On My Block

Delicate, deeply felt, and painfully realistic, this look at a group of four friends from a rough Los Angeles neighborhood is a bittersweet delight. Ruby, Caesar, Monse, and Jamal don't exactly have it easy in On My Block. Gunfire is so common in their South Central stomping grounds that the friends have made a game out of trying to figure out the caliber of the gun just from the sound. On the way home from school, they pass drug dealers and gangs "jumping in" new members by beating them. Still, together the four friends have found tenderness between them, and they've relied on each other and their foursome since childhood. 

But now things are changing, and each of the four has big problems. Caesar's gangbanger brother Oscar (Julio Macias) is out of jail, and he's pressuring his baby brother to join in the gang. Jamal doesn't want to play football like his sports-legend father expects. Ruby's grandmother's apartment gets flooded, and she has to share Ruby's bedroom. Monse's writing talent might not be enough to help her get to college and make some kind of future for herself. Maybe even tougher: The friends are starting high school, where, Ruby's big brother Mario (Danny Ramirez) tells them, they have to stick together to survive. That's not easy, either. But in the world they live in, a friend who stands by you when times are tough may be the only thing these lovable, street-smart teens can rely on.