Menace II Society is a 1993 hood film and the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. Menace II Society is set in South Central Los Angeles and follows the life of a hoodlum named Caine Lawson and his close friends. The film gained notoriety for its frequent scenes of violence, profanity, and drug-related content. Menace II Society was critically acclaimed for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.

The film begins in South Central Los Angeles in the Watts neighborhood with Caine and his friend Kevin, nicknamed "O-Dog," entering a liquor store. Caine begins to drink malt liquor out of the bottle, intending to pay for it when he gets to the register. The Korean storekeeper and his wife watch them suspiciously, and O-Dog rails against them. The owner of the store repeatedly exhorts them to pay and leave. As O-Dog is finished paying and is about to leave the store with Caine, the shopkeeper tells O-Dog, "I feel sorry for your mother." O-Dog takes offense and shoots the Korean storekeeper and his wife, then removes money from the cash register and storekeeper, taking the video surveillance tape of the crimes before he and Caine flee. O-Dog keeps the tape and entertains his friends by showing it to them, and there is talk of a copy being made for others in the neighborhood to watch. It is the last day of high school and Caine has graduated. During a voice-over, he explains that he deals drugs to financially and emotionally support a friend, named Ronnie, and her young son Anthony. Ronnie's ex-boyfriend, Pernell, is serving life in prison without parole. Pernell was previously Caine's father's partner and served as Caine's mentor. Caine lives with his grandparents in the Los Angeles housing project Jordan Downs, and often gets tired of his grandfather's proselytizing and lecturing him about his actions.
That night, Caine and his cousin, Harold, go to a graduation party. They meet A-Wax, a cocky street thug who, according to Caine, "had been putting in work for so long, it got to a point where he just liked to see other people do dirt;" Sharif, an "ex-knucklehead" who converted to the Nation of Islam; and Stacy, a talented football player who earned a scholarship to play for the Kansas Jayhawks. After the party, Caine, Harold, A-Wax, O-Dog, Sharif, and Stacy decide to go out to eat. While Harold and Caine are waiting in traffic, a van pulls up next to them, and they are carjacked at gunpoint. Harold is reluctant to surrender his vehicle and jewelry, so the carjacker murders Harold and shoots Caine in the shoulder. Sharif insists they go to Harold's aid or move his body; however, O-Dog insists they rush Caine to the hospital.

A week later, O-Dog informs Caine that he has learned who the gangsters that shot Caine and his cousin were. Later that night, Caine, O-Dog, and A-Wax murder the carjackers, getting revenge for his cousin's shooting. A few weeks later, Caine and O-Dog are hired to steal a black 1990 Nissan Maxima out of a parking structure but are trapped in the building and arrested. O-Dog is released with a warning since he is still seventeen; Caine, however, being the age of eighteen, is charged as an adult, but the authorities lessen the charge to joyriding and let him go after linking him to the liquor store killings but failing to prove his involvement. He later purchases a stolen Ford Mustang 5.0 from a chop shop and robs a youth at a fast-food drive through for his new wheels, jewelry, pager, stereo, and forces the youth to order him double burger with cheese. The following night, Caine and Sharif are pulled over and assaulted by racist policemen and left out in Latino gang territory, apparently with the expectation that the local gangs will further the assault. However, the locals showed sympathy and instead take Caine and Sharif to a hospital.

While Caine is in the hospital, Ronnie tells him that she has found a job in Atlanta and invites him to come with her. Caine says he will think about it. A week later, Caine is at a going away party for Ronnie, as well as Stacy and Sharif, who are both moving to Kansas due to Stacy's college scholarship. While at the party, Caine tells Ronnie that he will accompany her to Atlanta, and she initiates a sexual encounter. Initially, Caine shies away out of deference to Pernell, but he ultimately gives in. Afterward, Caine is playing cards when he sees another gangster, Chauncy, trying to force himself on Ronnie. Caine asks O-Dog to lend him his Glock 19 and pistol-whips Chauncy repeatedly. Later that night, Caine gets a phone call from Ilena, a young girl with whom he has had a sexual encounter. Ilena informs Caine that prior to coitus with him, she was a virgin, and now she is pregnant with his baby. Caine accuses her of lying and terminates the phone call. Chauncy harbors a grudge and turns over a copy of the liquor store murder surveillance tape to the police. Soon afterward, the police start scouring Watts for Caine and O-Dog, who they now realize, with certainty, were the culprits in the Korean liquor store killings. Ronnie and Caine visit Pernell in prison, who gives the young couple his blessing, contrary to Caine's assumption that Pernell would be upset about their relationship. Pernell also entreats Caine to take care of Ronnie and to also teach Anthony better than he had taught Caine. The next morning, Caine is talking to O-Dog when a man approaches Caine and tells him that he is the cousin of Ilena, who accused Caine of impregnating her. Caine refuses to take responsibility for the child and brutally assaults the man. This proves to be the last straw for Caine's grandparents who promptly throw him out of their house, despite his pleading to wait until he moves out to Atlanta with Ronnie and Anthony.
The day Caine, Ronnie, Stacy and Sharif are preparing to leave Los Angeles, hooded gunmen drive by Ronnie's house and initiate a drive-by shooting. One of the gunmen is the man Caine assaulted after denying responsibility for Ilena's pregnancy. Sharif is killed immediately, and Caine is shot several times while attempting to protect Anthony. As Caine lays dying in Stacy's arms, O-Dog goes to find help and Caine has flashbacks about everything that he has done that summer. There is a flashing image of O-Dog being escorted into a police cruiser in handcuffs, presumably for the liquor store murder committed at the beginning of the film. Caine admits that he wishes he had made better decisions, but now it was too late to correct them. His final thoughts, given in voiceover, are: "I had done too much to turn back, and I had done too much to go on. I guess, in the end, it all catches up with you. My grandpa asked me one time if I care whether I live or die. Yeah, I do. And now it's too late."