Who gets to claim New York City as their own? Everyone seems to have an opinion when you’re battling over NYC bona fides. No matter the answer, one thing is for certain: New York’s place as the world’s center for art and culture has inspired many a filmmaker. And with more than 8 million people living across the five boroughs, there are endless stories to tell.
Whether you’re still dreaming of the city’s bright lights or grew up riding the subway, there’s a movie or series about the Big Apple on Netflix for you. Read on to learn more.
The magic of Broadway is unlike anything else, but sometimes you just can’t catch a show in person — because of geography, money, or even time. Luckily for those who didn’t get to see the 2018 revival of The Boys in the Band, the entire cast signed on for a film adaptation. The story takes place over the course of one night in 1968 New York City, when a group of gay friends gather for a party that turns into an all-night examination of what it means to love yourself and someone else. The star-studded cast includes Jim Parsons (Hollywood), Zachary Quinto (NOS4A2), Matt Bomer (Echoes), Andrew Rannells (Big Mouth), and more.
Dating in New York is never simple. Billy Eichner (Friends from College) stars in this rom-com about Bobby Lieber (Eichner), a New Yorker who hosts a podcast, The Eleventh Brick at Stonewall, and is preparing to become the curator for a new national LGBTQ+ history museum in Manhattan. He also prides himself on his singledom, and swears up and down that being in a relationship as a gay man is too complicated. When he meets the handsome Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane) at a nightclub, they agree to go on a date — only for Bobby to claim that Aaron acts “too straight” and for Aaron to admit that he’s put off by Bobby’s standing in the queer community. Despite their misgivings, the pair begin a tumultuous relationship. But can they put aside their differences and learn from each other enough to make their romance something real? Amanda Bearse (Fright Night), Guy Branum (Platonic), Guillermo Díaz (Scandal), and Bowen Yang (The Lost City) also star.
New York City’s criminal underbelly gets a front-row seat in director Darren Aronofsky’s (Requiem for a Dream) ’90s-set black comedy crime caper. Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) is a bartender and former high school baseball phenom. His punk-rock neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith), asks him to watch his cat for a few days, and suddenly Hank is caught in the middle of a motley crew of oddball gangsters, including violent drug-dealing thugs. While trying to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, Hank has to figure out how to stay alive long enough to figure out what exactly it is that they want. Regina King (Shirley), Zoë Kravitz (The Road Within), Liev Schreiber (The Perfect Couple), and Vincent D’Onofrio (Lift) also star.
Welcome to Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where students attending some of the world’s most prestigious private schools tear each other apart IRL and online. This salacious, six-season drama series, based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s novels, follows the social and romantic lives of elite teens in New York City, as narrated by the enigmatic titular blogger (voiced by Kristen Bell). Whether she’s welcoming Queen Bee Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) back to the fold, cataloging “Lonely Boy” Dan Humphrey’s (Penn Badgley) dating exploits, or subtly digging at Blair Waldorf’s (Leighton Meester), well, everything, Gossip Girl has a take. But who is she? That’s one secret you’ll have to find out for yourself. XOXO … you know the rest. Chace Crawford (The Boys) and Ed Westwick (Sandokan: The Pirate Prince) co-star.
This sports drama follows agent Ray Burke (André Holland) as he concocts a plan to use his new rookie client, Erick Scott (Melvin Gregg) to end a lockout of NBA players by team owners. But over time, Scott, who is also the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick selected by the New York Knicks, becomes suspicious of Ray’s motives. Most of the action in this movie takes place in the corporate offices and boardrooms, as well as the high-end bars and restaurants in New York City, rather than on the basketball court. It’s a movie about the behind-the-scenes negotiations that affect people’s lives, and is often set against the city’s skyline where all the power moves take place. Zazie Beetz (The Harder They Fall), Bill Duke (Black Lightning), and Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) also star in this film, directed by Steven Soderbergh (The Laundromat).
Sometimes, you can’t be entirely sure you belong somewhere until you go somewhere else and realize that you definitely don’t belong in that place. That’s where Jessica James (Jessica Williams), a struggling playwright, finds herself as she takes a weekend trip to Ohio for a family baby shower. Dating in New York City can be the absolute worst, but there’s something to be said for knowing you’ve put down your roots in the right place. Jessica’s story is one of compromises and hard decisions while remaining, in the character’s own words, “freaking dope.” Chris O’Dowd (Slumberland), LaKeith Stanfield (Come Sunday), and Noël Wells (Master of None) also star.
Lifelong New Yorkers are a unique type, and The Meyerowitz Stories captures one such family perfectly. It’s the story of a group of adult siblings living in the shadow of their successful father’s expectations. The Meyerowitzes are all miserable and resentful in their own way, clinging to each other for support as much as they cling to their grudges. Patriarch Harold (Dustin Hoffman) has been married four times and is critical of a world that he feels looks down on him and his art. His eldest son, Danny (Adam Sandler), is divorced and moves in with him, but never felt he was the favorite child. There’s also Matthew (Ben Stiller) — who’s fled New York for Los Angeles, and urges his father to sell his town house when he comes to visit — and Jean (Elizabeth Marvel), who feels like an afterthought next to her brothers. The film, directed by Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), also stars Grace Van Patten (Tramps), Emma Thompson (The Children Act), Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown), Adam Driver (White Noise), and Sigourney Weaver (Working Girl) as herself.
A pair of burned-out assistants, tired of setting up meetings, appointments, deliveries, travel, and everything else, decide to set up their bosses instead in director Claire Scanlon’s (The Love Hypothesis) rom-com. When Charlie and Harper (Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch) realize that they’re similarly overworked by their demanding employers (played by Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu), they conspire to spark a relationship between their bosses, hoping it’ll ease the pressure at work. The scheme — which involves plenty of errands around Manhattan and a kiss cam at a Yankees game — may or may not work as planned, but what Charlie and Harper aren’t prepared for is how said scheming brings them close enough to catch feelings for each other. Meredith Hagner (Search Party), Pete Davidson (The Pete Davidson Show), and Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) join in on the hijinks.
If there was ever a quintessential New York filmmaker, Spike Lee is it. She’s Gotta Have It, released in 1986, is his first feature-length movie, and is so beloved that it was selected in 2019 to be preserved by the Library of Congress and the United States National Film Registry for its cultural significance. Tracy Camilla Johns (Red Hook Summer) stars as Nola Darling, who can’t decide what kind of man she’d like to be with. So she’s with three very different men, refusing to settle down — and settle on — just one. The story follows her relationships with the trio, and the highs and lows that come about when they learn about each other. It’s a New York City classic, and still a more-than-relevant watch 40 years after its premiere.
Lee’s two-season series of the same name, based on this ’86 classic and starring DeWanda Wise as Nola, is also available to stream on Netflix.
New York City and Spider-Man go hand in hand. Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is just trying to adjust to his fancy school, live up to his loving parents’ expectations, and impress the new girl, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), when he’s bitten by a radioactive spider. That’s how he meets Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker (Chris Pine), who’s on a mission to stop the villainous Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from tearing a hole in reality. Spidey fails, leaving Miles to save their world and juggle the alternate-universe Spider-People who keep popping up. Can these unlikely, web-slinging allies come together to save the multiverse and return home? This superhero flick, produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Project Hail Mary), won Best Animated Feature at the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Oscars. Jake Johnson (Minx), Nicolas Cage (Trespass), Kimiko Glenn (Centaurworld), and John Mulaney (John Mulaney: Baby J) also provide voice talent.
Almost as common as trying to make it big in the city is struggling with the decision to leave it. Living in New York can be busy, expensive, difficult, demoralizing — and wonderful. Leaving the less picture-perfect parts of it behind also means leaving the good ones, like your best friends (and 24-hour bodegas, almost as important). Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) is a music journalist preparing to move to San Francisco for her dream job at Rolling Stone, but before she goes, she’s due for one last hurrah with her two besties (Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise). They take the day off work and have an adventure in a quest to get tickets to a concert, and to heal Jenny’s dual heartbreak — leaving the city, and getting dumped by her boyfriend.
Nothing screams “time for a fresh start” like a devastating breakup. And there’s no better place to get that fresh start than NYC. Series co-creator Michelle Buteau stars as Mavis Beaumont, a size-inclusive New York stylist building her career and rebuilding her love life after an unexpected split. Through questionable decisions, ambitious moves, and plenty of crashouts, Mavis sets out to become her best, most unapologetic self with the help of her closest friends. The series, a fictionalized adaptation of Buteau’s book of the same name, returns July 2 for its fashionable final season, and also stars Tasha Smith (Why Did I Get Married?), Tone Bell (Trigger Warning), and Marouane Zotti (Crystal Girl).
Spot the ’90s NYC landmarks in this adaptation of the musical of the same name, starring Andrew Garfield in an Oscar-nominated performance. The story is a semi-autobiographical lens into the life and artistic struggles of composer Jonathan Larson (Garfield), who would go on to write the hit musical Rent before his untimely death at the age of 36. Before that, though, he was grappling with turning (gasp!) 30, his ambitions to create great art, and how to generally be a person in the world, juggling friends, love, money, and creativity. Watch for incredible musical theater cameos, songs that’ll get stuck in your head, and a story of city living that feels very familiar and long past all at once. Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this film also stars Alexandra Shipp (Dude), Vanessa Hudgens (The Princess Switch), Robin de Jesús (The Boys in the Band), and Judith Light (The Politician).
This rom-com, directed by Judd Apatow (Superbad), begins with a joke about Staten Island and ends (no spoilers) with a New York Knicks tribute, making it arguably one of the New Yorkiest (that’s a word, right?) movies on this list. Amy Schumer (Kinda Pregnant) stars as Amy Townsend, a hardcore partier who doesn’t believe in love and works as a columnist at a men’s magazine. But her outlook on romance changes when she’s assigned to profile a successful orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), who works with world-class athletes, is besties with LeBron James, and becomes immediately, inexplicably smitten with Amy. As the two strike up a relationship, Amy finds herself thinking about what she wants for her future — and how her past impacts her present — for the first time. The all-star cast also includes Brie Larson (Unicorn Store), John Cena (Little Brother), Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door), Vanessa Bayer (The Polka King), and Randall Park (Always Be My Maybe).
New York City holds all types — and in this case, that includes the undead. In this unique 2020 horror comedy, a trio of teens band together to save their Bronx neighborhood from both vampires and gentrification. No one believes them when they warn that supernatural happenings are afoot, so the kids take it upon themselves to fight back against the bloodsuckers (both in the literal and figurative sense) who are moving in. New Yorkers are stereotyped as being rude and standoffish, but a sense of community unites city dwellers when they need it, and that “all in it together” feeling is on full display here. Jaden Michael (Colin in Black & White), Gerald W. Jones III (Full Circle), Gregory Diaz IV (In the Heights), Sarah Gadon (Alias Grace), and Method Man (Concrete Cowboy) star.
Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) is a recently divorced woman in her 40s who’s looking for a fresh start. To get her new beginning, she decides to re-enter the NYC publishing world, but finds that starting a new career at her age is harder than she expected. When her BFF Maggie (Debi Mazar) takes her out to lift her spirits, Liza hits it off with 26-year-old Josh (Nico Tortorella), who mistakes her for someone much younger. But the encounter gives Liza and Maggie an idea. Liza decides to take another shot at her dreams — and she’s going to do it by pretending to be younger. This feel-good, seven-season comedy also stars Miriam Shor (Maestro), Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire), and Peter Hermann (13: The Musical).
Additional reporting by Kase Wickman.
