Movies and TV shows set in los angeles

The list contains the best, new and most relevant movies set in los angeles ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, serious, cult classic, detective, suspenseful and suspense films and TV shows about / with violence, police, murder, police officer, gun, gangster, cop, pistol, female nudity and profanity plots mostly in Drama, Crime and Thriller genres shot in USA, UK, Japan and other countries.
los angeles
 3218
los angeles movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as los angeles: Drive (2011), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Somewhere (2010), Inherent Vice (2014), Mulholland Drive (2001), Knight of Cups (2015), The Little Things (2021), Dope (2015), Point Break (1991), Laurel Canyon (2002).

List of movies set in los angeles

Type:
Year:
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
 7.8
 699K
Drive (2011)
Genre: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman for criminals discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.
Style: neo noir, atmospheric, tense, serious, intense ...
Audience: boys' night, date night, adult
Plot: car chase, heist, mechanic, danger, tough heroes, lone wolves, organized crime, loner, revenge, chases and races, robbery, character study ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, iran, usa
Is relevant ?
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story: A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Style: neo noir, suspense, tense, suspenseful, cult classic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: car chase, revenge, investigation, murder, vengeance, police investigation, law enforcement, cop, male pubic hair, chase, hitman, organized crime ...
Time: 80s, year 1985, 20th century
Place: los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.3
 47K
Somewhere (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK, Italy, Japan, France
Duration: 97 min.
Story: A hard-living Hollywood actor re-examines his life after his 11-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.
Style: art house, independent film, emotional, meditative, surreal ...
Plot: father daughter relationship, luxury hotel, casual sex, estranged father, actor, hotel, loneliness, obsession, family relations, lifestyle, actor's life, introspection ...
Time: 2010s, year 2010, 21st century
Place: los angeles, milan italy, california, europe, italy ...
Is relevant ?
 6.6
 110K
Inherent Vice (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 148 min.
Story: In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
Style: surreal, neo noir, psychedelic, atmospheric, detective ...
Audience: adult
Plot: private investigator, investigation, ex boyfriend ex girlfriend relationship, drug trade, private detective, obsession, investigator, stoner, hippie, paranoia, betrayal, police investigation ...
Time: 70s, 60s, 2010s, year 2014, 90s ...
Place: los angeles, california, southern california, usa, beverly hills
Is relevant ?
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Mulholland Drive (2001)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story: After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesic, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Style: surreal, psychological, art house, neo noir, atmospheric ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: surrealism, twists and turns, lesbian, amnesia, obsession, hollywood, nightmare, hallucination, doppelganger, alternate reality, filmmaking, dream ...
Time: 2000s, year 2001, future, 20th century, 21st century
Place: los angeles, persia, usa, california
Is relevant ?
 5.6
 29K
Knight of Cups (2015)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. While successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted and confused, he finds temporary solace in the decadent Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to his daily ...
Style: stylized, art house, meditative, philosophical, talky ...
Audience: teens
Plot: love, temptation, desert, multiple storylines, tarot card, humanity, visceral, existentialism, obsession, trippy, photography, couples ...
Time: 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, las vegas
Is relevant ?
The Little Things (2021)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story: Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's ...
Style: suspense, tense, suspenseful, action thriller, neo noir ...
Plot: serial killer, murder, serial murder, cold case, police, investigation, police station, police detective, murder mystery, mysterious man, missing person, murder investigation ...
Time: 2020s, year 1990, year 1985, 20th century, 90s
Place: los angeles, california, persia
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 89K
Dope (2015)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from ...
Style: funny, independent film, realistic, suspense, teen ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: teenager, coming of age, hip hop, african american, adolescence, friendship, social relations, drug, party, gang, gangster, high school ...
Time: 2010s, year 2015, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, indiana, harvard university, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 200K
Point Break (1991)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: In the coastal town of Los Angeles, a gang of bank robbers call themselves The Ex-Presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. The F.B.I. believes that the members of the gang could be surfers and send ...
Style: exciting, suspense, cult classic, intense, neo noir ...
Audience: kids, manly, boys' night
Plot: bank robbery, extreme sport, extreme sports, surfer, surfing, gang, robbery, gangster, undercover, bank robber, buddy, fbi ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california, usa, australia, north america
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 17K
Laurel Canyon (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Laurel Canyon focuses on Sam and Alex, a pair of upper-middle class lovebirds from the East Coast who relocate to Los Angeles. Enter Jane, Sam's estranged mother, a successful record producer, who's more than willing to put the couple up ...
Style: sexual, psychological, independent film, sexy, serious ...
Plot: infidelity, culture clash, intern, music business, psychiatry, music, relationships, lesbian, fish out of water, couples, disorder, love and romance ...
Time: year 2002, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, california
Is relevant ?
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 117 min.
Story: Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink white Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events ...
Style: neo noir, dark comedy, surreal, absurd, humorous ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: bowling, mistaken identity, weed, dialogue, slacker, hippie, marijuana, great dialogue, dream, drug, stoner, nihilism ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1998, year 1991
Place: los angeles, america, iraq, arizona, usa ...
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 267K
End of Watch (2012)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.
Style: tense, emotional, suspense, independent film, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: latinos, gang member, cop, police, shooting, street gang, friendship, urban ghetto, police investigation, organized crime, police officer, found footage ...
Time: year 2012, 2010s, year 2011, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, south central los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 8.4
 196K
24 (2001)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story: 24 is an American television series produced for the Fox network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method ...
Style: exciting, cliffhanger, serious, stylized, realistic ...
Audience: teens, boys' night
Plot: terrorism, president, political conspiracy, secret service, terrorist, terrorist plot, government agency, race against time, assassination of president, investigation, assassination attempt, twists and turns ...
Time: 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, new york, usa, middle east
Is relevant ?
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Music
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 147 min.
Story: In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, ...
Style: realistic, intense, hood, lyrical, suspense ...
Audience: manly
Plot: hip hop, racism, music, gangster, rags to riches, ghetto, profanity, rap, rapper, african american, biopic, fighting the system ...
Time: 90s, 2010s, year 2015, 80s, year 2016 ...
Place: los angeles, california, milwaukee wisconsin, usa, texas ...
Is relevant ?
Menace II Society (1993)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Menace II Society is a coming of age tale detailing the summer after its protagonist Caine (Tyrin Turner) graduates from high school. This is Caine's story, which details real life in today's tough inner city.
Style: bleak, realistic, stylized, tense, hood ...
Audience: teens, teen drama, adult
Plot: hip hop, ghetto, african american, urban ghetto life, murder, police brutality, coming of age, street gang, friendship, organized crime, gangsta, gunfight ...
Time: 90s, year 1993, 20th century, 70s
Place: california, los angeles, usa, south central los angeles, north america
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 470K
Training Day (2001)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Style: neo noir, realistic, tense, harsh, suspense ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, adult
Plot: police corruption, gang, corrupt cop, ghetto, gunfight, drug dealer, police, african american, rookie, mentor, dirty cop, drug ...
Time: year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant ?
 5.5
 20K
Havoc (2005)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 85 min.
Story: A wealthy Los Angeles teen and her superficial friends wants to break out of suburbia and experience Southern California's "gangsta" lifestyle. But problems arise when the preppies get in over their heads and provoke the wrath of a ...
Style: disturbing, sexy, independent film, erotic, psychological ...
Audience: teens
Plot: youth, nudity, teenager, sex scene, sex with a stranger, juvenile delinquency, promiscuity, hip hop, gang, gangster, erotica, female nudity ...
Time: year 2005, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 83K
Bosch (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story: Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to ...
Style: realistic, serious, exciting, detective, neo noir ...
Plot: police, determination, police detective, law enforcement, murder investigation, police investigation, suspicion, murder, coworker, homicide detective, father daughter relationship, lapd ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 7.8
 600K
Nightcrawler (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.
Style: neo noir, psychological, disturbing, suspense, suspenseful ...
Audience: adult
Plot: character study, journalism, sociopath, obsession, journalist, cynicism, psychopath, morality, violence, manipulation, capitalism, employer employee relationship ...
Time: year 2014, 2010s, near future, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa, persia, america ...
Is relevant ?
My Crazy Life (1993)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute ...
Style: realistic, talky, serious, hood, cult classic ...
Plot: coming of age, friendship, chicano, juvenile delinquency, gang member, teenager, unlikely friendships, drug dealing, urban ghetto, urban, youth, urban ghetto life ...
Time: year 1993, 90s
Place: los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 347K
Chinatown (1974)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story: Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double ...
Style: neo noir, detective, atmospheric, twist ending, bleak ...
Audience: date night
Plot: private detective, corruption, investigation, femme fatale, rape, police, murder, conspiracy, domestic violence, father daughter incest, incest, investigator ...
Time: 20th century, 1930s, year 1974, year 1937
Place: los angeles, california, usa, eastern europe, america ...
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 77K
Mid90s (2018)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story: Stevie is a sweet 13-year-old about to explode. His mom is loving and attentive, but a little too forthcoming about her romantic life. His big brother is a taciturn and violent bully. So Stevie searches his working-class Los Angeles suburb for ...
Style: thought provoking, social, teen, humorous, retro ...
Audience: family friendly, teens, teen drama
Plot: skateboard, coming of age, skateboarder, teenager, friendship, friends, underage drinking, underage sex, dysfunctional family, adolescence, brother brother relationship, self harm ...
Time: 90s, year 1996, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california, paris france, florida, france ...
Is relevant ?
 6.1
 153K
S.W.A.T. (2003)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: Hondo Harrelson recruits Jim Street to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay and single mom Chris Sanchez. The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss ...
Style: exciting, serious, realistic, action packed, action adventure ...
Audience: girls' night, chick flick, boys' night
Plot: swat, swat team, police, basic training, squad, police brutality, sniper, tough law enforcer, corrupt cop, hostage, shootout, drug lord ...
Time: year 2003, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, california, north america
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
L.A.'s Finest (2019)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: Syd Burnett has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna, a working mom with an equally complex past, Syd is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a ...
Style: entertaining, feel good, humorous, suspense, light ...
Audience: girls' night, chick flick
Plot: partners against crime, police investigation, female police officer, black cop, policewoman, betrayal, violence, police, sex, police detective, homicide detective, female police detective ...
Place: los angeles
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 113K
Tango & Cash (1989)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Ray Tango and Gabriel Cash are narcotics detectives who, while both being extremely successful, can't stand each other. Crime Lord Yves Perret, furious at the loss of income that Tango and Cash have caused him, frames the two for murder. Caught ...
Style: intense, action comedy, detective, realistic, rough ...
Audience: manly, boys' night
Plot: buddies, police detective, reluctant partners, prison, prison escape, prisoner, buddy, buddy cop, police, law enforcement, organized crime, gunfight ...
Time: 80s, 20th century
Place: los angeles, usa, california
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 205K
Falling Down (1993)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France, UK
Duration: 113 min.
Story: On the day of his daughter's birthday, William "D-Fens" Foster is trying to get to the home of his estranged ex-wife to see his daughter. His car breaks down, so he leaves his car in a traffic jam in Los Angeles and decides to walk. ...
Style: psychological, rough, suspense, disturbing, black comedy ...
Audience: manly, date night
Plot: rage, vigilante, anger, violence, midlife crisis, alienation, heat wave, social commentary, character study, traffic jam, urban decay, obsession ...
Time: 90s, 80s, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california, persia, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 372K
Jackie Brown (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 154 min.
Story: Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan—with help from a bail bondsman—to keep the money ...
Style: suspense, dark comedy, neo noir, stylized, serious ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: gangster, stewardess, greed, heist, airport, robbery, deception, flight attendant, blaxploitation, bail bondsman, female protagonist, ex convict ...
Time: 90s, year 1997, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant ?
Battle Los Angeles (2011)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story: The Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world's great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant and his new platoon to draw a ...
Style: serious, futuristic, intense, exciting, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: alien invasion, apocalypse, alien encounter, survival, evil alien, military, invasion, save the world, battlefield, heroic mission, extraterrestrial, ufo ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, california, mojave desert, america ...
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 714K
Heat (1995)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 170 min.
Story: Obsessive master thief, Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective, Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the ...
Style: neo noir, tense, detective, suspense, suspenseful ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, adult
Plot: robbery, heist, gunfight, bank robbery, chase, cop, master criminal, police detective, gangster, police, obsession, bank ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1995
Place: los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 222K
Gangster Squad (2013)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it ...
Style: rough, exciting, stylized, serious, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night, chick flick, manly, teens
Plot: mob boss, organized crime, mafia, gangster, partners against crime, law enforcement, corruption, revenge, police brutality, squad, power struggle, love triangle ...
Time: 1940s, year 2013, 2010s, 20th century, year 1949 ...
Place: los angeles, california, israel, usa
Is relevant ?
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