---
title: "City of God"
year: 2002
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/city-of-god"
fi1m_id: "city-of-god"
imdb_id: "tt0317248"
tmdb_id: 598
wikidata_id: "Q220741"
fi1m_score: 86
critics_score: 81
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-09-14"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:18.447776+00:00"
region: "MX"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# City of God (2002)

Directed by Fernando Meirelles · 2h 09m · RTC C · Drama, Crime

## Identity

City of God

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/city-of-god
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** city-of-god
- **IMDb ID:** tt0317248
- **TMDB ID:** 598
- **Wikidata ID:** Q220741
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/598, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q220741

**Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 81 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* The boys have guns, and we kept wishing someone would send them home

> Fernando Meirelles’s crime film is frightening, humane and told with exceptional clarity at speed. We recommend it warmly, though the cutting and music sometimes make its violence more exciting than the suffering warrants.

## Synopsis

Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues) is one of the young people growing up amid the drug trade and gang warfare in a Rio favela. Across several decades, *City of God* follows the neighbourhood as children enter a criminal life and armed boys come to control its streets. Leandro Firmino plays Zé Pequeno, Douglas Silva plays Dadinho and Phellipe Haagensen plays Bené. The story moves backwards and forwards through their lives, tracing how violence becomes part of growing up. Fernando Meirelles directs, with Bráulio Mantovani adapting a novel by Paulo Lins.

## Review

*City of God* is a forceful, frightening crime film, and we recommend it with one reservation: it sometimes makes the violence too easy to enjoy. Fernando Meirelles follows gang warfare in a Rio favela across decades, showing how quickly children learn what a gun can buy them. Bráulio Mantovani’s screenplay, adapted from Paulo Lins’s novel, has a crowded history to tell. It moves between lives and periods without making us feel we have been handed a list of names to memorise.

The opening chicken chase is a fair warning about how Meirelles intends to proceed. Daniel Rezende cuts it with such speed that a small pursuit becomes an event, and the excitement is inseparable from the threat. His editing remains remarkably clear when the story starts moving backwards and forwards in time; we can follow the connections without having every change laboriously explained. That clarity matters in a film with this many people. It leaves us free to notice behaviour rather than spend the next scene working out where we are.

César Charlone’s location photography keeps us close to the movement through the favela, with a restless camera that can make watching feel precarious. The energy works because we can still follow where people are going. Tulé Peak’s production design makes the neighbourhood feel cramped, with little space for people to escape one another. Antonio Pinto and Ed Cortês supply an energetic score that pushes the action along. Together, the camera, cutting and music occasionally make this violent place feel a little too inviting.

Alexandre Rodrigues is valuable as Buscapé because he gives the film a human scale amid all this activity. Leandro Firmino’s Zé Pequeno is frightening without the dignity that crime films so often grant their powerful men, while Phellipe Haagensen brings welcome warmth to Bené. The performances allow room for humour and tenderness without making the brutality seem less severe. We believe in people who might have had quite ordinary lives, which makes watching them become accustomed to violence harder to bear.

We were horrified by the armed children, because their youth remains so visible even when they are behaving like men who expect obedience. Meirelles does not need to explain what has gone wrong when a boy can command a street with a weapon. The film’s coming-of-age story becomes frightening precisely because we can see what these children are learning. The pace contributes to that fear: violence spreads before anyone has much time to question what they are doing.

The reservation is about how eagerly Meirelles keeps us entertained along the way. A flourish of cutting can arrive before the previous violence has had time to register, and we sometimes wanted the film to stay still with the people it had hurt. Mantovani’s voiceover also supplies emphasis where the images have already done enough. The storytelling is clear, but its insistence on carrying us into the next incident can leave less space for grief or uncertainty than these lives deserve.

Within the gangster film, this is an unusually persuasive account of how early children are drawn into the trade. Its criminals can be funny, sociable and compelling company, and Meirelles understands how that appeal helps violence become familiar. At 129 minutes, the film demands attention without often testing patience, although its relentless pace may exhaust some viewers. See it, but leave time afterwards for something quieter than another crime film.

*Fi1m score 86, published 14 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond strongly to City of God, with praise clustering around Fernando Meirelles’s urgent storytelling, the location photography and the editing’s speed and clarity. The non-professional cast also earns repeated notice for finding tenderness and humour amid the gang violence. Across the positive reviews, the favela emerges as more than a setting: its changing conditions and the children drawn into crime give the film its force.

The main disagreement concerns what the film’s style does to its subject. Sight and Sound sees a clear examination of violence’s causes and consequences, while Variety worries that the slickness sometimes approaches glamour. Slant Magazine admires the storytelling but finds too little moral ambiguity. The New Yorker offers the sharpest reservation, arguing that the energy and violence largely fail to leave a lasting emotional mark. The spread is broadly favourable, then, but the reservations concern more than excessive pace.

## Straight answers

**Is City of God worth watching?**

*City of God* is worth watching for anyone who can take a fast, frightening crime film about children with guns, and we scored it 86. Fernando Meirelles tells a crowded story across decades with exceptional clarity, and the performances keep it humane. Our one reservation is that the cutting and music sometimes make the violence more exciting than the suffering warrants.

**How long is City of God, and what is it rated?**

*City of God* runs 2h 09m and is rated C by the RTC in Mexico. It is a drama and crime film.

**Where can I watch City of God in Mexico?**

*City of God* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Mexico, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from MX$59.00. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is City of God, and is it suitable for children?**

*City of God* is an 18 certificate in the UK and R in the US, and it earns them: the film is built around gang warfare in a Rio favela, with armed children killing and commanding streets. We found the young gunmen horrifying rather than thrilling. It is not for children, and the relentless pace and casual brutality may exhaust squeamish adults too.

**How does City of God compare to Pixote?**

*City of God* is the faster and more entertaining of the two, while [*Pixote*](https://film.one/film/pixote) is the bleaker and more patient. Meirelles keeps a large story moving with restless cutting and music; Héctor Babenco stays with his children through adult neglect and offers even less comfort. Choose *City of God* for clarity and energy, *Pixote* if you can bear a slower, harder watch.

**Is City of God based on a true story or a book?**

*City of God* is based on a novel by Paulo Lins, adapted for the screen by Bráulio Mantovani. The film follows a Rio favela across several decades as children enter the drug trade, moving backwards and forwards through their lives. You do not need to know the book; Mantovani's screenplay makes the crowded history easy to follow on its own.

**What should I watch after City of God?**

After *City of God*, try [*Pixote*](https://film.one/film/pixote) (1980, Fi1m 88): Another Brazilian account of childhood shaped by crime, with even less comfort. Then [*La Haine*](https://film.one/film/la-haine) (1995, Fi1m 90): Young men, police pressure and neighbourhood loyalties, with room for idle conversation; and [*Gomorrah*](https://film.one/film/gomorrah) (2008, Fi1m 84): Criminal power worked through everyday routines, with the glamour carefully drained away.

### Reviews we read (12)

- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (95/100, inferred): The film is a breathtaking, terrifying plunge into the slum gangs of Rio that announces director Fernando Meirelles as a major talent. It earns comparison to Scorsese’s GoodFellas through its urgent storytelling and visual invention. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/city-of-god-2003)
- **Sight and Sound**, Paul Julian Smith (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's epic sweep across three decades of gang warfare and its clinical depiction of violence's causes and consequences rather than glorifying it. The review singles out the brilliant stylisation, non-professional cast, and how it testifies to the creativity of Brazil's underclass. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/far-from-glorying-violence-meirelles-shows-us-its-consequences-city-god-reviewed-2003)
- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an electrifying, overwhelming thriller that is part coming-of-age story and part gang-warfare epic, with all the dials cranked up to 11. They single out its mythic opening chicken-chase sequence and the way it portrays the favela itself as the central character through its grim, inhuman environment. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/03/artsfeatures2)
- **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (85/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film's split-second direction, stylistic bravado paired with gritty realism, and non-professional cast performances that reveal tenderness and humor amid brutality. It convincingly portrays urban decay and has prompted real-world policy reassessment. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/city-of-god-1798198197)
- **Variety**, David Rooney (80/100, inferred): The film delivers a bruising, visceral chronicle of drug trade and gang warfare in Rio’s slums that draws kids into crime as their only option. Its impressive craftsmanship, sharp storytelling, and non-pro cast make the epic fly despite some slickness that borders on glamorizing the setting. [Read](https://variety.com/2002/film/reviews/city-of-god-1200549576/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film's MTV-style spectacle urgent but lacking moral ambiguities, with gratuitous voiceover references. Meirelles's storytelling and jittery lyricism are remarkable, evoking Tarantino and Scorsese influences while delivering excitement and crossover appeal. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/city-of-god/)
- **Time Out**, GA (70/100, inferred): The review finds the film impressive overall despite being at times a little too hyperkinetic and punchy. It singles out the superb location photography, pacy editing, ingenious narrative approach, choreographed action, and terrific non-professional performances. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/city-of-god)
- **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (65/100, inferred): Meirelles’s furiously stylish film about favela gangs delivers a prodigious show of energy and visceral violence but ultimately leaves the viewer untouched. It excels in one standout scene showing a child’s terror but otherwise feels too rampagingly high-spirited to land lasting bruises. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/01/20/trouble-in-the-streets)
- **Screen Daily**: The critic calls it a real stunner with thrilling technical brilliance on a gritty, ambitious story spanning decades in a Rio favela. It singles out the narrative clarity, superb non-pro cast, emotional impact, and compassionate quality that gives it crossover potential. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/city-of-god-cidade-de-deus/409974.article)
- **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden (Critic's Pick): Fernando Meirelles’s film is a scorching history of violence in Rio’s slums that traces the neighborhood’s descent into a war zone ruled by armed children. It stands out for its profoundly unsettling images of boy soldiers and gang life. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/17/movies/film-review-boys-soldiering-in-an-army-of-crime.html)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray: The critic describes the film as a living portrait of youth rage and criminality in an anarchic structure where law is the enemy and corruption the currency, with God and hope absent. It praises the director's commitment to cinematic honesty, the preparation with local non-actors, and the energetic, vital camerawork and soundtrack that convey the story's frenetic quality. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/city-of-god-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)
- **Paste**, J. Robert Parks: The Brazilian City of God is a bravura piece of filmmaking that takes the gangster movie and brings it powerfully into the 21st century. Its intricate narrative—told in both flashbacks and flash-forwards—is tautly compelling, while its cinematography and editing are exhilarating. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/city-of-god-dvd)

## Details

- **Director:** Fernando Meirelles
- **Director:** Fernando Meirelles
- **Screenplay:** Bráulio Mantovani
- **Novel:** Paulo Lins
- **Cinematography:** César Charlone
- **Editor:** Daniel Rezende
- **Music:** Ed Cortês, Antonio Pinto
- **Production design:** Tulé Peak
- **Costume design:** Bia Salgado, Inês Salgado
- **Producer:** Hank Levine, Juliette Renaud, Mauricio Andrade Ramos
- **Cast:** Alexandre Rodrigues as Buscapé; Leandro Firmino as Zé Pequeno / Dadinho; Phellipe Haagensen as Bené; Douglas Silva as Dadinho; Jonathan Haagensen as Cabeleira; Matheus Nachtergaele as Sandro Cenoura; Seu Jorge as Mané Galinha; Jefechander Suplino as Alicate
- **Runtime:** 2h 09m
- **Certificate (RTC):** C
- **Release (Mexico):** 1 May 2003
- **Genres:** Drama, Crime
- **Budget:** $3 million
- **Box office:** $31 million

## Where to watch in Mexico

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Amazon Prime Video: rent MX$59.00, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy MX$59.00, hd

*Checked 2026-09-14.*

Also available in: AR, AT, BR, CH, CL, CO, DK, EC, ES, FI, FR, JP, MX, NO, PA, PE, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2004: Best Cinematography (nominated); Best Director (nominated); Best Film Editing (nominated); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 2003: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Non-European Film 2002: European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Pixote* (1980), Fi1m 88: Another Brazilian account of childhood shaped by crime, with even less comfort. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pixote.md)
- *La Haine* (1995), Fi1m 90: Young men, police pressure and neighbourhood loyalties, with room for idle conversation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/la-haine.md)
- *Gomorrah* (2008), Fi1m 84: Criminal power worked through everyday routines, with the glamour carefully drained away. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/gomorrah.md)
- *The Battle of Algiers* (1966), Fi1m 93: Streets and crowds carry the story, while the violence resists comfortable distance. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-battle-of-algiers.md)
- *Sonatine* (1993): Takeshi Kitano gives gangsters long stretches of idleness, making violence feel stranger.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/city-of-god