In essence, this is a postapocalyptic world. Except what was destroying their landscape wasn’t an alien invasion or a virus. It was ravaged by white supremacy.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Oct 13, 2023

Boyz N The Hood is very good, in creation and heart. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Dec 30, 2022

Featuring breakout performances from Cuba Gooding Jr. and NWA's Ice Cube, Singleton's stunning coming-of-age film offers a compelling and compassionate snapshot of life for a young Black man growing up amid the gang culture of South Central Los Angeles.

Full Review | May 10, 2021

The story is laid out with the simplicity of a naive morality tale but is not in the least boring.

Full Review | Jul 19, 2018

All of these supporting characters proved indispensable to the film's lasting power.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 2, 2018

The dialogue is hilarious, loaded, questioning.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 10, 2017

It seems as box-fresh as a pair of white high-tops and as powerful and funny today as it was in 1991.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 28, 2016

Boyz N the Hood is a passionate drama shot with fluency and style, a study of what amounts to life during wartime, with people grimly used to gunfire and helicopters thudding overhead.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 27, 2016

It feels like it should be cheesy and manipulative, but the utter sincerity lifts it immeasurable.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 26, 2016

Singleton was only 23 when he made this urgent state-of-the-nation drama. But his skill with the camera, handling of actors, and raw dialogue suggests a seasoned pro.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 24, 2016

Powerful, old-school look at life surrounded by violence.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 27, 2016

Though it eviscerates the white establishment from the opening reel, much of the film exhibits a deeply conservative worldview, even for 1991.

Full Review | Sep 2, 2016

It's always risky to proclaim a new force in film based upon just one film, but Boyz N the Hood is good enough to suggest that John Singleton is going to be a major player for a long time.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 1, 2016

Like a jazz ensemble, Singleton and his actors slowly involve us in an almost sensual melange of moods, images and situations that take us inside the ghetto in a way mainstream films almost never do.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2016

While it's often as pedantic and square as an Army training film, this movie about black teens trying to grow up in a gang-plagued South Central Los Angeles area generates strong emotions.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2016

This is a film that people should see.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 1, 2016

What's fresh about Boyz N The Hood is the contemporary L.A. setting, presented with care and energy by young writer/director Singleton.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 1, 2016

John Singleton, a stunningly gifted newcomer, directed this complex and nuanced look at an urgently important subject.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2016

It's a terrific movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 1, 2016

Emotionally, this film will leave you grim-faced and shaken. It hits hard where so many films aim and miss -- at the heart.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2016