Boyz n the Hood

Ten-year-old Tre Styles lives with his mother Reva, in Inglewood, near Los Angeles International Airport. After Tre gets into a fight at school, his teacher informs Reva that he is highly intelligent but has a volatile temper and lacks respect for authority. Concerned about Tre's future, Reva sends him to live in Crenshaw with his father, Jason "Furious" Styles, from whom she hopes Tre will learn valuable life lessons and to be able to mature, but assures him he will be permitted to return to her one day.

Tre soon reunites with his friends, Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, Doughboy's maternal half-brother Ricky, and Chris, their mutual friend. Furious immediately has Tre rake the leaves off the front lawn, informing him of work and responsibility. Chris sneers at Furious' offer to pay them for raking the leaves, implying he makes more participating in criminal activity. That night, a burglar enters the house and Tre hears his father shooting as he flees. They wait for the police, with two officers arriving an hour later. The white officer is civil and professional, while the black officer is hostile and displays a contempt of other black men.

The next day, Tre, Ricky, Doughboy and Chris venture to a nearby neighborhood where Chris knows the location of a dead human body. While there, a group of adolescents loitering and drinking on a sidewalk are confrontational with the kids about their discovery of the body. One of the adolescents tricks Ricky into throwing him his football. Doughboy is disgusted with his brother and tells him he'll never get the ball back. Doughboy tries to retrieve it anyway, but is beaten and kicked by the putative ball thief. While the older boys walk away, one of them gives Ricky his ball back. Later in the day, Furious goes fishing with Tre, telling him of his military experience in the Vietnam War. He advises Tre to never join the Army, arguing that a black man has no place in the Army. When Tre and Furious return home, they see Doughboy and Chris being arrested for shoplifting with an embarrassed Brenda looking on from her porch.

Seven years later at a BBQ party, Doughboy, now a young adult who has joined the Crips gang,[6] is celebrating his recent release from jail, along with most of his friends, including Chris, who is now paralyzed and uses a wheelchair as a result of an implied gun shot wound, and new friends Dooky and Monster, also Crip members. Ricky, who is now a star running back for Crenshaw High School, lives with his single mother Brenda, his girlfriend Shanice, and their infant son. Tre has grown into a mature and responsible teenager, works at a clothing shop at the Fox Hills Mall, and aspires to attend college with his girlfriend, Brandi. His relationship with her is strained over Tre's desire to have sex, while Brandi, a devout Catholic, wishes to wait until after marriage.

Ricky hopes to win a scholarship from the University of Southern California. During a visit from a recruiter, Ricky learns that he must score at least a 700 on the SATs in order to qualify. Ricky and Tre both take the test together, and they visit Furious at work after. Furious takes them to Compton to talk about the dangers of decreasing property values in the black community.

That night, during a local street racing gathering, Ricky is rudely bumped by Ferris, a Bloods gang member who was recently confrontational with Tre when Tre walked across a street in front of his car. This leads to an argument which results in Doughboy brandishing a handgun, warding off the Blood posse. Moments later, Ferris fires a submachine gun into the air from his car, causing everyone to panic and flee. Tre leaves with Ricky and notes his desire to leave Los Angeles, but they are soon pulled over by the police. The lead officer turns out to be the same one who responded to the burglary call made by Furious seven years earlier. He intimidates and threatens Tre with his gun. Tre visits Brandi's house and breaks down. After she consoles him, they have sex for the first time.

The next day, Ricky and Doughboy get into a fight. While Ricky and Tre walk to a nearby store, they see Ferris and the Bloods from the street racing gathering driving around the neighborhood and in an attempt to avoid them, the two cut through the back alleyways and Ricky suggests that they split up. As Tre turns back to Ricky, the rivals' car cuts off Ricky's path to exit the alley. Ricky turns to run, but one of Ferris' men shoots him to death with a double-barreled shotgun.

Doughboy, Chris, Dooky, and Monster sense trouble, but catch up with Tre too late. Devastated and helpless, the five surviving boys carry Ricky's lifeless body back home. When Brenda and Shanice see Ricky's corpse, they break down in tears and blame Doughboy, who unsuccessfully tries to comfort them and explain the truth. That night, a distraught Brenda reads Ricky's SAT results, discovering he scored a 710, more than enough to qualify for the scholarship.

The remaining boys vow vengeance on Ricky's assailants. Furious finds Tre preparing to take his .357 Magnum, but convinces Tre to abandon his plans for revenge. Shortly after, Tre sneaks out to join Doughboy, Dooky, and Monster. That night, as the four search the area in Doughboy's convertible for Ricky's killers, Tre asks to be let out of the car and returns home. He realizes that Furious was right to keep him from falling into an endless cycle of violence.

When Tre gets home, Furious is waiting for him, but both retreat into their bedrooms without saying a word. Doughboy, Dooky and Monster find the three assailants in a parking lot of a fast food restaurant, and prepare a drive-by shooting. Sensing their presence, the Bloods spot the car and attempt to flee, only for Monster to shoot all three of them with an AK-47, killing one, then wounding Ricky's killer, and Ferris. Doughboy exits the car, shoots the one who shot Ricky, and then confronts Ferris. Ferris denies "pulling the trigger" and insults Doughboy, who executes him in response.

The next morning, Doughboy visits Tre and understands his reasons for wanting out of the car. Doughboy knows that he will eventually face retaliation for the murder he committed the previous evening and accepts the consequences of his crime-ridden lifestyle. He plaintively questions why America does not care about the plight of those in the ghetto, and sorrowfully notes he has no family after Ricky's death and Brenda's disowning of him. Tre embraces him and tells Doughboy he still has one brother left.

The epilogue reveals that Doughboy saw Ricky buried the next day and was himself murdered two weeks later. Tre and Brandi attend Morehouse and Spelman colleges in Atlanta, respectively.

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 96% based on 69 reviews and an average score of 8.41/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Well-acted and thematically rich, Boyz N the Hood observes urban America with far more depth and compassion than many of the like-minded films its success inspired."[10] At Metacritic, the film received an average score of 76 out of 100 based on 20 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[11]

Boyz n the Hood kickstarted the acting careers of Gooding, Chestnut and Long, who were relatively unknown before it. It also launched Ice Cube's career as a Hollywood actor, and was Angela Bassett's and Regina King's first significant film role.[2]

The film has been referenced many times in other works, including works by Lupe Fiasco, Game, and Ice Cube himself. In 1994, British jungle DJ duo Remarc and Lewi produced a song titled "Ricky". The song itself is built up of various sound bites from the movie, particularly the scene where Ricky is murdered. Ice Cube also references the film in the song "Check Yo Self", stating "I make dough but don't call me Dough Boy / This ain't no fucking motion picture". In the 2008 movie Be Kind Rewind, there is a small reference to the scene where Ricky is shot.

On the July 12, 2011, episode of her self-titled talk show, Mo'Nique celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of Boyz n the Hood with the director John Singleton, Cuba Gooding Jr., Yo-Yo, and Regina King. American rapper Vince Staples references the scene where Ricky gets shot in the back in the song "Norf Norf", informing the listener of the film's impact on his upbringing.

In 2016, 21 Savage referenced Ricky's murder in the song "No Heart", stating "21 Savage not Boyz N The Hood but I pull up on you / Shoot yo' ass in the back".