Kilkis | created - 22 Jun 2019 | updated - 28 Feb 2021 | PublicWhich do you think dealt with the issue of racism most competently?
Discuss the list here!
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1. American History X (1998)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama
Living a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien
Votes: 1,186,744 | Gross: $6.72M
2. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt
Votes: 741,550 | Gross: $56.67M
3. 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: 1,696,309 | Gross: $162.81M
4. 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: 697,492 | Gross: $176.04M
5. 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: 572,790 | Gross: $85.08M
6. Crash (I) (2004)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
Director: Paul Haggis | Stars: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandiwe Newton, Karina Arroyave
Votes: 449,094 | Gross: $54.58M
7. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,575 | Gross: $96.90M
8. 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: 218,559 | Gross: $161.20M
9. 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: 291,251 | Gross: $49.28M
10. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, War
A young German boy in the Hitler Youth whose hero and imaginary friend is the country's dictator is shocked to discover that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
Director: Taika Waititi | Stars: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi
Votes: 441,691 | Gross: $33.37M
11. Dances with Wolves (1990)
PG-13 | 181 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
Votes: 290,802 | Gross: $184.21M
12. 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: 112,481 | Gross: $27.55M
13. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone
Votes: 117,595 | Gross: $106.59M
14. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 240,238 | Gross: $52.77M
15. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
Votes: 83,598 | Gross: $24.38M
16. Gran Torino (2008)
R | 116 min | Drama
After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her
Votes: 815,228 | Gross: $148.10M
17. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,246 | Gross: $43.66M
18. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,757 | Gross: $74.70M
19. 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: 95,514 | Gross: $52.08M
20. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 333,004
21. Mississippi Burning (1988)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif
Votes: 111,116 | Gross: $34.60M
22. Invictus (2009)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
Nelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng
Votes: 167,928 | Gross: $37.49M
23. The Help (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Drama
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 493,000 | Gross: $169.71M
24. The Color Purple (1985)
PG-13 | 154 min | Drama
A tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery
Votes: 97,404 | Gross: $98.47M
25. The Great Debaters (2007)
PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker
Votes: 62,873 | Gross: $30.23M
26. A Time to Kill (1996)
R | 149 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey
Votes: 181,750 | Gross: $108.77M
27. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton
Votes: 48,945 | Gross: $56.70M
28. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
Director: Justin Chadwick | Stars: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Terry Pheto, Robert Hobbs
Votes: 29,198 | Gross: $8.32M
29. Ray (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell
Votes: 157,438 | Gross: $75.33M
30. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 232,013 | Gross: $115.65M
31. The Hurricane (1999)
R | 146 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 102,513 | Gross: $50.67M
32. Malcolm X (1992)
PG-13 | 202 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Votes: 102,078 | Gross: $48.17M
33. The Blind Side (2009)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head
Votes: 360,667 | Gross: $255.96M
34. Fruitvale Station (2013)
R | 85 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.
Director: Ryan Coogler | Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Durand
Votes: 85,916 | Gross: $16.10M
35. Amistad (1997)
R | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 82,823 | Gross: $44.18M
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