City of God

The film opens in medias res in the 1980s within the titular Rio de Janeiro favela. A gang led by the ruthless drug lord Li'l Zé chases a runaway chicken. The bird halts between the gang and the film’s narrator, Rocket (Buscapé), a young aspiring photographer. This tense standoff frames the nonlinear narrative, which chronicles the favela’s descent into violence over two decades.

=== 1960s: The rise of the Tender Trio ===

The story flashes back to the 1960s, when Cidade de Deus is a fledgling housing project plagued by poverty. Rocket, then a child, observes his older brother Goose (Marreco) and two friends—Shaggy (Cabeleira) and Clipper (Alicate)—known as the "Tender Trio." These amateur thieves rob gas trucks and businesses, sharing proceeds with residents who shield them from police. Their cautious approach contrasts with Li'l Dice (Dadinho), an ambitious preteen who idolizes the trio.

Li'l Dice manipulates the Tender Trio into raiding a motel, insisting they rob wealthy guests. The trio agrees but forbids killing. During the heist, Li'l Dice, left as a lookout, fabricates a police arrival, prompting the gang to flee. He then massacres the motel occupants, drawing intense police scrutiny. The trio disbands: Clipper joins a church, Shaggy dies in a police shootout, and Goose is murdered by Li'l Dice after stealing his loot. Witnessing this, Benny (Bené), Shaggy’s brother and Li'l Dice’s friend, becomes complicit in the betrayal.

=== 1970s: Li'l Zé’s reign and Rocket’s struggles ===

By the 1970s, the favela morphs into a violent drug hub. Li'l Dice, now "Li'l Zé," dominates the trade with Benny, eliminating rivals except Carrot, Benny’s childhood friend. Rocket, now a teenager, navigates the chaos, pursuing photography and a romance with Angélica. His life intersects with Li'l Zé when he visits a drug den during a raid; recognizing Rocket as Goose’s brother, Benny spares him.

Li'l Zé’s empire faces threats from the "Runts," preteen thieves disrupting Carrot’s territory. When Carrot refuses to act, Li'l Zé forces a Runt named Steak n’ Fries (Filé com Fritas) to kill a peer, cementing his tyranny. Meanwhile, Rocket’s attempts at honest work fail after the Runts loot his supermarket job. He nearly turns to crime but is dissuaded by Knockout Ned (Mané Galinha), a principled bus clerk and ex-Army sharpshooter.

Benny, seeking escape, plans to leave with Angélica. At his farewell party, a conflict erupts when Li'l Zé confronts Benny over abandoning him. Blacky (Neguinho), a disgruntled dealer who had his turf stolen by Zé in the earlier raid, accidentally shoots and kills Benny during a botched assassination attempt. Carrot, fearing retaliation, kills Blacky. Grief-stricken, Li'l Zé targets Carrot but first assaults Ned and rapes his girlfriend. Ned retaliates by allying with Carrot, sparking a gang war.

=== 1981: Escalation and resolution ===

A year later, the war rages on. Ned, now a media figure, is betrayed by his own vengeance, killing a guard during a bank robbery. Rocket, now working for Jornal do Brasil, photographs the chaos. After Li'l Zé demands photos of his gang, Rocket’s images are accidentally published without consent. While he believes that this will endanger his life and forbid him from returning to the favela, unbeknownst to him, it is revealed that Li'l Zé was trying to gain the media spotlight anyway and approves of the photos. Marina, the journalist who published the photos, offers for Rocket to spend a night at her place as a form of apology, leading to him finally losing his virginity.

The narrative returns to the opening chicken chase. Amid a police standoff, Carrot’s gang ambushes Li'l Zé. Ned kills Li'l Zé’s ally Tiago but is slain by Otto, the son of the bank guard who earlier witnessed his father's murder at the hands of Ned. The police arrest Li'l Zé and Carrot but release the former after seizing the last of his assets as a bribe. The Runts, aspiring to power and seeking revenge for their murdered comrade, charge Li'l Ze and knock him to the ground, before killing him by shooting him in the back dozens of times, literally and metaphorically 'backstabbing' him. Rocket photographs the corrupt exchange but opts to publish Li'l Zé’s corpse, securing his journalism career over exposing police corruption, knowing that the latter could make him a target of the police.

The film concludes with the Runts plotting their takeover, perpetuating the cycle of violence. Rocket’s choice underscores his role as an observer, capturing the favela’s brutal reality while seeking escape through his art.