Movies are one of the most influential art forms of our time. They both entertain and educate us, but most of all, they tell a story and have become a powerful means of representation for communities, ethnic groups, and cultures.
This list of black movies shows how black stories successfully found their own special place in cinema history and changed it forever. But is it just about black people? Definitely not. Most of these have been powerful enough to resonate with people’s personal experiences from every country, identity, and social background.
What do these films all have in common? The scripts either break new ground or go back to the classic elements that made a particular genre or style iconic, and that’s why they have become some of our all-time favorites!
The list takes into account some of the top-rated new black movies as well as several less-known (yet highly rated) films to add some spice and variety.
Did your favorite make it to the list? Feel free to share your own suggestion!
#1 Friday
1995 | 1h 31m | Directed by F. Gary Gray
Starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker and Nia Long
If you’re a young netizen, you certainly know this movie from the memes Daaaamn! and Bye, Felicia! Winner of a Def Movie Award, this buddy stoner film shows the misadventures of Craig and Smokey having to deal with a local bully that wants his money back. Director Quentin Tarantino included Friday as one of his 20 favorite movies from 1992 to 2009. That says a lot!
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#2 Boyz N The Hood
1991 | 1h 52m | Directed by John Singleton
Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut and Ice Cube
With 12 wins and 23 nominations, Boyz N The Hood is an unmissable gem among the best black movies. It follows the lives of three young men growing up together in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles and portrays several social issues, like racial discrimination, violence, and uncertain future prospects.
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#3 The Color Purple
1985 | 2h 34m | Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey
The historical drama that marked Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg’s careers. A black Southern woman struggles to find her identity after a life of abuse. The movie shows the crude reality of the early 20th century for African American women, an existence made of domestic violence, abuse, pedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism.
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#4 What’s Love Got To Do With It
1993 | 1h 58m | Directed by Brian Gibson
Starring Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne and RaéVen Kelly
Based on Tina Turner’s autobiography I, Tina. The movie shows the real story of Tina Turner, her rise to fame, and her courage to break free from an abusive marriage. In an interview, Tina Turner stated that she wished the film had contained more truth, but the studio felt that the public would not believe everything that actually happened to her. Definitely one of the black drama movies you don’t wanna miss.
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#5 Lean On Me
1989 | 1h 48m | Directed by John G. Avildsen
Starring Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd and Robert Guillaume
Based on a true story. Joe Louis Clark is appointed as the principal of a decaying inner-city school in danger of being turned over to state administration unless students improve their test scores. Morgan Freeman, cast as Joe Clark, spent time with the real-life Joe Clark to capture his mannerisms and sayings and portray a better performance. We can confidently say it did work out!
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#6 Menace II Society
1993 | 1h 37m | Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes
Starring Tyrin Turner, Jada Pinkett and Larenz Tate
MTV Movie Award winner for Best Movie. A young street hustler attempts to escape the temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life. Legendary rapper Tupac Shakur was initially cast to play Sharif but was then fired, which led to a physical fight with co-director Allen Hughes. For this, he was sentenced to fifteen days in jail.
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#7 Set It Off
1996 | 2h 3m | Directed by F. Gary Gray
Starring Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise
Four desperate women start robbing banks to solve their financial and personal problems. The first attempts are a huge success, but policemen are on their trail. With every robbery, their interests begin to change and their trust in each other is on the verge of collapsing. Starring Queen Latifah in her first leading role and Kimberly Elise in her film debut.
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#8 Love & Basketball
2000 | 2h 4m | Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Starring Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps and Alfre Woodard
Monica and Quincy share the same dream: take their deep love for basketball to the next level and play in the NBA. In the end, fate always seems to drag them to each other. With 13 wins and 15 nominations, Love & Basketball established itself as one of those classic black movies that will never tire you out, doesn’t matter how many times you rewatch it!
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#9 Poetic Justice
1993 | 1h 49m | Directed by John Singleton
Starring Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur and Regina King
After witnessing her boyfriend’s murder, Justice tries to cope with it through poetry. On her way to a convention, she meets an old face she would have preferred stayed in the past. But this meeting could have been decided by fate, as she now feels she’s not as lonely as before.
Some random fact? When Justice is driving in her car in the beginning, she passes Crenshaw Boulevard near the shopping center, damaged during the Los Angeles riots in 1992, which Tupac Shakur also joined.
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#10 Soul Food
1997 | 1h 55m | Directed by George Tillman Jr.
Starring Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox and Nia Long
The family matriarch Mama Joe has held her family together for decades. When she gets hospitalized for diabetes, everything starts to fall down. Her three daughters fight all the time, and it seems like there’s no solution until 11-year-old Ahmad, Mama Joe’s grandson, plans how to bring the family back together for another Sunday dinner.
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#11 Juice
1992 | 1h 35m | Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson
Starring Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins and Khalil Kain
The lives of four Harlem teenagers take an unexpected turn after robbing a corner grocery store. Follow their story as they struggle with police harassment, rival gangs, their families and the pursuit of happiness, which they refer to as “the juice”. Did you know Omar Epps learned how to spin as a DJ even before production began? A lot of what he does in the movie is authentic.
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#12 Malcolm X
1992 | 3h 22m | Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett and Albert Hall
With 19 wins and 24 nominations, the movie follows the epic life of Malcolm X, the influential black nationalist leader as presented in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The movie made history as the first non-documentary film that was given permission to film in Mecca. Director Spike Lee removed all mention of Louis Farrakhan from the film after receiving direct threats from him.
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#13 Coming To America
1988 | 1h 57m | Directed by John Landis
Starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones
After refusing an arranged marriage, an undercover pampered African prince travels to the Big Apple to find a wife that can genuinely love him for his personality, not for his title. This was the first time Eddie Murphy played multiple characters in the same film, which became his trademark.
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#14 New Jack City
1991 | 1h 37m | Directed by Mario Van Peebles
Starring Wesley Snipes, Ice-T and Allen Payne
When Nino ascends to power and takes over Harlem’s criminal scene, the maverick cop Scotty vows to bring him down for good. The story is based on the real-life Detroit gang The Chambers Brothers. Writer Barry Michael Cooper got the idea for the film after visiting Detroit and learning about the gang’s exploits.
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#15 Bad Boys
1995 | 1h 59m | Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Téa Leoni
72 hours. That’s how long detectives Marcus and Mike have to solve a case of stolen heroin and protect a witness to a murder in the 1997 film Bad Boys. In the movie, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence play two Miami narcotics detectives who also happen to be best friends. Director Michael Bay wasn’t the biggest fan of the script and often allowed Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to improvise on the spot.
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#16 House Party
1990 | 1h 40m | Directed by Reginald Hudlin
Starring Christopher Reid, Christopher Martin and Robin Harris
Two friends, Kid and Play, organize a house party, but neither can predict what’s in store for them on what could be the wildest night of their lives. What’s craziest is that the movie was shot at Play’s real-life home in Los Angeles! House Party is considered a cult classic, highlighting the “Golden Age of Hip-Hop music” when its culture was centered around parties, fun, and consensual affairs.
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#17 Ray
2004 | 2h 32m | Directed by Taylor Hackford
Starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington and Clifton Powell
Jamie Foxx portrays the legendary singer and musician Ray Charles, known as “The Genius”, from his humble beginnings in the South, his blindness at a very young age, to his rise to stardom. With 53 wins and 54 nominations, Ray earned its place as one of the best black movies ever made.
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#18 The Best Man
1999 | 2h | Directed by Malcolm D. Lee
Starring Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Harold Perrineau and Morris Chestnut
The life of Harper, a Chicago writer, becomes crazy when his almost-married best friend guesses that Harper’s brand new autobiographical novel is based on his own bride’s past. Actresses Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, and Monica Calhoun were cast to work together again one year later for Love & Basketball.
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#19 Training Day
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#20 The Wood
1999 | 1h 46m | Directed by Rick Famuyiwa
Starring Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs
On his wedding day, the groom goes missing before the ceremony. During his efforts to retrieve him, his friend and writer Mike tells the story of his youth. Ever since he met his friends at a new school, they shared the ups and downs of discovering life. Some trivia facts? Malinda Williams played the younger Alicia for the movie, and Sanaa Latham played Alicia as an adult. However, Malinda is actually one year older than Sanaa.
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#21 Waiting To Exhale
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#22 Life
1999 | 1h 48m | Directed by Ted Demme
Starring Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence and Obba Babatundé
In 1932, two strangers are wrongfully convicted and end up in prison. Here, they’ll develop a strong friendship that lasts them through the 20th century. Life premiered in theaters in the United States on April 16, 1999, which also happened to be Martin Lawrence’s 34th birthday.
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#23 Coach Carter
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#24 The Pursuit Of Happyness
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#25 Sister Act
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#26 Remember The Titans
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#27 Baby Boy
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#28 Antwone Fisher
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#29 American Gangster
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#30 A Thin Line Between Love And Hate
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#31 Soul
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#32 The Help
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#33 Beverly Hills Cop
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#34 I Am Legend
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#35 The Princess And The Frog
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#36 Django Unchained
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#37 Hotel Rwanda
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#38 To Kill A Mockingbird
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#39 John Q
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#40 Purple Rain
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#41 Glory
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#42 Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit
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#43 Amistad
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#44 Dolemite Is My Name
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#45 The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind
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#46 The Help
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#47 How Stella Got Her Groove Back
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#48 The Wiz
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#49 The Bodyguard
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#50 The Tuskegee Airmen
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#51 He Got Game
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#52 Precious
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#53 Enemy Of The State
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#54 The Secret Life Of Bees
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#55 Men Of Honor
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#56 Shaft
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#57 Harriet
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#58 Above The Rim
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#59 Ali
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#60 The Great Debaters
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#61 Akeelah And The Bee
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#62 Dreamgirls
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#63 Rosewood
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#64 Lady Sings The Blues
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#65 Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood
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#66 Dr. Dolittle
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#67 Notorious
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#68 The Hurricane
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#69 Super Fly
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#70 See You Yesterday
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#71 Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
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#72 Eve’s Bayou
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#73 Barbershop
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#74 Do The Right Thing
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#75 Why Did I Get Married?
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#76 Higher Learning
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#77 Jason’s Lyric
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#78 The Preacher’s Wife
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#79 Drumline
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#80 Hustle & Flow
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#81 The Jacksons: An American Dream
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#82 I Can Do Bad All By Myself
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#83 A Raisin In The Sun
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#84 Losing Isaiah
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#85 Two Can Play That Game
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#86 Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
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#87 In Too Deep
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#88 Us
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#89 Black And Blue
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#90 The Best Of Enemies
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#91 Juanita
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#92 Native Son
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#93 Sextuplets
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#94 High Flying Bird
#95 Amazing Grace
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#96 Sweetheart
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#97 Black Mother
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#98 Undercover Brother 2
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#99 Da 5 Bloods
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#100 Project Power
#101 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
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#102 His House
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#103 Miss Juneteenth
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#104 Antebellum
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#105 One Night In Miami
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#106 Bad Boys II
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#107 The Five Heartbeats
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#108 The Original Kings Of Comedy
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#109 The Players Club
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#110 Love Jones
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#111 The Temptations
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#112 Boomerang
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#113 Harlem Nights
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#114 Dead Presidents
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#115 Cooley High
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#116 Major Payne
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#117 The Nutty Professor
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#118 Daddy’s Little Girls
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#119 All About The Benjamins
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#120 Crooklyn
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#121 Friday After Next
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#122 Bébé’s Kids
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#123 Next Friday
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#124 South Central
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#125 A Low Down Dirty Shame
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#126 Cadillac Records
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#127 Queen & Slim
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#128 Just Mercy
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#129 What Men Want
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#130 Beats
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#131 The Intruder
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#132 Don’t Let Go
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#133 The Last Black Man In San Francisco
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#134 Point Blank
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#135 O.G.
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#136 Brian Banks
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#137 Guava Island
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#138 Luce
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#139 Horror Noire: A History Of Black Horror
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#140 Miss Virginia
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#141 Atlantics
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#142 Thriller
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#143 Jacob’s Ladder
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#144 Clemency
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#145 The Day Shall Come
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#146 The Burial Of Kojo
#147 The Banker
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#148 The Photograph
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#149 A Fall From Grace
#150 Uncorked
#151 Premature
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#152 Charm City Kings
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#153 Sylvie’s Love
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#154 Spell
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#155 Coffee And Kareem
#156 Cut Throat City
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#157 Paid In Full
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#158 Brown Sugar
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#159 Think Like A Man
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#160 The Brothers
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#161 Belly
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#162 Why Do Fools Fall In Love
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#163 Fresh
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#164 Atl
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#165 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion
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#166 A Madea Family Funeral
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#167 I Got The Hook-Up 2
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