Frame Narrative Movies
Kinora's catalogue lists 208 films built around a frame narrative, spanning 1939–2024. Each is tagged by where and when it takes place — filter by real-world setting, era, and environment, or open any film for its full tagged world.
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- 2013
12 Years a Slave
Ruraldir. Steve McQueen - 1976
1900
Ruraldir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 2009
3 Idiots
Urban · Mountaindir. Rajkumar Hirani - 2007
300
Mountaindir. Zack Snyder - 1963
8½
Urbandir. Federico Fellini - 1983
A Christmas Story
Suburbandir. Bob Clark - 1992
A League of Their Own
Urban · Ruraldir. Penny Marshall - 1949
A Letter to Three Wives
Suburbandir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 1992
A River Runs Through It
Ruraldir. Robert Redford - 2012
A Royal Affair
Urbandir. Nikolaj Arcel - 2002
About Schmidt
Suburban · Ruraldir. Alexander Payne - 1988
Alice
dir. Jan Švankmajer - 1951
Alice in Wonderland
dir. Clyde Geronimi - 1993
Alive
Mountain · Wildernessdir. Frank Marshall - 1950
All About Eve
Urbandir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 2013
All Is Lost
Coastal Seadir. J.C. Chandor - 1984
Amadeus
Urbandir. Miloš Forman - 1999
American Beauty
Suburbandir. Sam Mendes - 2023
American Fiction
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Cord Jefferson - 1998
American History X
Urbandir. Tony Kaye - 2012
Amour
Urbandir. Michael Haneke - 2023
Anatomy of a Fall
Mountain · Ruraldir. Justine Triet - 1966
Andrei Rublev
Ruraldir. Andrei Tarkovsky - 1977
Annie Hall
Urbandir. Woody Allen - 2018
Annihilation
Wilderness · Coastal Seadir. Alex Garland - 1979
Apocalypse Now
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Francis Ford Coppola - 1993
Arizona Dream
dir. Emir Kusturica - 2016
Arrival
Ruraldir. Denis Villeneuve - 2007
Atonement
Rural · Urban · Coastal Seadir. Joe Wright - 1987
Au Revoir les Enfants
Ruraldir. Louis Malle - 1975
Barry Lyndon
Ruraldir. Stanley Kubrick - 1967
Belle de Jour
Urbandir. Luis Buñuel - 2003
Big Fish
Ruraldir. Tim Burton - 1945
Brief Encounter
Suburbandir. David Lean - 2005
Caché
Urbandir. Michael Haneke - 2018
Capernaum
Urbandir. Nadine Labaki - 1989
Casualties of War
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Brian De Palma - 2002
Catch Me If You Can
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1981
Chariots of Fire
Urbandir. Hugh Hudson - 2000
Chocolat
Ruraldir. Lasse Hallström - 1988
Cinema Paradiso
Rural · Urbandir. Giuseppe Tornatore - 1941
Citizen Kane
Urbandir. Orson Welles - 1990
Close-Up
Urbandir. Abbas Kiarostami - 2012
Cloud Atlas
Urban · Island · Coastal Sea · Off Worlddir. Lilly Wachowski - 2008
Cloverfield
Urban · Undergrounddir. Matt Reeves - 1982
Creepshow
Rural · Suburbandir. George A. Romero - 1972
Cries and Whispers
Ruraldir. Ingmar Bergman - 1949
D.O.A.
Urbandir. Rudolph Maté - 1990
Dances with Wolves
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Kevin Costner - 2016
Deadpool
Urbandir. Tim Miller - 1945
Detour
Urban · Desertdir. Edgar G. Ulmer - 2009
District 9
Urbandir. Neill Blomkamp - 1965
Doctor Zhivago
Urban · Ruraldir. David Lean - 1995
Dolores Claiborne
Island · Ruraldir. Taylor Hackford - 1944
Double Indemnity
Urbandir. Billy Wilder - 2004
Downfall
Urban · Undergrounddir. Oliver Hirschbiegel - 2021
Drive My Car
Urbandir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi - 2024
Dune: Part Two
Desert · Off Worlddir. Denis Villeneuve - 1990
Edward Scissorhands
Suburbandir. Tim Burton - 2014
Enemy
Urbandir. Denis Villeneuve - 1998
EverAfter
Ruraldir. Andy Tennant - 1982
Fanny and Alexander
Urbandir. Ingmar Bergman - 2020
First Cow
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Kelly Reichardt - 2018
First Reformed
Ruraldir. Paul Schrader - 1994
Forrest Gump
Rural · Urban · Coastal Seadir. Robert Zemeckis - 1991
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ruraldir. Jon Avnet - 1982
Gandhi
Urban · Ruraldir. Richard Attenborough - 2005
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Urbandir. George Clooney - 1988
Grave of the Fireflies
Urbandir. Isao Takahata - 2005
Grizzly Man
Wildernessdir. Werner Herzog - 1962
Harakiri
Urbandir. Masaki Kobayashi - 1959
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Urbandir. Alain Resnais - 1968
Hour of the Wolf
Islanddir. Ingmar Bergman - 1995
In the Mouth of Madness
dir. John Carpenter - 2010
Inception
Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 2013
Inside Llewyn Davis
Urbandir. Joel Coen - 2006
Inside Man
Urbandir. Spike Lee - 1994
Interview with the Vampire
Urbandir. Neil Jordan - 1956
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Ruraldir. Don Siegel - 1946
It's a Wonderful Life
Ruraldir. Frank Capra - 2021
Judas and the Black Messiah
Urbandir. Shaka King - 2023
Killers of the Flower Moon
Ruraldir. Martin Scorsese - 1998
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Mountaindir. Karan Johar - 1965
Kwaidan
Rural · Wildernessdir. Masaki Kobayashi - 2005
Lady Vengeance
Urbandir. Park Chan-wook - 1995
Land and Freedom
Rural · Urbandir. Ken Loach - 2024
Late Night with the Devil
Urbandir. Cameron Cairnes - 2012
Laurence Anyways
Urbandir. Xavier Dolan - 1962
Lawrence of Arabia
Desertdir. David Lean - 1948
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Urbandir. Max Ophüls - 1997
Life Is Beautiful
Urbandir. Roberto Benigni - 2012
Life of Pi
Coastal Sea · Islanddir. Ang Lee - 1992
Like Water for Chocolate
Ruraldir. Alfonso Arau - 1970
Little Big Man
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Arthur Penn - 1975
Love and Death
Rural · Urbandir. Woody Allen - 1981
Mad Max 2
Desert · Wildernessdir. George Miller - 2000
Malena
Ruraldir. Giuseppe Tornatore - 2000
Memento
Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1968
Memories of Underdevelopment
Urbandir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea - 2011
Midnight in Paris
Urbandir. Woody Allen - 1945
Mildred Pierce
Suburban · Urbandir. Michael Curtiz - 2008
Milk
Urbandir. Gus Van Sant - 2002
Millennium Actress
Urbandir. Satoshi Kon - 1975
Mirror
Ruraldir. Andrei Tarkovsky - 2001
Mulholland Drive
Urbandir. David Lynch - 1944
Murder, My Sweet
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Edward Dmytryk - 2021
Nightmare Alley
Ruraldir. Guillermo del Toro - 2021
Nobody
Suburban · Urbandir. Ilya Naishuller - 1992
Of Mice and Men
Ruraldir. Gary Sinise - 1984
Once Upon a Time in America
Urbandir. Sergio Leone - 1968
Once Upon a Time in the West
Desert · Ruraldir. Sergio Leone - 1997
Open Your Eyes
Urbandir. Alejandro Amenábar - 1959
Operation Petticoat
Coastal Seadir. Blake Edwards - 2023
Oppenheimer
Desert · Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1947
Out of the Past
Rural · Mountain · Urbandir. Jacques Tourneur - 2019
Pain and Glory
Urban · Ruraldir. Pedro Almodóvar - 2006
Pan's Labyrinth
Rural · Undergrounddir. Guillermo del Toro - 1973
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Desert · Ruraldir. Sam Peckinpah - 1998
Perfect Blue
Urbandir. Satoshi Kon - 2007
Persepolis
Urbandir. Vincent Paronnaud - 1966
Persona
Coastal Seadir. Ingmar Bergman - 2019
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Island · Coastal Seadir. Céline Sciamma - 2014
Predestination
Urbandir. Michael Spierig - 1987
Radio Days
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Woody Allen - 1950
Rashomon
Wildernessdir. Akira Kurosawa - 1988
Red Sorghum
Ruraldir. Zhang Yimou - 2000
Remember the Titans
Urbandir. Boaz Yakin - 2002
Russian Ark
Urbandir. Aleksandr Sokurov - 1998
Saving Private Ryan
Ruraldir. Steven Spielberg - 1973
Serpico
Urbandir. Sidney Lumet - 1996
Shine
Suburban · Urbandir. Scott Hicks - 2005
Sin City
Urbandir. Robert Rodriguez - 1952
Singin' in the Rain
Urbandir. Gene Kelly - 2008
Slumdog Millionaire
Urbandir. Danny Boyle - 1972
Solaris
Off Worlddir. Andrei Tarkovsky - 1953
Stalag 17
Ruraldir. Billy Wilder - 1986
Stand by Me
Ruraldir. Rob Reiner - 1950
Sunset Boulevard
Urbandir. Billy Wilder - 1977
That Obscure Object of Desire
Urbandir. Luis Buñuel - 1971
The Andromeda Strain
Underground · Ruraldir. Robert Wise - 2007
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Ruraldir. Andrew Dominik - 1952
The Bad and the Beautiful
Urbandir. Vincente Minnelli - 1966
The Battle of Algiers
Urbandir. Gillo Pontecorvo - 1948
The Big Clock
Urbandir. John Farrow - 1998
The Big Lebowski
Urbandir. Joel Coen - 2024
The Bikeriders
Urbandir. Jeff Nichols - 2023
The Boy and the Heron
Rural · Undergrounddir. Hayao Miyazaki - 1995
The Bridges of Madison County
Ruraldir. Clint Eastwood - 1971
The Conformist
Urbandir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 1994
The Crow
Urbandir. Alex Proyas - 2001
The Devil's Backbone
Ruraldir. Guillermo del Toro - 1959
The Diary of Anne Frank
Urbandir. George Stevens - 1972
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Urbandir. Luis Buñuel - 1991
The Double Life of Véronique
Urbandir. Krzysztof Kieślowski - 1996
The English Patient
Desert · Ruraldir. Anthony Minghella - 2006
The Fountain
Off World · Wildernessdir. Darren Aronofsky - 2021
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
Urbandir. Wes Anderson - 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mountaindir. Wes Anderson - 1999
The Green Mile
Ruraldir. Frank Darabont - 1996
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Urbandir. Kirk Wise - 2011
The Intouchables
Urbandir. Éric Toledano - 2019
The Irishman
Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 1979
The Jerk
Rural · Urbandir. Carl Reiner - 2007
The Kite Runner
Urbandir. Marc Forster - 1987
The Last Emperor
Urbandir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 1998
The Legend of 1900
Coastal Seadir. Giuseppe Tornatore - 1962
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Ruraldir. John Ford - 2001
The Man Who Wasn't There
Suburbandir. Joel Coen - 1975
The Man Who Would Be King
Mountain · Ruraldir. John Huston - 1955
The Miracle of Marcelino
Ruraldir. Ladislao Vajda - 1986
The Name of the Rose
Ruraldir. Jean-Jacques Annaud - 1984
The NeverEnding Story
dir. Wolfgang Petersen - 2004
The Notebook
Rural · Coastal Seadir. Nick Cassavetes - 2001
The Others
Rural · Islanddir. Alejandro Amenábar - 1983
The Outsiders
Urbandir. Francis Ford Coppola - 2006
The Prestige
Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1991
The Prince of Tides
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Barbra Streisand - 1987
The Princess Bride
Rural · Coastal Sea · Mountaindir. Rob Reiner - 1998
The Red Violin
Urbandir. François Girard - 1993
The Remains of the Day
Ruraldir. James Ivory - 1975
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Ruraldir. Jim Sharman - 2016
The Salesman
Urbandir. Asghar Farhadi - 2009
The Secret in Their Eyes
Urban · Ruraldir. Juan José Campanella - 1999
The Sixth Sense
Urbandir. M. Night Shyamalan - 2010
The Social Network
Urbandir. David Fincher - 1960
The Time Machine
Urban · Wilderness · Undergrounddir. George Pal - 1995
The Usual Suspects
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Bryan Singer - 2000
The Virgin Suicides
Suburbandir. Sofia Coppola - 2009
The White Ribbon
Ruraldir. Michael Haneke - 2021
The White Tiger
Urban · Ruraldir. Ramin Bahrani - 1939
The Wizard of Oz
Ruraldir. Victor Fleming - 1969
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Sydney Pollack - 1997
Titanic
Coastal Seadir. James Cameron - 1962
To Kill a Mockingbird
Ruraldir. Robert Mulligan - 2010
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Wilderness · Ruraldir. Eli Craig - 1995
Twelve Monkeys
Urban · Undergrounddir. Terry Gilliam - 1949
Twelve O'Clock High
Ruraldir. Henry King - 1983
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Urban · Rural · Wildernessdir. John Landis - 2012
V/H/S
Urban · Rural · Desertdir. David Bruckner - 1985
Vagabond
Ruraldir. Agnès Varda - 2005
Walk the Line
Rural · Urbandir. James Mangold - 1971
Walkabout
Desert · Wilderness · Urbandir. Nicolas Roeg - 2008
Waltz with Bashir
Urbandir. Ari Folman - 1940
Waterloo Bridge
Urbandir. Mervyn LeRoy - 1978
Watership Down
Rural · Wilderness · Undergrounddir. Martin Rosen - 1957
Wild Strawberries
Ruraldir. Ingmar Bergman - 1987
Wings of Desire
Urbandir. Wim Wenders - 2001
Y Tu Mamá También
Coastal Sea · Ruraldir. Alfonso Cuarón
Frequently asked
How many movies are built around a frame narrative?
Kinora's catalogue lists 208 films built around a frame narrative, spanning 1939–2024.
What are some movies built around a frame narrative?
Films built around a frame narrative in our catalogue include 12 Years a Slave (2013), 1900 (1976), 3 Idiots (2009), 300 (2007), and 8½ (1963).
What is the oldest movie built around a frame narrative?
The Wizard of Oz (1939) is the earliest film built around a frame narrative in our catalogue; the most recent is The Bikeriders (2024).