Top San Francisco Movies & TV Shows

Cast

Michael Douglas

Sharon Stone

George Dzundza

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Basic Instinct (1992)

7.0 4.4K votes

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Country: United States of America, France

Duration: 128 min.

Audience: R

Story: Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.

Plot: dying and death, jealousy, sexual obsession, police, san francisco, california, sadism, psychopath, ...

Place: california

Cast

Tom Hanks

Halle Berry

Jim Broadbent

Hugo Weaving

Cloud Atlas (2012)

6.9 7.6K votes

Genre: Drama, Science Fiction

Country: Germany, United States of America

Duration: 172 min.

Audience: R

Story: A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Plot: artificial intelligence (a.i.), based on novel or book, san francisco, california, clone, dystopia, lgbt, multiple storylines, ...

Time: future, 1930s

Cast

Laura Linney

Elliot Page

Paul Gross

Murray Bartlett

Tales of the City (2019) TV Show

6.8 93 votes

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Country: United Kingdom, United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 10

Audience: TV-MA

Story: Mary Ann returns to present-day San Francisco and is reunited with her daughter and ex-husband, twenty years after leaving them behind to pursue her career. Fleeing the midlife crisis that her picture-perfect Connecticut life created, Mary Ann is quickly drawn back into the orbit of Anna Madrigal, her chosen family and a new generation of queer young residents living at 28 Barbary Lane.

Style: nostalgic

Plot: san francisco, california, based on novel or book, apartment building, lgbt, eclectic, thoughtful, reflective, ...

Cast

John C. Reilly

Joaquin Phoenix

Jake Gyllenhaal

Riz Ahmed

The Sisters Brothers (2018)

6.8 2.1K votes

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Western

Country: France, Spain

Duration: 121 min.

Audience: R

Story: Oregon, 1851. Hermann Kermit Warm, a chemist and aspiring gold prospector, keeps a profitable secret that the Commodore wants to know, so he sends the Sisters brothers, two notorious assassins, to capture him on his way to California.

Plot: gold, based on novel or book, hitman, san francisco, california, male friendship, gold rush, oregon, ...

Time: 19th century

Cast

Tom Hardy

Michelle Williams

Riz Ahmed

Scott Haze

Venom (2018)

6.8 17.3K votes

Genre: Action, Science Fiction

Country: China, United States of America

Duration: 112 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: Investigative journalist Eddie Brock attempts a comeback following a scandal, but accidentally becomes the host of Venom, a violent, super powerful alien symbiote. Soon, he must rely on his newfound powers to protect the world from a shadowy organization looking for a symbiote of their own.

Plot: spacecraft, san francisco, california, superhero, anti hero, alien life-form, based on comic, aftercreditsstinger, ...

Eli Stone (2008) TV Show

6.7 84 votes

Genre: Drama, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 2

Episodes: 26

Story: Many lawyers consider themselves prophets, but Eli Stone may be the real deal. Eli has built a successful career at a top law firm in San Francisco representing only the biggest and richest corporations that make a habit of screwing over the little guy. But after experiencing a series of odd hallucinations, Eli seeks to find a deeper meaning to life while trying not to lose his job and destroy his relationship with the bosses' daughter. When Eli discovers an aneurysm in his brain, he wonders if his condition is truly medical or if perhaps he now has a higher calling.

Plot: san francisco, california, lawyer, courtroom, good deed, courtroom drama, legal drama

Cast

Iko Uwais

Byron Mann

Katheryn Winnick

Li Jun Li

Wu Assassins (2019) TV Show

6.7 227 votes

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama

Country: Canada, United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 10

Audience: TV-MA

Story: The last in a line of Chosen Ones, a wannabe chef teams up with a homicide detective to unravel an ancient mystery and take down supernatural assassins.

Plot: san francisco, california, martial arts, chinatown, villain, superhero, mission, supernatural power

Cast

Gregory Peck

Ava Gardner

Fred Astaire

Anthony Perkins

On the Beach (1959)

6.7 241 votes

Genre: Drama, Romance, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America

Duration: 134 min.

Audience: PG

Story: In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other?

Plot: based on novel or book, nuclear war, submarine, san francisco, california, dystopia, post-apocalyptic future, nuclear radiation, ...

Place: australia

Cast

Nick Nolte

Eddie Murphy

Annette O'Toole

Frank McRae

48 Hrs. (1982)

6.7 1.7K votes

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime

Country: United States of America

Duration: 96 min.

Audience: R

Story: A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.

Style: absurd

Plot: prison, san francisco, california, knife, partner, revenge, convict, buddy cop, ...

Cast

Ali Wong

Randall Park

James Saito

Michelle Buteau

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

6.6 1.4K votes

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Country: United States of America

Duration: 102 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: Reunited after 15 years, famous chef Sasha and hometown musician Marcus feel the old sparks of attraction, but struggle to adapt to each other's worlds.

Plot: new york city, san francisco, california, restaurant owner, widower, childhood friends, chinese american, woman director, ...

Cast

Dean Jones

Michele Lee

David Tomlinson

Buddy Hackett

The Love Bug (1968)

6.6 652 votes

Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Country: United States of America

Duration: 108 min.

Audience: G

Story: Down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of its own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.

Plot: car race, sports, san francisco, california, suicide attempt, golden gate bridge, race car driver, bug, ...

Cast

Don Johnson

Cheech Marin

Jodi Lyn O'Keefe

Jeff Perry

Nash Bridges (1996) TV Show

6.6 113 votes

Genre: Action, Drama

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 6

Episodes: 122

Story: Fun-loving San Francisco Police Department investigator Nash Bridges is part of the elite Special Investigations Unit. He tackles crime using his keen sense of humor and charm. Joe Dominguez comes out of retirement to become Bridges' wisecracking yet more rule-abiding partner.

Plot: san francisco, california, police, police detective, photographic memory

Cast

Christina Milian

Adam Demos

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman

Anna Jullienne

Falling Inn Love (2019)

6.5 1.2K votes

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Country: United States of America

Duration: 98 min.

Audience: PG

Story: When a San Francisco exec wins a New Zealand inn, she ditches city life to remodel and flip the rustic property with help from a handsome contractor.

Plot: san francisco, california, romance, interracial relationship, inn, renovation

Place: new zealand

Cast

William Shatner

Leonard Nimoy

DeForest Kelley

James Doohan

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

6.5 2.0K votes

Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America

Duration: 131 min.

Audience: G

Story: When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.

Style: lighthearted

Plot: spacecraft, man vs machine, artificial intelligence (a.i.), self sacrifice, teleportation, san francisco, california, starship, ...

Cast

Howard Duff

Brian Donlevy

Peggy Dow

Lawrence Tierney

Shakedown (1950)

6.4 24 votes

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Country: United States of America

Duration: 80 min.

Audience: NR

Story: Jack Early is a photographer who will stop at nothing to climb his way to the very top of the success ladder. On the strength of his sheer tenacity, he gets a job with a major newspaper, and it's not long before he's made a name for himself by charming a notorious crime boss, Nick Palmer, into allowing himself to be photographed. Palmer takes him under his wing, but Early decides to bite the hand that feeds him and sets Palmer and another crime boss, Colton, against one another.

Plot: infidelity, robbery, san francisco, california, photographer, gangster, despair, blackmail, ...

WHAT / IF (2019) TV Show

6.4 181 votes

Genre: Drama

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 10

Audience: TV-MA

Story: A pair of cash-strapped newlyweds accept a lucrative but morally dubious offer from a mysterious female benefactor.

Plot: san francisco, california, capitalist, marriage, anthology, money, miniseries, neo-noir, ...

Time: 2010s

Dharma & Greg (1997) TV Show

6.4 284 votes

Genre: Comedy

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 5

Episodes: 119

Audience: TV-PG

Story: Dharma & Greg is an American television sitcom that aired from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002.It stars Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a couple who got married on their first date despite being complete opposites. The series is co-produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, More-Medavoy Productions and 4 to 6 Foot Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The show's theme song was written and performed by composer Dennis C. Brown.Created by executive producers Dottie Dartland and Chuck Lorre, the comedy took much of its inspiration from so-called culture-clash "fish out of water" situations. The show earned eight Golden Globe nominations, six Emmy Award nominations, and six Satellite Awards nominations. Elfman earned a Golden Globe in 1999 for Best Actress.

Style: whimsical

Plot: san francisco, california, love at first sight, marriage, family relationships, relationship, unlikely lovers, sitcom, ...

Cast

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Elizabeth Olsen

Juliette Binoche

Bryan Cranston

Godzilla (2014)

6.4 9.9K votes

Genre: Action, Drama, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America

Duration: 123 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: Ford Brody, a Navy bomb expert, has just reunited with his family in San Francisco when he is forced to go to Japan to help his estranged father, Joe. Soon, both men are swept up in an escalating crisis when an ancient alpha predator arises from the sea to combat malevolent adversaries that threaten the survival of humanity. The creatures leave colossal destruction in their wake, as they make their way toward their final battleground: San Francisco.

Plot: monster, san francisco, california, giant monster, tsunami, remake, prehistoric creature, golden gate bridge, ...

Place: japan, hawaii

Alcatraz (2012) TV Show

6.3 307 votes

Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 13

Audience: TV-14

Story: A unique team, consisting of a federal agent, a police officer and a conspiracy theory novelist, investigate the shocking reappearance of Alcatraz's most notorious prisoners, fifty years after they supposedly vanished.

Plot: san francisco, california, alcatraz prison, time travel, disappearance, police detective, escaped prisoner

Cast

Wang Baoqiang

Liu Haoran

Chow Yun-Fat

White-K

Detective Chinatown 1900 (2025)

6.3 97 votes

Genre: Action, Comedy, Mystery

Country: China, Hong Kong

Duration: 135 min.

Audience: 15

Story: In 1900, the mysterious murder of a white woman and a Native American man in San Francisco's Chinatown triggers a race against time as the Chinese suspect and the Native American's adopted Chinese son work to uncover the truth while a politician seeks to leverage the Chinese Exclusion Bill as well as the prevailing xenophobia and racism to close down Chinatown and elect himself as the mayor.

Plot: san francisco, california, chinatown, prequel, murder, buddy comedy, action comedy

Time: 1900s, 20th century

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