Homelessness in Cinema: Movies That Depict Homelessness
The National Alliance to End Homelessness reports that “on a single night in January 2023, more than half a million people (653,104 people) were experiencing homelessness across the United States.” That is a figure that cannot be ignored. Yet homelessness is still somewhat of a taboo topic. Whether individuals feel embarrassed to discuss their living situation or some people feel uncomfortable coming to terms with the way others are forced to live, the lives of those experiencing homelessness is not talked about nearly enough. Homelessness is a subject that should be discussed and brought to light.
The effort to bring awareness to the plight of people battling homelessness is a large one, but there are small steps that can be taken to get started. Filmmakers have created important depictions of what homelessness looks like. A great way to open someone’s eyes about the plight of individuals experiencing homelessness is by viewing a movie that puts homelessness center stage, and shows how real homelessness is. Here is a list of movies that put a much needed spotlight on homelessness.
Lead Me Home
More than 500,000 people experience homelessness every night in America.
Lead Me Home is a documentary short that tells a few of these real-life stories giving the audience a rare, in-depth look at the scale, scope, and diversity of what it means to be unsheltered today while calling into question uninformed attitudes and outmoded policies.
Watch Lead Me Home on Netflix.
The Lady in the Van
The Lady in the Van tells the true story of Alan Bennett’s strained friendship with Miss Mary Shepherd, an eccentric homeless woman who Bennett befriended in the 1970s before allowing her temporarily to park her Bedford van in the driveway of his Camden house. She stayed there for fifteen years.
Watch The Lady in the Van on Prime Video.
The Fisher King
After shock jock Jack Lucas inadvertently provokes a caller into murdering a group of innocent people in a Manhattan bar, he grows depressed and turns to booze. As he’s about to hit rock bottom, Lucas meets a homeless man named Parry, whose wife was killed by the caller Lucas pushed to the brink. Mentally scarred by his loss, Parry spends his days searching for the Holy Grail. Lucas, feeling culpable for the poor man’s plight, pledges to help him in his quest.
Watch The Fisher King on Prime Video.
American Street Kid
Filmmaker Michael Leoni heads to the streets of LA to shine a light on the epidemic of homeless youth in America. The film follows his journey with homeless teens in Los Angeles as they expose the truth and illuminate the hardcore reality of this American crisis. These teens have traveled from across the country to converge in Los Angeles with the dream of finding something better. American Street Kid reveals the answers to the most crucial questions: How did they get there? And why can’t they get off the streets?
Watch American Street Kid on Tubi.
Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home
Narrated by Catherine Keener, Lost Angeles takes an uncompromising yet life-affirming look at the lives of eight remarkable individuals, people who have found a way to make a life for themselves within the community of homelessness.
Watch Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home on Tubi.
The Pursuit of Happyness
Life is a struggle for single father Chris Gardner. Evicted from their apartment, he and his young son find themselves alone with no place to go. Even though Chris eventually lands a job as an intern at a prestigious brokerage firm, the position pays no money. The pair must live in shelters and endure many hardships, but Chris refuses to give in to despair as he struggles to create a better life for himself and his son.
Watch The Pursuit of Happyness on Prime Video.
Dark Days
British director Marc Singer’s documentary, Dark Days, follows the lives of homeless people who found shelter in disused underground tunnels in Midtown Manhattan. After relocating to New York, Singer met and befriended a number of the city’s homeless population, who revealed to him how and where they live. Intrigued, the director decided to go and both share and chronicle their lives in an abandoned Amtrack tunnel near Pennsylvania Station.
Watch Dark Days on Tubi.
The Soloist
Los Angeles columnist Steve Lopez has reached an impasse in his life. His marriage is on the rocks, and he’s disillusioned with his job. Then, while wandering through L.A.’s Skid Row, he spots a homeless man playing a two-stringed violin with a virtuoso’s skill. Lopez initially thinks of the man, named Nathaniel Ayers, as just a story idea. But as he begins to unravel the mystery of Ayers’ strange fate, Lopez realizes that a change is happening within himself.
Watch The Soloist on Apple TV.
Disrupt Gives is a nonprofit organization focused on preventing homelessness and promoting long-term financial stability through rental assistance and financial literacy programs. Established in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, the organization is dedicated to helping individuals and families in financial distress by offering direct rental relief, educational workshops, and workforce training initiatives. For more information visit https://disruptgives.com/.