Fruitvale Station (2013)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
The film depicts the final hours of a young man's life leading up to a tragic confrontation with police.
The story
The film depicts the last day of the life of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old from Hayward, California, before he is fatally shot by BART Police in the early morning hours of January 1, 2009. The narrative begins with actual footage of Oscar and his friends being detained at the Fruitvale station in Oakland. The story follows Oscar through his final day, including a conflict with his girlfriend over his infidelity, a failed attempt to regain his employment at a grocery store, and his decision to attend a New Year's celebration in San Francisco with his mother, who worries about him driving.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film depicts the last day of the life of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old from Hayward, California, before he was fatally shot by BART Police in the early morning hours of January 1, 2009. The film begins with actual footage of Oscar and his friends being detained at the Fruitvale station. On December 31, 2008, Oscar and his girlfriend Sophina argue about his infidelity. After failing to get his job back at a grocery store, he decides to attend a New Year's celebration in San Francisco with his mother. On the return train, a man he knew in prison notices him, leading to a fight. BART police respond, and while Oscar is being restrained, an officer shoots him in the back. He dies in the hospital hours later. The film concludes with a description of the subsequent protests and the legal outcome for the officer, followed by footage of a gathering to celebrate Oscar's life in 2013.
- First release year
- 2013
- Runtime (minutes)
- 85
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Ryan Coogler
- Writers
- Ryan Coogler · writer
- Cast and characters
- Michael B. Jordan · Grant; Melonie Diaz; Kevin Durand; Chad Michael Murray; Ahna O'Reilly; Octavia Spencer
- Genres
- biographical drama
- Themes
- social injustice; humanity
- Tone and mood
- somber; tense
- Setting
- Oakland, California, during late 2008 and early 2009.
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; true story
- Source material / true-story basis
- the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim and won several awards at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 8.1 · scale: 10 · review count: 216; Metacritic · score: 85 · scale: 100 · review count: 46
- Awards and nominations
- Grand Jury Prize · U.S. dramatic film · win; Audience Award · U.S. dramatic film · win
- Production trivia
- The film was shot in Super 16 mm format.; The film's production was supported by the San Francisco Film Society.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…