What is the iRankMovies score for City of God?

Name: City of God
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Genre: crime, drama
Released: 2002
Duration: 2 h 9 min
Rating: 8.6

City of God has an iRankMovies score of 85.7/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

City of God (2002)

Cidade de Deus

If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you.

Release:2002

Runtime:2h 9m

Country:Brazil

Director:Fernando Meirelles

Language:Portuguese

Genre

CrimeDrama

See the best crime movies →

Keywords

Street GangPhotographerGangsterRio De JaneiroGang WarGhettoBased On True StoryComing Of Age

iRank86

City of God rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.6/10· 869K votes

Rotten Tomatoes91%

Metacritic79%

TMDb8.429/10· 8K votes

With 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.6/10 on IMDb and 79/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About City of God

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.

Cast of City of God

Alexandre Rodrigues
as Buscapé - Rocket
Leandro Firmino
as Zé Pequeno - Li'l Zé
Phellipe Haagensen
as Bené - Benny
Douglas Silva
as Dadinho - Li'l Dice
Jonathan Haagensen
as Cabeleira - Shaggy
Matheus Nachtergaele
as Sandro Cenoura - Carrot
Seu Jorge
as Mané Galinha - Knockout Ned
Jefechander Suplino
as Alicate - Clipper
Alice Braga
as Angélica
E
Emerson Gomes
as Barbantinho - Stringy
Edson Oliveira
as Barbantinho Adulto - Older Stringy
Michel Gomes
as Bené Criança - Young Benny

City of God facts

Original title: Cidade de Deus
Budget: $3.3M
Box office: $30.6M

Our take on City of God

Fernando Meirelles's 2002 landmark tears through decades of gang violence in Rio's favelas, following two boys whose paths diverge — one toward the camera, one toward the gun. Kinetic, dazzling and brutal, it turns real tragedy into breathless cinema. If its propulsive energy and moral weight gripped you, GoodFellas shares its electric crime chronicle, and the great gangster epics trade in the same intoxication and dread.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources