New York isn’t just a place; it’s an emotion for many. Despite the ultimate geography of the place, the art and architecture also attract a huge crowd like bees—an economically well-off and culturally diverse place.
Rich in every aspect. Many movies have found their fame here, so only New York movies are a must-watch. But for those of them working in the movies set in New York, it’s nothing more than heavenly bliss. The New York City locations are something so deeply mesmerizing that you’d definitely want to visit those places someday. The Statue of Liberty and the twin towers are some of the oldest things that still appear modern and new.
So here are some movies set in New York. If you’re in love with this city, you’d definitely want to watch them too. We hope that watching these movies will definitely give you a great insight into the place and will allow you to enjoy this place truly.
25. Goodfellas (1990)
- Director : Martin Scorsese
- Produced by: Irwin Winkler
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorgino.
- IMDb rating: 8.7
- Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
- Platforms available: HBO Max, Prime Video, Vudu, Spectrum TV.
Produced by Warner Bros, Goodfellas is a crime drama movie. And the story is about a mob associate, Henry Hill, and his friends who faced a series of ups and downs from 1955 to 1980.
The movie is set in New York, New Jersey. The overall budget of the film was $25 million.
24. Rear Window (1954)
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Produced by: Alfred Hitchcock
- Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr.
- IMDb rating: 8.5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
- Platforms available: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play, Or Vudu.
Yet another York movie is about a professional photographer named Jeff who is confined to the enclosed walls of his apartment due to a broken leg. With nothing productive in sight to do, he takes up a new hobby.
This new hobby is to keep a watchful eye on his neighbors. This ends up disclosing a lot of strange and unacceptable facts.
23. Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
- Director: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
- Produced by: Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Christina Steinberg
- Cast: Shame in Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, John Mulaney, Kisiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, Liev Schreiber.
- IMDb rating: 8.4
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Platforms available: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, or Google Play movies and TV.
This Marvel movie set in New York City is about a teenager named Miles Morales. He becomes the new Spiderman, but the story of Spiderman has never been so short and simple. He gets to know more about the other spider people.
But soon, he sees Kingpin as a threat to the universe, so he has to get together with the other spider people to save the universe.
22. Taxi Driver (1976)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Written by: Paul Schrader
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Cybill Shepherd.
- IMDb rating: 8.3
- Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
- Platforms available: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play movies and TV, Apple TV.
This movie, set in New York, centers on a young man named Travis. Travis is an ex-marine and also worked as a veteran. But now is a taxi driver in New York City.
But regardless of his profession, he decides to save an underage girl engaged in prostitution. This was his little effort towards cleaning the city of the prevalent corruptible practices.
21. Black Swan (2010)
- Director: Darren Aronofsky
- Produced by: Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin.
- Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder.
- IMDb rating: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
- Platforms available: Disney + Hotstar, YouTube, Google Play movies, and TV.
This is a psychological thriller movie about a girl named Nina, a ballerina. Once in her life, she gets to play the Black Swan, Princess Odette. But things turn out to be sheer madness when she finds herself diving into the depths of madness when the director thinks that Lily is appropriate for the role.
19. Manhattan (1979)
- Director: Woody Allen
- Written by: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman.
- Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Anne Byrne.
- IMDb rating: 7.9
- Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
- Platforms available: Vudu
Isaac is a 42-year-old man who has just got divorced from his wife, Jill. And now she’s staying with another female named Connie. Jill is engaged in writing a book that would hold the details of Isaac and his love affair with a woman named Tracy.
Tracy is a high school girl, which makes Isaac doubt her too. He thinks that he might make a better couple with Yale, who is the mistress of his best friend.
19. Ghostbusters (1984)
- Director: Ivan Reitman
- Written by: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis.
- Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis.
- IMDb rating: 7.8
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Platforms available: Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies and TV, Apple TV.
This is a supernatural comedy movie set in New York about professors Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler and how they come across a ghost in the New York Public Library. But nobody acknowledges the events, and they are soon fired from the job too.
But they take this series of events rather seriously and start an establishment called Ghostbusters to ward off this evil from New York City.
18. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
- Director: Rob Reiner
- Written by: Nora Ephron
- Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby.
- IMDb rating: 7.7
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
- Platforms available: Netflix
New York is known for love and romance; this movie is just about it. And it’s one of the classic ones too—the story of two college graduates who meet after a long time and friendship buds between them.
But fate brings them back together after five long years, and now they have to struggle with what they exactly feel for each other.
17. The Odd Couple (1968)
- Director: Gene Saks
- Written by: Neil Simon
- Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herb Edelman.
- IMDb rating: 7.6
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Platforms available: Kanopy, Prime Video, Vudu Movies & TV store, Apple TV.
This movie, set in New York is about a couple named Felix and Frances who are now separated. Oscar, himself a divorcee, invites Felix to come in and stay with him. And now, what urges Felix to abide by this plan is absurd, but he eventually does move in only to realize that their housekeeping styles are extremely different from each other and that the differences between them drive the duo crazy.
16. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Produced by: Stanley Kubrick
- Cast: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson.
- IMDb rating: 7.5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
- Platforms available: Netflix
Another New York City mystery psychological drama movie, this movie is about Dr. Bill’s wife, Alice, admitting her sexual fantasies about a man she came across. But this instills a desire in Bill, too, he wishes for a sexual encounter for himself too. And that’s when he comes across a group chat related to these and starts attending their meetings.
15. Jacob’s Ladder ( 1990 )
- Director: Adrian Lyne
- Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin
- Cast: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello.
- IMDb Rating: 7.4
- Rotten Tomatoes: 62%
- Platforms available: Hbo Max, Paramount +, Hulu Plus.
This movie has a biblical reference right from its name, where we know that when Jacob slept, he was used to dreams and that he had dreamt of a ladder to heaven too.
In this movie, we see a postal worker haunted by his past and his earlier marriage when days were torturous for him as he was working during the time of war and had a son that passed away.
14. Maria Full of Grace (2004)
- Director: Joshua Marston
- Written by: Joshua Marston
- Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paola Vega, John Alex Toro, Guilied Lopez, Patricia Rae.
- IMDb rating: 7.4
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Platforms available: Hulu
This York City movie is definitely one of the most amazing movies to watch. Maria is a teenager but is pregnant and his completely exhausted from her daily life. So she gets an absurd offer of a job that would require her to transport drugs into New York City illegally.
Initially, it’s ok, but then her job takes a rough turn and gets her into trouble.
14. Wall Street (1987)
- Director: Oliver Stone
- Written by: Olive Stone
- Cast: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Hal Holbrook, Terence Stamp.
- IMDb rating: 7.3
- Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
- Platforms available: Disney+ Hotstar, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play movies, and TV.
This New York movie is about Bud, who is a junior stockbroker, and he has a deeply rooted desire to work with his idol, Gordon Gekko. He wishes to impress him, so he starts spying on well-known companies.
Later he gets to know about the evil works of Gordon, and that creates a feeling of distortion in his mind, and he begins to hate him and wishes to disclose his evil deeds.
13. Can you ever forgive me? (2018)
- Director: Marielle Heller
- Produced by: Anne Carey, Amy Nauiokas, and David Yarnell.
- Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant
- IMDb rating: 7.1
- Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
- Platforms available: Disney + Hotstar.
This is a biographical movie about Lee Israel, who was once a celebrity biographer, and once decided to turn her art to deception because she was not able to get it published with the help of her friend Jack.
12. Escape from New York (1981)
- Director: John Carpenter
- Written by: John Carpenter, Nick Castle
- Cast: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau
- IMDb rating: 7.1
- Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
- Platforms available: Netflix
This is an American science fiction movie about Gruff Snake Plissken, who is an ex-soldier and has turned over to be a convict. He has been sent to Manhattan with a special purpose, to a very tight security prison to bring out the Stranded US President.
The US President happens to be one of the greatest and most powerful rulers, and holding him hostage is definitely a dangerous thing to do. Now we might need the deadliest of all to bring him out from there.
11. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
- Director: David Frankel
- Produced by: Wendy Finerman
- Cast: Meryl Steep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Adrian Grenier
- IMDb rating: 6. 9
- Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
- Platforms available: Disney+ hotstar, YouTube, google play, movies and TV, apple TV.
One of those York films that are bound to take your heart away, this movie is about Andy, who has just graduated and wishes to be a journalist.
Little did she know that she would be an assistant to a very demanding boss, who is the city’s biggest magazine editor, Miranda Priestly. Ruthless as he is, things might be different with Andy.
10. Morning Glory (2010)
- Director: Roger Michell.
- Written by: Aline Brosh McKenna
- Cast: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum.
- IMDb rating: 6.5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 55%
- Platforms available: Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, iTunes, and Vudu.
This New York City movie is about Becky, who is a TV producer. She has a job of reviving a TV program that has been on a low rating for a while.
She thinks of a clever way to deal with this and invites a very famous anchor named Mike Pomeroy. But things clash and put both their careers at stake.
9. How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days (2010)
- Director: Donald Petrie
- Produced by: Lynda Obst, Robert Evans, and Christine Peters.
- Cast: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Goldberg, Michael Michele, Shalom Harlow.
- IMDb rating: 6.4
- Rotten Tomatoes: 42%
- Platforms available: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Netflix.
This is a romantic comedy movie about a boy named Benjamin who has received a challenge from his coworkers that he has to make a girl fall for him.
On the other hand, we have Andie, who has to write an article about how somebody can kiss a boy in 10 days.
8. While We’re Young (2014)
- Director: Noah Baumbach
- Written by: Noah Baumbach
- Cast: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin, Adam Horovitz.
- IMDb rating: 6.3
- Rotten tomatoes: 84%
- Platforms available: Amazon Prime Video.
Love gets lost in the way, and sometimes you must try harder to get it back to you. Josh and Cornelia have gone through a rough marriage, and you could say that the spark is nowhere to be found.
But they find love back for themselves when Jamie and Darby, a very young couple, enter their lives and reignite that spark.
7. Date Night (2010)
- Director: Shawn Levy
- Written by: Josh Klausner
- Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Taraji P. Henson, Common, Mark Wahlberg.
- IMDb rating: 6.3
- Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
- Platforms available: YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple TV.
This New York movie is about Phil and Claire, who leads a very monotonous life as a couple with kids. They make a small attempt to spice up things for a date night and end up getting more thrills than they’ve asked for.
6. New York, I love you (2008)
- Director: Faith Akin, Yvan Attal, Randall Balsmeyer, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Jiang Wen, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner.
- Produced by: Emmanuel Benbihy, Marina Grasic.
- IMDb rating: 6.2
- Rotten Tomatoes: 37%
- Platforms available: Prime video.
This is an American anthology film which has a total of eleven short films. The people staying in this movie set in New York City have a very different outlook toward life and, thus, just a lot of stories to tell.
Mansukh bhai befriends a woman named Rifka. Ben gets to meet his match, Molly. But Molly already has a boyfriend named Garry.
5. Hi, Mom! (1970)
- Director: Brian De Palma
- Produced by: Charles Hirsch
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Jennifer Salt, Lara Parker, Paul Bartel, Charles Durning, Gerrit Graham.
- IMDb rating: 6.1
- Rotten Tomatoes: 73%
- Platforms available: CONtv, the Roku Channel.
Jon Rubin had been serving as a veteran in Vietnam and had just arrived in New York and got in touch with a producer named Joe Banner. Rubin falls for his beautiful neighbor named, Judy Bishop.
He starts recording clips of his neighbors, and soon he gets into a group of aactivists and starts to decipher the reason behind his unsatisfied life.
4. The Switch (2010)
- Director: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
- Produced by: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa
- Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis.
- IMDb rating: 6.1
- Rotten Tomatoes: 52%
- Platforms available: Netflix
This is a romantic comedy movie about a big city. An unmarried woman of about 40 is looking for a sperm donor for her to conceive.
But eventually realizes that it’s her best friend, Wally. She was in the dark for so many years, not knowing that Wally had them change with his sperm.
3. Autumn in New York (2000)
- Director: Joan Chen
- Written by: Allison Burnett
- Cast: Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, Elaine Stritch.
- IMDb rating: 5.6
- Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
- Platforms available: Amazon Prime Video
This movie is about a 48-year-old man interested in women but gets a new meaning to his life after he meets Charlotte, a very free and fun woman. But later realizes that she has a heart condition.
2. Runaway Bride (1999)
- Director: Garry Marshall
- Written by: Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon.
- Cast: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack, Rita Wilson, Paul Dooley.
- IMDb rating: 5.5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 46%
This big-city reporter falls for this wonderful town girl . But this funny girl also has a habit of running away from her marriage. He came up here in search of a story but ended up being a major part of it.
1. I hate Valentine’s Day (2009)
- Director: Nia Vardalos
- Produced by: Madeleine Sherak, WWilliam Sherak, Jason Shuman.
- Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett
- IMDb rating: 4.7
- Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
- Platforms available: DIRECTV, AMC+ Amazon Channel.
This is one of the best movies set in New York City and a romantic comedy movie about Genevieve, who is a florist in Manhattan, New York. She has her limitations to be with a man. But that changes when she meets a restauranteur named Greg.
