Film

Concrete Cowboy

Name: Concrete Cowboy
Genre: Drama, Western
Released: 2020
Cast: Caleb McLaughlin, Idris Elba, Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint

Coming-of-age

A teen sent to his estranged father's side discovers belonging in Philadelphia's real Black cowboy community. Concrete Cowboy is a quietly radical film about lineage, masculinity, and resistance—part coming-of-age story, part western, entirely grounded in lived culture. It's for anyone who wants cinema that honors communities usually invisible to mainstream film.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like coming-of-age stories where the emotional weight sits in quiet father-son friction and in a community's everyday rituals, with the horses and city streets feeling lived-in rather than staged.

Skip it if you want a fast plot with steady incident, since much of the running time goes to stable routines, slow talk and the simmering tension between a teen and the parent he barely knows.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours at an unhurried pace, with long stretches of looking and listening between the dialogue, and a willingness to let the mood build rather than arrive.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Moonlight2016

A tender, formally innovative portrait of Black masculinity and identity across three life stages. Like Concrete Cowboy, it refuses to reduce its characters to struggle, insisting on interiority and grace.

But Deliberately paced and poetic rather than plot-driven. If you need narrative momentum, this will feel slow.

The Fits2016

A hypnotic film about a girl joining a dance crew in Cincinnati, built on similar quiet observation of community ritual and self-discovery. Both films trust the specificity of their worlds.

But Experimental and oblique. It suggests rather than explains, which frustrates viewers who want clarity.

Dope2015

A smart, stylish coming-of-age set in Inglewood's Black nerd culture. Shares Concrete Cowboy's refusal to make marginalized communities palatable for white audiences.

But Tonal shifts between comedy and drama that don't always land. The second half feels busier and less assured.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Concrete Cowboy

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Lonesome Dove

Both films use the Western form to explore masculine community and legacy outside mainstream frames. Lonesome Dove is the literary ancestor—it asks what binds men across decades, and so does Concrete Cowboy.

An epic miniseries about aging ex-Rangers driving cattle from Texas to Montana. It's a Western that understands that the genre is fundamentally about how men build lives and meaning together.

But It's 1989 television, which means it's long, episodic, and less visually polished than modern work. Patience required.

Mudbound2017

A multigenerational Mississippi story about family, land, and the cost of belonging. Both films understand how deeply place and lineage shape who we become.

But Covers brutal racial violence. It's necessary and unflinching, not entertainment.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco2019

A poetic meditation on inheritance, gentrification, and what home means. Operates in similar register—elegiac, specific, rooted in a particular community's soul.

But Formally experimental and elliptical. Less a traditional narrative than a fugue on loss and memory.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco poster

Newsies1992

A musical about young men finding solidarity and purpose through a shared enterprise. Different genre, same emotional architecture—belonging forged through collective identity.

But It's a tap-dancing musical from 1992. That's either entirely your thing or completely not.

The Hate U Give2018

Immensely watchable film about a teen finding her voice within her community. Both balance personal growth with larger social contexts.

But Sometimes feels like it's explaining itself to an imagined white audience rather than trusting the viewer.

Krisha2016

Shot with family and friends in Austin, it's a rawly intimate story about recovery and return. Operates with similar authenticity and local specificity.

But Extremely rough around the edges. The acting is untrained and sometimes the film gets lost in its own realism.

Marlon2017

Both center on Black father-son relationships that have broken down and must be reconstructed with humility. Both insist that this work, unglamorous and ongoing, is the whole story worth telling.

A sitcom that's actually a searching examination of fatherhood, failure, and the work of showing up. Funny, tender, and real in ways most comedy refuses to be.

But It was cancelled after two seasons. Also, calling it a sitcom undersells it—genre confusion might put off people expecting laughs.