101 Best Movies on Paris to Inspire Travels in the City of Lights

Paris is one of the most important cities in the medium of cinema. The Lumière Brothers produced the first-ever film in 1985 and screened it in Paris. The best movies on Paris are just that for a host of reasons: their legacy, their brilliance, how they showcase the city, or just because they’re plain iconic.

I’ve curated an extensive Paris movies list that are either wholly or partly filmed in the French Capital. It spans films produced from 1915 to the present day and many genres from action to fantasy to romance and comedy.

I spent an immeasurable number of hours putting this list together. I have a bachelor’s degree in Film Studies and I’ve visited France many times, so I wanted to do a good job.

Many are French-language films. But since most people who visit this website are English speakers, I’ve catered mostly to you. Don’t worry, there’s a lot of French New Wave listed to even things out!

While researching, I learned that Audrey Hepburn didn’t just talk the talk when she said, “Paris is always a good idea.” She embodied it. On this list, she appears in no less than six Parisian movies! I’ve tried to choose films that will make you want to travel to Paris again and again too. It’s what Audrey would have wanted.

Before this introduction evokes a sense of ennui, let’s check out the best movies on Paris of all time.

Check out my other guide if you’re looking for other movies set in France besides Paris.

100 Best Movies Set in Paris

1. Les Vampires (1915)

Silent | 417m
95% Rotten Tomatoes

Louis Feuillade

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2. Paris Qui Dort (1924)

Silent | 65m
85% Rotten Tomatoes

René Clair, English title: The Crazy Ray, translated title: Paris Which Sleeps

3. Bondu Saved From Drowning (1932)

French | 84m
100% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean Renoir

4. L’Atalante (1934)

French | 85m
100% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean Vigo,

5. Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

French | 190m
98% Rotten Tomatoes

Children of Paradise, Marcel Carné

6. An American in Paris (1951)

English | 113m
95% Rotten Tomatoes

Vincente Minnelli, one of the first movies set in france in English,

7. Sabrina (1954)

English | 113m
89% Rotten Tomatoes

Billy Wilder

8. Rififi (1955)

French | 115m
93% Rotten Tomatoes

Jules Dassin

9. La Traversée de Paris (1956)

French | 80m
90% Rotten Tomatoes

Claude Autant-Lara, French translation is ‘The Trip Across Paris’ or ‘The Crossing of Paris’ but the American title was Four Bags Full

10. The Red Balloon (1956)

French | 34m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Albert Lamorisse

11. Funny Face (1957)

English, French | 104m
88% Rotten Tomatoes

Stanley Donen

12. Love in the Afternoon (1957)

English | 124m
82% Rotten Tomatoes

Billy Wilder

13. Gigi (1958)

English | 115m
88% Rotten Tomatoes

Vincente Minnelli

14. The 400 Blows (1959)

French | 99m
99% Rotten Tomatoes

François Truffaut

15. Breathless (1960)

French, English | 90m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean-Luc Godard, À bout de souffle ’Out of Breath’, movies set in paris 1960s,

16. Paris Blues (1961)

English | 98m
69% Rotten Tomatoes

Martin Ritt

17. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

French | 90m
92% Rotten Tomatoes

Agnès Varda

18. Jules et Jim (1962)

French, German | 105m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

François Truffaut

19. Charade (1963)

English | 113m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

Stanley Donen

20. A Shot in the Dark (The Pink Panther) (1964)

English | 102m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

21. Paris When It Sizzles (1964)

English | 108m
55% Rotten Tomatoes

Richard Quine

22. Bande à part (1964)

French | 97m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean-Luc Godard, Band of Outsiders in English

23. Thunderball (1965)

English | 130m
85% Rotten Tomatoes

Terence Young

24. Alphaville (1965)

French | 99m
92% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean-Luc Godard

25. How to Steal A Million (1966)

English | 123m
100% Rotten Tomatoes

William Wyler

26. What’s New Pussycat? (1966)

English | 108m
32% Rotten Tomatoes

27. Belle De Jour (1967)

French, Spanish | 101m
95% Rotten Tomatoes

Luis Buñuel

28. Playtime (1967)

French, English, German | 124m
98% Rotten Tomatoes

Jacques Tati

29. Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)

English | 90m
83% Rotten Tomatoes

Bud Yorkin

30. The Red Circle (1970)

French | 140m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean-Pierre Melville

31. The Aristocats (1970)

English | 79m
64% Rotten Tomatoes

Wolfgang Reitherman

32. Love in the Afternoon (1972)

French | 97m
86% Rotten Tomatoes

Éric Rohmer, released in North America as Chloe in the Afternoon

33. Last Tango in Paris (1972)

English, French | 129m
82% Rotten Tomatoes

Bernardo Bertolucci

34. The Day of the Jackal (1973)

English | 142m
91% Rotten Tomatoes

Fred Zinnemann

35. The Mother and the Whore (1973)

French | 219m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean Eustache

36. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

French | 192m
80% Rotten Tomatoes

Jacques Rivette

37. A Little Romance (1979)

English, French, Italian | 108m
72% Rotten Tomatoes

George Roy Hill

38. Diva (1981)

French, English | 117m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean-Jacques Beineix

39. To Our Loves (1983)

French | 95m
89% Rotten Tomatoes

Maurice Pialat

40. American Dreamer (1984)

English | 105m
17% Rotten Tomatoes

Rick Rosenthal

41. A View to a Kill (1985)

English | 131m
37% Rotten Tomatoes

John Glen

42. Frantic (1988)

English, French | 120m
77% Rotten Tomatoes

Roman Polanski

43. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

English | 119m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

Stephen Frears

44. La Femme Nikita (1990)

French | 117m
90% Rotten Tomatoes

Just ‘Nikita’ in France, Luc Besson

45. Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991)

French | 125m
86% Rotten Tomatoes

Leos Carax, The Lovers on the Bridge

46. Three Colours: Blue (1993)

French | 94m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Krzysztof Kieślowski

47. French Kiss (1995)

English, French | 111m
48% Rotten Tomatoes

Lawrence Kasdan

48. Forget Paris (1995)

English | 101m
50% Rotten Tomatoes

Billy Crystal

49. La Haine (1995)

French | 98m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Mathieu Kassovitz

50. Sabrina (1995)

English | 127m
60% Rotten Tomatoes

Sydney Pollack

51. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

English | 91m
72% Rotten Tomatoes

Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise

52. Anastasia (1997)

English | 94m
83% Rotten Tomatoes

53. An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

English, French | 102m
7% Rotten Tomatoes

Anthony Waller

54. Madeline (1998)

English, French, Spanish | 88m
65% Rotten Tomatoes

Daisy von Scherler Mayer

55. Passport to Paris (1999)

English | 87m
51% Rotten Tomatoes

Alan Matter

56. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

English | 128m
75% Rotten Tomatoes

Baz Luhrmann

57. Va Savoir (2001)

French, Italian | 154m
56% Rotten Tomatoes

Jacques Rivette, English title Who Knows?

58. Amélie (2001)

French | 123m
90% Rotten Tomatoes

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Read next: Amélie Paris Filming Locations Guide

59. The Bourne Identity (2002)

English, German, French | 119m
84% Rotten Tomatoes

Doug Liman

60. Irréversible (2002)

French, English, Italian, Spanish | 97m
58% Rotten Tomatoes

Gaspar Noé

61. The Truth About Charlie (2002)

English, French | 104m
34% Rotten Tomatoes

remake of Charade (1963) and an homage to François Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player (1960), Jonathan Demme

62. Le Divorce (2003)

English, French | 117m
36% Rotten Tomatoes

James Ivory

63. View From the Top (2003)

English | 87m
14% Rotten Tomatoes

64. Games of Love and Chance (2003)

French | 117m
78% Rotten Tomatoes

Abdellatif Kechiche, L’Esquive

65. The Dreamers (2003)

English, French | 115m
60% Rotten Tomatoes

Bernardo Bertolucci

66. Something’s Gotta Give (2003)

English | 128m
72% Rotten Tomatoes

Nancy Meyers

67. Before Sunset (2004)

English, French | 80m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

Richard Linklater

romantic movies on Paris,

Read next: Before Sunset Paris Filming Locations Guide

68. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

English | 143m
33% Rotten Tomatoes

Joel Schumacher

69. The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)

French | 107m
86% Rotten Tomatoes

70. Regular Lovers (2005)

French | 175
82% Rotten Tomatoes

Philippe Garrel

71. Caché (2005)

French | 118m
89% Rotten Tomatoes

Michael Haneke, Hidden sometimes

72. The Da Vinci Code (2006)

English, French, Latin, Spanish | 149m
25% Rotten Tomatoes

Ron Howard

Read next: The Da Vinci Code Filming Locations Guide

73. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

English | 109m
75% Rotten Tomatoes

David Frankel

74. Paris Je T’aime (2006)

French, English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic | 120m
86% Rotten Tomatoes

75. Dans Paris (2006)

French | 92m
60% Rotten Tomatoes

Christophe Honoré

76. Marie Antoinette (2006)

English | 123m
58% Rotten Tomatoes

movies that take place in France,

77. 2 Days in Paris (2007)

English, French | 101m
88% Rotten Tomatoes

Julie Delpy

78. Ratatouille (2007)

English | 11m
96% Rotten Tomatoes

Brad Bird

79. La Vie En Rose (2007)

French, English | 140m
74% Rotten Tomatoes

Olivier Dahan

80. Taken (2008)

English | 90m
60% Rotten Tomatoes

Pierre Morel

81. Julie & Julia (2009)

English, French | 123m
77% Rotten Tomatoes

Nora Ephron

82. An Education (2009)

English | 100m
93% Rotten Tomatoes

Lone Scherfig

83. Inception (2010)

English | 148m
87% Rotten Tomatoes

Christopher Nolan

84. A Cat in Paris (2010)

French, English | 65m
83% Rotten Tomatoes

Alain Gagnol & Jean-Loup Felicioli

85. Hugo (2011)

English | 126m
93% Rotten Tomatoes

Martin Scorsese

86. Midnight in Paris (2011)

English | 94m
93% Rotten Tomatoes

Woody Allen

Read next: Midnight in Paris Filming Locations Guide

87. House of Tolerance (2011)

French | 125m
84% Rotten Tomatoes

Bertrand Bonello

88. Les Misérables (2012)

English | 158m
70% Rotten Tomatoes

Tom Hooper

89. Frances Ha (2012)

English | 86m
92% Rotten Tomatoes

Noah Baumbach

90. Amour (2012)

French | 127m
93% Rotten Tomatoes

Michael Haneke

91. Le Week-End (2013)

English, French | 93m
90% Rotten Tomatoes

92. Mr Morgan’s Last Love (2013)

English, French | 116m
33% Rotten Tomatoes

Sandra Nettelback

93. Something in the Air (2013)

French | 122m
81% Rotten Tomatoes

Olivier Assayas

94. We’ll Never Have Paris (2014)

English | 89m
33% Rotten Tomatoes

95. Personal Shopper (2016)

English, French, Swedish | 106m
81% Rotten Tomatoes

96. 120 Beats Per Minute (2017)

French | 140m
99% Rotten Tomatoes

Robin Campillo

97. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

English | 147m
97% Rotten Tomatoes

action movies set in paris,

98. French Exit (2020)

English | 110m
65% Rotten Tomatoes

99. Paris, 13th District (2021)

French, Mandarin | 106m
83% Rotten Tomatoes

movies paris today,

100. Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (2022)

English, French | 115m
94% Rotten Tomatoes

new movies on Paris,

101. Poor Things (2023)

English | 142m
92% Rotten Tomatoes

Other Movies on Paris: Ninotchka (1939), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Irma La Douce (1963), Rugrats in Paris (2000), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), The Take/Bastille Day (2016), Paris Is Us (2019)

Watch the Best Movies on Paris Before Your Trip

Paris is one of the most cinematic cities in the world. Watching movies before a trip there is not just a good idea, it’s essential. There aren’t many best movies set in Paris on Netflix permanently, but you can always rewatch the Emily in Paris series.

These are the best movies on Paris, France but if you’ve watched other travel-inspiring Paris films, let me know in the comments!