It’s hard to shake off the life you’ve grown into, but more so on the streets with a high crime rate. Menace II Society introduced viewers to that life with a sudden shocking opening that perfectly makes clear how fast violence can strike and permanently mark one’s life forever. It’s a familiar plot line, but directors Albert and Allen Hughes take their music video background to depict Caine’s reality with a strong sense of hip-hip style, an honest reckoning of the self-destructive side of the culture, and the tragedy over not being able to accept the out even when it hurts you. Menace II Society is bleak, but it packs the needed power and intensity into its message.
"Fierce, violent and searing in its observation, the film makes previous excursions seem like a stroll through the park."
— Leonard Klady
A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.
After growing up in the Jordan Downs housing projects, 18-year-old Caine Lawson graduates from high school, though he has to make a choice between staying in the violent life that’s all he’s known or leaving the city for good.
The first scene!
Please care about the life you’re living.
Cannes
1 nomination
Spirit Awards
1 win, 2 nominations
