

City of God
If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you.
In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.
TMDB
8.4/10
8,533 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $3.3M
- Box office
- $30.6M
- Language
- Portuguese
- police brutality
- street gang
- photographer
- gangster
- journalism
- rio de janeiro
- gang war
- ghetto
- based on true story
- coming of age
- favela
- 1960s
Top billed cast
















Behind the camera
Director
Writers
Produced in
Brazil, France, Germany
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for India. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Videos
Release dates
IndiaIN
- TheatricalA18 Jan 2007
United StatesUS
- PremiereTelluride Film Festival31 Aug 2002
- Theatrical (limited)R17 Jan 2003
- TheatricalR13 Feb 2004
United KingdomGB
- PremiereBFI London Film Festival8 Nov 2002
- Theatrical183 Jan 2003
- Theatrical (limited)21st Anniversary Re-Release23 Feb 2024
United Arab EmiratesAE
- TV6 Jul 2008
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalR 18+13 Mar 2003
CanadaCA
- Premiere18AToronto International Film Festival6 Sept 2002
ArgentinaAR
- PremiereMar del Plata Film Festival6 Mar 2003
- Theatrical20 Mar 2003
AustriaAT
- Theatrical9 May 2003
BelgiumBE
- Theatrical7 May 2003
BrazilBR
- Theatrical1630 Aug 2002
- TheatricalRe-release6 Feb 2004
ChinaCN
- PremiereBeijing International Film Festival18 Apr 2015
ColombiaCO
- PremiereCartagena Film Festival1 Feb 2003
Frequently asked questions
City of God was released on 30 August 2002.
Audience reviews
2- C
Crazypiglady
5/6/2023
It’s a great film and well worthy of its the respect it has. It’s gruelling too, the 18 rating is due to the thread running through the film of continuous and ruthless violence of gangs trying to control their drug area. The is the story told through the eyes of ‘Rocket’ who avoids getting in to the gang war of his brother and friends by trying to find a safer life. The film combines slick production without losi…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
5/20/2024
Told by way of an occasionally narrated retrospective, "Rocket" (Alexandre Rodrigues) tells us a story of his childhood in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Growing up in a community of newly built boxes, without power or plumbing, that reminded me of a row of concrete beach huts, the community is pretty lawless. The crime is largely to confined to pettier crimes, but as aspirations grow so does the scale of the crimi…
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