With ongoing wars and an increasingly drastic refugee crisis, there are more than 100 million people without shelter of any kind globally, and the exact figure is likely much higher. Despite being one of the most dominating and powerful countries on the planet, the United States currently has an estimated half a million people living without shelter. Since roughly the 1980s, American cinema has depicted the heartbreaking shortcomings of our society, showcasing the struggles so many individuals go through just to survive and make ends meet.
The homelessness epidemic is a constant reality that must be addressed, and oftentimes filmmakers set out to depict the harsh truths of the displaced and downtrodden, giving audiences an insight to their everyday plight and challenges. With America in the state of a serious housing crisis, in which homes are more expensive and unattainable than ever before, there will likely be more powerful films to chronicle this urgent situation.
From captivating documentaries to engrossing biographical dramas, feel-good dramedies to tear-jerking pictures, the silver screen has tackled the homelessness issue and provided thought-provoking insight and awareness. Will Smith earned an Oscar nomination when he portrayed Chris Gardner alongside the actor’s son Jaden in The Pursuit of Happyness, movingly showing the single father’s efforts to build a better future for his child while living on the streets. Maggie Smith reprised her stage play role as Mary Shepherd in the uplifting film The Lady in the Van, appearing as an elderly woman living out of a Bedford van in Camden for 15 years. These are some of the best movies to shine a light on homelessness.
8 The Cats of Mirikitani
Lucid Dreaming
Linda Hattendorf directed the 2006 documentary The Cats of Mirikitani, which depicts the filmmaker’s relationship with a Japanese American artist named Jimmy Mirikitani, an elderly homeless painter who sells his creations primarily featuring cats but also devastating scenes of his imprisonment in an internment camp during World War II. Living on the streets of Manhattan in 2001, Hattendorf met and eventually invited Mirikitani to stay with her after 9/11 devastated his neighborhood.
Together, the duo worked to re-integrate the artist into society by tracking down his social security card and passport while eventually reuniting the man with his surviving sister and distant cousin. The uplifting picture demonstrates Hattendorf’s efforts to find Mirikitani his own apartment and delves into his tragic backstory and the circumstances leading up to him becoming homeless in New York.
7 The Pursuit of Happyness
Sony Pictures Releasing
The always exceptional Will Smith teamed up with his son Jaden to headline the 2006 biographical drama The Pursuit of Happyness, telling the touching story of businessman and motivational speaker Chris Garnder as he struggled with being homeless over the course of a year in San Francisco in 1981. Having been evicted with his five-year-old Christopher Jr. and with less than $22 to his name, Chris attempts to utilize his salesman background in order to save up funds to get them out of homeless shelters and off the streets for good.
The real Chris Gardner felt it was crucial he share his experience in order to address widespread social issues, stating, “When I talk about alcoholism in the household, domestic violence, child abuse, illiteracy, and all of those issues — those are universal issues; those are not just confined to ZIP codes.”
6 The Lady in the Van
Based on the memoir of the same name by Alan Bennett, the 2015 British dramedy The Lady in the Van chronicles the 15-year relationship the author had with Mary Shepherd, an eccentric elderly woman who “temporarily” parked her dilapidated Bedford van in Bennett’s driveway in Camden, eventually residing there for a decade-and-a-half. The captivating film depicts the pair’s endearing interactions, as Bennett eventually discovers the mysterious homeless lady was once in fact a revered concert pianist, having played Chopin at The Proms while also having attempted to become a nun twice.
Maggie Smith is exceptional as Shepherd (later revealed to be Margaret Fairchild), having previously portrayed the offbeat yet capable woman in the 1999 stage play and in the 2009 radio adaption; she won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress for her portrayal.
5 Time Out of Mind
IFC Films
Poignantly addressing heavy topics like homeless and familial estrangement, the 2014 drama Time Out of Mind features Richard Gere as the hapless George, a man who must contend with being displaced in the streets of New York City, seeking shelter at the Bellevue Hospital where he develops an unlikely friendship with a kind but unstable companion.
The gripping picture depicts George’s struggles with acknowledging his homelessness and the hurdles he experiences while trying to apply for public benefits; George’s driving force is the possibility that he can reconnect with his estranged daughter Maggie, in hopes of finding forgiveness for his past misdeeds. Time Out of Mind was lauded by critics for its stirring performances and the insightful depiction of homelessness, with The Village Voice calling the drama “an experiment in empathy, an examination of bureaucracy and streetlife mundanity, and a movie that many will find a tough sit."
4 The Public
Greenwich Entertainment
Touting an impressive ensemble cast led by Emilio Estevez (who also directed and wrote the picture), Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater, the 2018 drama The Public depicts the tension-filled standoff between Cincinnati police and a large group of homeless people who seek refuge in a downtime public library when a brutal cold front hits the city. What initially begins as a nonviolent act of civil disobedience swiftly escalates into a taut showdown between the authorities and the often marginalized homeless seeking shelter from the storm, attracting the attention of the media in the process. The Public offers an earnest look at some of the country’s most difficult issues, tackling the subjects of mental health and homelessness while educating audiences on the topic of social disobedience.
3 The Fisher King
Tri-Star Pictures
The late and great Robin Williams stars alongside Jeff Bridges in the 1991 fantasy comedy-drama The Fisher King, which focuses on radio shock jock Jack Lucas (Bridges) as he attempts to find redemption for a tragic mistake he made on air, ultimately leading him to the delusional homeless man named Perry. Williams delivered a superb performance as the mentally unstable Perry, whose life was forever altered by Jack’s deadly mistake; he spends his days in search of the Holy Grail, aided by Jack in hopes of being a part of Perry’s salvation and someday his own.
The Fisher King earned Williams an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, with critic Roger Ebert declaring that “no Williams no film can hit harder — or be so fully consoling in such heartbreaking circumstances — than The Fisher King," and that Perry “gradually simmers to a boil of bristling insecurities, terror and agonizing internalized pain.”
2 Rosie
Element Pictures
The 2018 Irish drama Rosie focuses on the titular mother Rosie Davis as she and her husband John Paul attempt to shield their four children from the harsh reality that the family is now homeless after being evicted by their landlord when their house is sold. Over the course of 36 hours, the young couple fight to keep their little ones from discovering their harrowing situation while looking for a new place to call home.
Directed by Paddy Breathnach, the heartbreaking picture sheds light on the homeless crisis in Ireland, while demonstrating the great lengths parents and mothers specifically will go to in order to ensure their kids have a positive and safe childhood. Rosie made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, with lead actress Sarah Greene garnering widespread praise for her commanding performance as a determined mother on an inspiring mission to fight for her loved ones.
1 Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home
Agi Orsi Productions
Directed by Thomas Q. Napper and narrated by the great Catherine Keener, the 2010 documentary Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home is set in Los Angeles and takes a look at eight inspiring people who are steadfast in creating fulfilling and worthwhile lives for themselves within the homeless community on Skid Row. Containing one of the largest, most stable populations of homeless individuals, Skid Row is notorious for the thousands of people who call it home, with the enlightening documentary addressing the diverse and colorful characters who have found a place within the community.
From scholars to musicians, Harvard attorneys to former Olympic athletes, the captivating film analyzes the profound effects that mental illness, drugs, poverty, and life-altering tragedies can have on the mind. The Los Angeles Times called the warm and honest picture, “An absorbing, at times heartbreaking look at several former and current denizens of downtown L.A.’s Skid Row.”
