Best movies like In Echo Park

Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.

Instead of adhering to the norms of their South Central neighborhood, a group of skater boys opt to bus into Hollywood and Beverly Hills, where they attract local rich girls - and plenty of trouble with the police, jealous boyfriends, and nervous parents.

One night, in a Los Angeles hospital, Dr. Flax attends to a seriously injured man who, apparently crazed, whispers mysterious and disconcerting words in French into her ear.

A group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada.

A street Gang that is also a rap group tries to get a record contract.

Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed supervisor can fire workers on a whim, and the service-workers' union has assigned organizer Sam Shapiro to bring its "justice for janitors" campaign to the building. Sam finds Maya a willing listener, she's also attracted to him. Rosa resists, she has an ailing husband to consider. The workers try for public support; management intimidates workers to divide and conquer. Rosa and Maya as well as workers and management may be set to collide.

Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.

On their way to a Chicago jazz club, two very white couples take their luxury sedan on a wrong turn into hostile gangland territory. They accidentally witness the assassination of the scrawny punk kingpin of local heavies The Chains. No sooner does his ventilated blond spiked noggin hit the concrete than The Chains are up in arms and looking for any possible suspects. As the yuppies try to peel out to safety, a frenzied youth spazzes his way into their unlocked back door with a resounding "Get me the fuck outta here!" It turns out the new passenger is indeed the hunted gunman, though he was only avenging the murder of his baby brother.

Two girls rediscover their love for playing rock, find a drummer and begin practicing. When one of their mothers intervenes, they run away from home and are forced to fend for themselves on the streets against gangs and rival bands. Soon they are discovered and taken under the wing of rock manager Johnny Tremaine (played by Steven McDonald) who uses them for sex and his own aspirations of wealth. The Love Dolls set out to get revenge on those who have wronged them, and rise to the top of the rock world.

Dragonslayer documents the transgressions of a lost skate punk falling in love in the stagnant suburbs of Fullerton, California in the aftermath of America's economic collapse. Taking the viewer through a golden SoCal haze of broken homes, abandoned swimming pools and stray glimpses of unusual beauty, Dragonslayer captures the life and times of Josh 'Skreech' Sandoval, a local skate legend and new father, as his endless summer finally collides with the future. Set to the alternately roaring and dreamy soundtrack of bands from the indie labels Mexican Summer and Kemado Records including Best Coast, Bipolar Bear, Children, Dungen, Eddy Current and the Suppression Ring, Golden Triangle, Jacuzzi Boys, Little Girls, Real Estate, The Soft Pack, Saviours, as well as DEATH and Thee Oh Sees. Dragonslayer is a punk-rock manifesto to youth, love and learning to survive after the decline of western civilization.

In the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, everybody is somebody else. May, a single mother who delivers strip-O-grams, dreams of being an actress. She rents one of her rooms out to a pizza-man cum songwriter named Jonathan. Meanwhile, in the next apartment, August, an Austrian bodybuilder, fancies himself the next Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the pressures of everyday life in LA mount, Jonathan and August vie for May's love.

Desperate to jar herself from the rich tedium of picture-perfect Beverly Hills, Sophie moves across town to another world: Echo Park. She quickly strikes up an unexpected connection with Alex, a handsome neighbor and British expat who is reluctantly selling his beloved home to move back to London. As the summer passes, a romance driven by uncertainty compels them to reassess where each belongs.

A delinquent teenager's only link to society is the attachment he feels towards an older brother-figure. When the older boy starts spending time with a new girlfriend, the teenager begins to feel even more alienated, and gets involved with drugs and the police.

Farm boy Daryl Cage's parents ship him off to the big city to live with his brother, hoping he will have a better life there. After a baggage mixup at the airport, Daryl finds himself in possession of a drug cache, which a ruthless drug dealer wants back. The dealer murders Daryl's brother and the small town boy ends up all alone in the big city, being pursued by both the drug dealer and the police, who suspect him of the murder.

Bird, a smart level-headed tween, and her immature stoner mom gracelessly navigate the arrival of Bird's first period, which she gets on the last day of school… in front of the entire class.

Corey and his band of skater buddies sometimes make mischief, but they're more interested in girls and having fun on their boards than in getting into any real trouble. Notorious enemy crew the Daggers, led by Tommy Hook, get their kicks terrorizing the locals at Venice Beach. When Corey starts dating Tommy's kid sister Chrissy, the Daggers are furious. The boys then take their beef to the "L.A. Massacre," a deadly skate race down a canyon road.

A wealthy Los Angeles teen and her superficial friends wants to break out of suburbia and experience Southern California's "gangsta" lifestyle. But problems arise when the preppies get in over their heads and provoke the wrath of a violent Latino gang. Suddenly, their role-playing seems a little too real.

Set in 1958, the coming of age story follows four lower middle-class Brooklyn teenagers known as The Lords of Flatbush. The Lords chase girls, steal cars, shoot pool, get into street fights, and hang out at a local malt shop.

In the seedy part of Los Angeles, a man who writes poetry has spent six months without leaving his apartment because of his paranoid delusions involving sadistic doctors, rappers, and spiders. A woman who seems to jinx things by wanting to help is dumped by her boyfriend and finds herself penniless on the streets, and soon runs afoul of a local gang. Due to a telephone glitch, the man calls her at a phone booth trying to dial a "talk line" and invites her to his place. There they must help each other to overcome their respective problems.

In a world where ninjas dream of being rock stars and rock stars dream of being ninjas, a martial arts rock band goes up against a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida's narcotics trade.

A teenager in Echo Park deals with the loss of his mother and his attraction to a girl not considered "cool" by his friends.

An abused runaway with pyromaniac tendencies teams up with a metal sculptor. Together they blow away the art world and a local crime boss.

Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute escalates towards violence, the violence of the world around them soon also impacts their lives.

King is a young man, but he's already a veteran of life on the streets of Los Angeles. The de facto leader of a group of teenage runaways, King acts as a mentor to troubled kids such as gay hustler Little J and junkie Greg. When Heather, a beautiful girl from Chicago, starts hanging out with King and his crew, it changes the dynamic of the gang. However, it seems as though nothing will alter their dangerous lifestyle.

Tony, the new kid at school, befriends gang leader Young, whose top rival is Chan. When Young defeats Chan in battle, two mysterious men offer Tony and Young jobs at a security agency, with one of their new clients being among the city's most notorious drug dealers.

The residents of a New York apartment building are shocked when one of them is shot during a burgulary. They decide to hire a security expert to patrol the building, but he seem a little over-committed to his work.

An adaption of the British TV series, this documentary chronicles the lives of a group of economically, racially and socially diverse 7-year olds living throughout America in 1990. The filmmakers will return every seven years to chronicle the children's growth.

Remo Street is a young fighter who comes from a world where nothing is easy, so when he is faced with the opportunity to train with a world class coach, he has to choose between the long hard road to honor and glory, or succumbing to a brutal future as a cage fighter for the Russian Mafia.

A devastating earthquake has left Los Angeles split in two. The wealthy now live in a new island metropolis, while the poor struggle to survive in the ruins of the old city. Detective Jack has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of a wealthy businessman's daughter somewhere in the ruined zone. While questioning some local punks, Jack and the others are suddenly attacked and kidnapped by a mysterious gang of thugs and taken to a hidden prison compound where they are hunted down by a strange half-man, half-machine killer. Somehow, Jack must find the girl and figure out who's behind this place, but first he must get out alive. (Written by Jean-Marc Rocher )

The true-life story of Darby Crash, who became an L.A. punk icon with his band The Germs. Along with Lorna Doom, Pat Smear, and Don Bolles, Darby Crash completely transformed the L.A. punk scene, while sacrificing everyone he loved, his career, and ultimately his life.

Leon Watkins runs a community helpline in South Central LA, where anyone in need of help is welcome. One of his most frequent visitors is local gang leader, John Wesley Hunter, otherwise known as “Joker” to the streets. After a day of hustling and almost losing his life in a shoot-out, Joker goes to the one place where he knows he can get help. All in a typical day’s work for Leon until an unlikely woman shows up insisting on aiding him in his fight for his community. This unlikely team defies social constructs by working together to actively fight oppression and gain nation-wide recognition for a hidden reality of many. Along their way they experience the deep-seeded hatred that has plagued America, great love, and tragedy as they leave behind a legacy.

Inspired by true events, Guadalajara is a trans teen living with her sex-worker mother Sonya in East Los Angeles. While coming to terms with her identity, Guada befriends a local female gang who talk her into experimenting with drugs, exploring her sexuality and beginning a life of crime with crazy and hilarious consequences. Finally, Guada realizes that she must save herself before her self-destructive choices have consequences beyond her control.

Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.

A focus on life in a gang, Boulevard Nights portrays the dangers of street violence. Richard Yniguez plays a young Chicano who tries to get out of the gang, but he keeps finding himself drawn back into it.

The story of Michael Moore, Shot, Hooker, Joey, and Dennis. Five gangsters who work for a man named Leo. They soon discover they could get more out of life if they could run the streets themselves. Tensions build and loyalty is tested as they plan a hit that could change all of their lives forever.