Movies and TV shows set in southern california

The list contains the best, new and most relevant movies set in southern california ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, captivating, serious, humorous, suspenseful and interesting films and TV shows about / with friendship, female nudity, violence, sex, chase, drugs, brutality, mother son relationship, police and gangsters plots mostly in Drama, Comedy and Crime genres shot in USA, France, Germany and other countries.
southern california
 92
southern california movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as southern california: Inherent Vice (2014), Smartass (2017), Mutafukaz (2017), Papi Chulo (2018), Waiting for Dracula (2012), Animal Kingdom (2016), Savages (2012), Southland Tales (2006), Baywatch (1989), Southland (2009).

List of movies set in southern california

 6.6
 107K
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, atmospheric, neo noir, sexy, meditative ...
Audience: adult
Plot: private investigator, investigation, drugs, ex boyfriend ex girlfriend relationship, drug trade, private detective, obsession, twists and turns, paranoia, betrayal, police investigation, hippie ...
Time: 70s, 60s, year 1970, year 1967, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california, southern california, usa, beverly hills
Is relevant ?
 4.8
 760
Smartass (2017)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Based on true events (mostly), Freddie, a 15-year-old runaway becomes intimately acquainted with California’s “Murder City” after being released from jail, just shy of midnight. Absurdly self-reliant, completely broke and 120 miles away from ...
Style: suspenseful, bleak
Plot: runaway teen, gang, jail, drugs, teenage girl, dysfunctional family, struggle for survival, brother sister relationship, twists and turns, suspense, mother daughter relationship, drug use ...
Place: southern california
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 5K
Mutafukaz (2017)
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Japan
Duration: 94 min.
Story: Angelino is just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. But an otherwise unremarkable scooter accident caused by a beautiful, mysterious stranger is about to transform his life... into a waking nightmare! He starts seeing monstrous ...
Style: anime, adult animation, tense, captivating, weird
Plot: on the run, chase, running, violence, hybrid, car chase, trap, gunfight, alien invasion, global warming, alien encounter, hallucination ...
Place: southern california
Is relevant ?
 6.6
 2K
Papi Chulo (2018)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A lonely TV weatherman strikes up an unusual friendship with a middle-aged Latino migrant worker.
Style: sentimental, melancholic, sexy, psychological, humorous ...
Plot: gay, gay interest, gay love, friendship, tv news, gay lead character, depression, unrequited love, loneliness, breakup, desperation, self loathing ...
Time: 21st century
Place: southern california, los angeles
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
Waiting for Dracula (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story: This low-budget vampire horror film follows a crowd of hedonistic vampires in L.A. who lure unsuspecting victims into their vampiric world with cocaine and sex.
Style: humorous, unusual plot structure, light, entertaining, captivating ...
Plot: dracula, vampire sex, vampire, mansion, male nudity, sex scene, cocaine, female nudity, monster, evil, characters in danger, violence ...
Time: 21st century
Place: southern california, los angeles
Is relevant ?
 8.2
 40K
Animal Kingdom (2016)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: The series centers on 17-year-old Joshua "J" Cody, who moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. Headed by boot-tough matriarch Janine "Smurf" ...
Style: exciting, tense, captivating, erotic, sexy ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: criminal, crime family, heist, dysfunctional family, gay brother, escapades, family conflict, brother brother relationship, twists and turns, friendship, antisocial personality disorder, boyfriend girlfriend relationship ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa, southern california, california
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 132K
Savages (2012)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Style: sexy, tense, intense, romantic, rough ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, boys' night
Plot: marijuana, drug cartel, twists and turns, gangsters, kidnapping, rescue, drug dealing, violence, friendship, woman in danger, love triangle, polyamory ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: california, southern california, los angeles, usa, tijuana mexico ...
Is relevant ?
Southland Tales (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, USA
Duration: 145 min.
Story: Set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an ...
Style: surreal, futuristic, enigmatic, cynical, allegory ...
Plot: time travel, distopia, alternate reality, memory, post apocalypse, drugs, mad scientist, prophecy, chaos, future dystopia, apocalypse, dishonesty ...
Time: future, year 2005, near future, 2000s, year 2008
Place: los angeles, texas, southern california, afghanistan, middle east ...
Is relevant ?
 5.4
 29K
Baywatch (1989)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show was canceled after its first season on NBC, but survived and later ...
Style: realistic, serious, sexy, captivating, sexual ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: beach, lifeguard, rescue, workplace, workplace situations, workplace romance, heroism, friendship, female friendship, love affair, sea, party ...
Time: 90s, future, 20th century, 2000s, 80s ...
Place: southern california, california, los angeles, usa, hawaii ...
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 27K
Southland (2009)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min.
TV show
Story: Since premiering in 2009, Southland has redefined the police drama with its raw, authentic look at the lives and work of Los Angeles detectives and beat cops. The show centers on four main characters: Officer John Cooper (Cudlitz), a seasoned cop ...
Style: captivating, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: lapd, police detective, policewoman, law enforcement, partners against crime, police officer, police protagonist, fighting crime, police, peril, team, responsibility ...
Time: 21st century
Place: california, southern california, los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 191K
Cobra Kai (2018)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story: This Karate Kid sequel series picks up 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament and finds Johnny Lawrence on the hunt for redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo. This reignites his old rivalry with the ...
Style: light, exciting, motivational, captivating, semi serious ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: martial arts, karate, dojo, martial arts training, master apprentice relationship, starting over, teenager, fight, middle aged man, father figure, father son relationship, rivalry ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s
Place: california, los angeles, southern california
Is relevant ?
Behind the Candelabra (2013)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted.
Style: stylized, realistic, factual, sexy, entertaining ...
Plot: gay, pianist, aids, gays and lesbians, showbiz, celebrity, music, gay sex, gay couple, lgbt, homosexual, art ...
Time: 70s, 80s, 20th century, year 1986, year 1979 ...
Place: las vegas, california, southern california, usa
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 6.6
 2K
Lifeguard (1976)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Rick is a Los Angeles County lifeguard who is in his thirties. At his 15-year high school reunion, he sees his old girlfriend who is now a divorced mother. After falling in love with her, Rick considers changing his career and lifestyle.
Style: realistic, semi serious, psychological, talky
Plot: lifeguard, beach, summer, high school reunion, age difference, swimming, sexual initiation, ex classmate, sex, little boy, teenager, teenage girl ...
Time: 1930s
Place: los angeles, southern california, california
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 442K
Modern Family (2009)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min.
TV show
Story: The Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan is a wonderfully large and blended family. They give us an honest and often hilarious look into the sometimes warm, sometimes twisted, embrace of the modern family.
Style: sitcom, humorous, funny, entertaining, realistic ...
Audience: teens
Plot: gay, family relations, everyday life, generation gap, adolescence, family life, parents and children, eccentric family, mother daughter relationship, couple relations, blended family, marriage ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: california, southern california, usa, los angeles
Is relevant ?
 6.2
 51K
Orange County (2002)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story: Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County who dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his disfunctional family household. Except Shaun runs into one complication after another starting when his application is ...
Style: feel good, funny, humorous, entertaining, semi serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: college, high school, dysfunctional family, coming of age, cheerleading, slacker, family relations, drugs, youth, cheerleader, lifestyle, love and romance ...
Place: california, southern california, usa, yale university, mexico
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 265K
Blow (2001)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story: A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family. It is finally revealed that George's father cannot make a living and the family goes ...
Style: touching, thought provoking, depressing, emotional, serious ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: drugs, drug addiction, gangsters, drug lord, rise and fall, drug abuse, friendship, drug cartel, drug dealing, cocaine, drug use, addiction ...
Time: 70s, 80s, 50s, 60s, 90s ...
Place: california, colombia, latin america, boston, mexico ...
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 16K
A Better Life (2011)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.
Style: touching, emotional, realistic, sincere, thought provoking ...
Plot: immigrants, single father, family relations, u.s. mexico border, american dream, truck, father son relationship, single parent, parenthood, character study, working class, teenage life ...
Time: september 11 2001, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, mexico, southern california, usa ...
Is relevant ?
 3.0
 527
SAF3 (2013)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story: The series follows Southern California's elite rescue task force, SAF3 (pronouced "safe") , consists of the cream-of-the-crop from the sea, air, and fire divisions of the Malibu Fire Department. They are the heroes who answer the most ...
Style: exciting, humorous, captivating, tense, suspenseful ...
Plot: lifeguard, rescue team, race against time, escapades, beach, fire, friendship, fire brigade, ocean, doctors and patients, power relations, daring rescue ...
Time: 21st century
Place: california, usa, malibu california, southern california
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
Thicker Than Water (2005)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story: After the death of her father, Natalie Travers (Melissa Gilbert) discovers he was married to a rodeo star before he married Natalie’s mother. Upset that her father kept part of his life a secret from her and bewildered over how a prominent judge ...
Style: realistic, serious, touching, sentimental
Plot: horse, fall in love, friendship, self discovery, lifestyle, parents and children, love and romance, hopes, dishonesty, society, family relations, farm ...
Time: 21st century
Place: california, usa, los angeles, southern california
Is relevant ?
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California, based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, ...
Style: humorous, teen sex comedy, feel good, sexy, funny ...
Audience: teens, girls' night, date night, adult
Plot: high school, coming of age, teenager, teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, friendship, youth, shopping mall, female nudity, females talking about sex, loss of virginity, abortion ...
Time: 80s, 20th century
Place: california, usa, los angeles, southern california
Is relevant ?
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Two lovers, Mary and Larry, in their Dodge Charger are chased by the police after robbing a grocery store.
Style: road movie, exciting, suspenseful, captivating, tense ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: chase, car chase, on the run, robbery, mechanic, car, exploitation, partners, store, buddies, race against time, law enforcement ...
Time: 20th century, 70s
Place: southern california, california
Is relevant ?
 5.1
 174
Double Nickels (1977)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Two highway patrolmen think they are working on the side repossessing cars. But eventually, they realize that they have been tricked and are actually stealing the cars.
Plot: car chase, car, van, beer, car theft, stealing a car, highway patrol, police, chase, scam, highway, speed ...
Place: malibu california, los angeles, southern california
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 20K
Mayans M.C. (2018)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: Set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy ...
Style: suspenseful, tense, rough, serious, thrilling ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: motorcycle gang, street gang, latinos, organized crime, criminal, gangsters, motorcycle, gang war, drug traffic, power struggle, threat, lifestyle ...
Place: southern california, california
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
Gangland Undercover (2015)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 42 min.
TV show
Story: This drama series is a fictionalized retelling of the story of meth dealer-turned-ATF informant Charles Falco, who spent three years inside one of America's most dangerous motorcycle gangs, the Vagos. Although Falco originally took on the ...
Style: suspenseful, captivating, serious, realistic, tense ...
Plot: motorcycle gang, working undercover, undercover agent, biker gang, biker, organized crime, undercover, criminal, gang, gangsters, informant, mafia ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, california, virginia, southern california
Is relevant ?
Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Horror, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: The U.S. government, eager to protect the nation's avacado supplies, recruits feminist professor Margo Hunt to make contact with the Piranha Women, an all-female tribe who believe men are only good as a source of food. Accompanying Dr. Hunt on ...
Style: art house, absurd, parody, not serious, humorous ...
Audience: teens
Plot: space and aliens, female nudity, cannibal, cannibalism, exploitation, sorority, woman with a gun, scream queen, female fight, battle of the sexes, wedding dress, one night stand ...
Time: 80s
Place: california, usa, southern california
Is relevant ?
 6.9
 6K
Suburbia (1983)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Style: psychotronic, political, indie film, realistic, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: teenager, punk, punk rock, subculture, skinhead, coming of age, friendship, dysfunctional family, drugs, friendship between men, runaway, graffiti ...
Time: 80s
Place: california, los angeles, usa, southern california
Is relevant ?
 1.8
 403
Maple Palm (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story: A lesbian couple of fifteen years lives with the secret that one is an illegal immigrant. With no legal way to protect their relationship, the couple lives in fear of deportation. After an innocent visit to the Statue of Liberty, the girls return ...
Style: avant garde, touching, sincere, melancholic, entertaining ...
Plot: lesbian, lgbt, female homosexuality, lesbianism, illegal immigrant, immigrants, unconditional love, american, sexuality, dark secret, u.s. canadian border, border patrol ...
Place: los angeles, vancouver, montreal, new york, california ...
Is relevant ?
The Final Terror (1983)
Genre: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min.
Story: A group of friends and their girlfriends head out for what is expected to be a vacation of hiking, camping and a good time, but when a backwoods mama finds them on her turf, it becomes anything but a vacation.
Style: slasher, suspenseful, rough, serious, bloody ...
Audience: teens
Plot: fugitives, murder, psychopath, camping, stalking, backwoods, serial killer, youth, camp, insanity, suspense, rage ...
Time: 80s, year 1981
Place: southern california, california
Is relevant ?
 6.9
 39K
Up in Smoke (1978)
Genre: Comedy, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story: An unemployed pot-smoking slacker and amateur drummer, Anthony Stoner ditches his strict parents and hits the road, eventually meeting kindred spirit Pedro de Pacas. While the drug-ingesting duo is soon arrested for possession of marijuana, Anthony ...
Style: funny, humorous, road movie, absurd, parody ...
Plot: marijuana, stoners, drugs, weed, rock and roll, road trip, stoner, cult, satire, chase, exploitation, buddies ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1977
Place: los angeles, mexico, california, asia, vietnam ...
Is relevant ?
Tales from the Hood (1995)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A strange funeral director tells four strange tales of horror with an African American focus to three drug dealers he traps in his place of business.
Style: scary, atmospheric, disturbing, bleak, psychological ...
Audience: teens, boys' night
Plot: mortician, afterlife, evil doll, child abuse, murder, funeral home, supernatural, hip hop, brutality, drugs, gangsters, blaxploitation ...
Time: 90s, 20th century
Place: los angeles, usa, southern california
Is relevant ?