Movies Set in California
Kinora's catalogue lists 129 films set in California, spanning 1940–2024. 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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- 2002
Adaptation.
Urban · Wildernessdir. Spike Jonze - 1980
Airplane!
dir. Jim Abrahams - 2000
Almost Famous
Urbandir. Cameron Crowe - 2023
American Fiction
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Cord Jefferson - 1998
American History X
Urbandir. Tony Kaye - 1977
Annie Hall
Urbandir. Woody Allen - 2012
Argo
Urbandir. Ben Affleck - 2022
Babylon
Urbandir. Damien Chazelle - 1985
Back to the Future
Suburbandir. Robert Zemeckis - 2023
Barbie
Urbandir. Greta Gerwig - 1991
Barton Fink
Urbandir. Joel Coen - 1986
Big Trouble in Little China
Urban · Undergrounddir. John Carpenter - 1989
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Suburbandir. Stephen Herek - 2018
Black Panther
Urbandir. Ryan Coogler - 1982
Blade Runner
Urbandir. Ridley Scott - 2017
Blade Runner 2049
Urbandir. Denis Villeneuve - 2018
Blindspotting
Urbandir. Carlos López Estrada - 1997
Boogie Nights
Urban · Suburbandir. Paul Thomas Anderson - 1991
Boyz n the Hood
Urbandir. John Singleton - 2008
Changeling
Urbandir. Clint Eastwood - 2014
Chef
Urbandir. Jon Favreau - 1974
Chinatown
Urbandir. Roman Polanski - 2012
Cloud Atlas
Urban · Island · Coastal Sea · Off Worlddir. Lilly Wachowski - 1980
Coal Miner's Daughter
Ruraldir. Michael Apted - 2004
Collateral
Urbandir. Michael Mann - 2014
Creep
Wilderness · Mountaindir. Patrick Brice - 1988
Die Hard
Urbandir. John McTiernan - 1971
Dirty Harry
Urbandir. Don Siegel - 1944
Double Indemnity
Urbandir. Billy Wilder - 2011
Drive
Urbandir. Nicolas Winding Refn - 1971
Duel
Desert · Ruraldir. Steven Spielberg - 1982
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Suburbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1994
Ed Wood
Urbandir. Tim Burton - 2013
Elysium
Urban · Off Worlddir. Neill Blomkamp - 2012
End of Watch
Urbandir. David Ayer - 2000
Erin Brockovich
Urban · Suburbandir. Steven Soderbergh - 1979
Escape from Alcatraz
Island · Coastal Seadir. Don Siegel - 2022
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Urbandir. Daniel Scheinert - 1993
Falling Down
Urbandir. Joel Schumacher - 1970
Five Easy Pieces
Rural · Island · Coastal Seadir. Bob Rafelson - 2019
Ford v Ferrari
Urbandir. James Mangold - 2008
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Islanddir. Nicholas Stoller - 1995
Four Rooms
Urbandir. Allison Anders - 2013
Fruitvale Station
Urbandir. Ryan Coogler - 1995
Heat
Urbandir. Michael Mann - 2013
Her
Urbandir. Spike Jonze - 1993
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Wilderness · Mountain · Ruraldir. Duwayne Dunham - 2010
Inception
Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1996
Independence Day
Urban · Desertdir. Roland Emmerich - 2015
Inside Out
Urbandir. Pete Docter - 1994
Interview with the Vampire
Urbandir. Neil Jordan - 2007
Into the Wild
Wilderness · Rural · Desertdir. Sean Penn - 1978
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Urbandir. Philip Kaufman - 1997
L.A. Confidential
Urbandir. Curtis Hanson - 2016
La La Land
Urbandir. Damien Chazelle - 2017
Lady Bird
Suburbandir. Greta Gerwig - 2024
Late Night with the Devil
Urbandir. Cameron Cairnes - 2021
Licorice Pizza
Suburbandir. Paul Thomas Anderson - 2006
Little Miss Sunshine
Suburban · Desertdir. Jonathan Dayton - 1997
Lost Highway
Urban · Desertdir. David Lynch - 1999
Magnolia
Urbandir. Paul Thomas Anderson - 2019
Marriage Story
Urbandir. Noah Baumbach - 2000
Memento
Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1993
Menace II Society
Urbandir. Albert Hughes - 2008
Milk
Urbandir. Gus Van Sant - 2004
Million Dollar Baby
Urbandir. Clint Eastwood - 2023
Missing
Urban · Suburbandir. Will Merrick - 2011
Moneyball
Urbandir. Bennett Miller - 2001
Mulholland Drive
Urbandir. David Lynch - 2014
Nightcrawler
Urbandir. Dan Gilroy - 2021
Nomadland
Rural · Wildernessdir. Chloé Zhao - 2022
Nope
Ruraldir. Jordan Peele - 2019
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Urbandir. Quentin Tarantino - 2020
Palm Springs
Desertdir. Max Barbakow - 2007
Paranormal Activity
Suburbandir. Oren Peli - 1984
Paris, Texas
Desert · Urbandir. Wim Wenders - 1991
Point Break
Coastal Sea · Urbandir. Kathryn Bigelow - 1982
Poltergeist
Suburbandir. Tobe Hooper - 1990
Pretty Woman
Urbandir. Garry Marshall - 1994
Pulp Fiction
Urbandir. Quentin Tarantino - 2002
Punch-Drunk Love
Urbandir. Paul Thomas Anderson - 1988
Rain Man
Urban · Ruraldir. Barry Levinson - 2011
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Urban · Suburban · Wildernessdir. Rupert Wyatt - 1996
Scream
Suburbandir. Wes Craven - 2018
Searching
Suburbandir. Aneesh Chaganty - 1993
Short Cuts
Urban · Suburbandir. Robert Altman - 2004
Sideways
Ruraldir. Alexander Payne - 1952
Singin' in the Rain
Urbandir. Gene Kelly - 1992
Sneakers
Urbandir. Phil Alden Robinson - 2018
Sorry to Bother You
Urbandir. Boots Riley - 1994
Speed
Urbandir. Jan de Bont - 2015
Straight Outta Compton
Urbandir. F. Gary Gray - 1950
Sunset Boulevard
Urbandir. Billy Wilder - 1978
Superman
Urban · Rural · Off Worlddir. Richard Donner - 1991
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Urbandir. James Cameron - 2011
The Artist
Urbandir. Michel Hazanavicius - 1998
The Big Lebowski
Urbandir. Joel Coen - 1974
The Conversation
Urbandir. Francis Ford Coppola - 2023
The Creator
Urban · Rural · Off Worlddir. Gareth Edwards - 2022
The Fabelmans
Suburban · Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 2016
The Founder
Suburbandir. John Lee Hancock - 1967
The Graduate
Suburbandir. Mike Nichols - 1940
The Grapes of Wrath
Ruraldir. John Ford - 1984
The Karate Kid
Suburbandir. John G. Avildsen - 2007
The Kite Runner
Urbandir. Marc Forster - 1973
The Long Goodbye
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Robert Altman - 1987
The Lost Boys
Coastal Seadir. Joel Schumacher - 2001
The Man Who Wasn't There
Suburbandir. Joel Coen - 2012
The Master
Urbandir. Paul Thomas Anderson - 2021
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Suburban · Urbandir. Mike Rianda - 1992
The Player
Urbandir. Robert Altman - 1983
The Right Stuff
Desert · Off Worlddir. Philip Kaufman - 2024
The Substance
Urbandir. Coralie Fargeat - 1984
The Terminator
Urbandir. James Cameron - 1974
The Towering Inferno
Urbandir. John Guillermin - 1995
The Usual Suspects
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Bryan Singer - 2005
The World's Fastest Indian
Rural · Desert · Urbandir. Roger Donaldson - 2007
There Will Be Blood
Ruraldir. Paul Thomas Anderson - 1988
They Live
Urbandir. John Carpenter - 1981
Thief
Urbandir. Michael Mann - 2000
Traffic
Urban · Suburbandir. Steven Soderbergh - 2001
Training Day
Urbandir. Antoine Fuqua - 1993
True Romance
Urbandir. Tony Scott - 2014
Unfriended
Suburbandir. Levan Gabriadze - 2019
Us
Coastal Sea · Suburban · Undergrounddir. Jordan Peele - 1958
Vertigo
Urbandir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1988
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Urbandir. Robert Zemeckis - 2007
Zodiac
Urbandir. David Fincher - 2009
Zombieland
Rural · Urbandir. Ruben Fleischer
Frequently asked
How many movies are set in California?
Kinora's catalogue lists 129 films set in California, spanning 1940–2024.
What are some movies set in California?
Films set in California in our catalogue include Adaptation. (2002), Airplane! (1980), Almost Famous (2000), American Fiction (2023), and American History X (1998).
What is the oldest movie set in California?
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) is the earliest film set in California in our catalogue; the most recent is The Substance (2024).