Best NYC Movies Set in 24-Hours

When you read a novel or watch a movie or any standalone story, the timespan it takes place across can vary: the story can take place over a few hours, a few days, a few weeks -- or a few years, decades, or centuries. 

It therefore takes a special skill to tell a story within one day -- 24 hours -- that has an engaging beginning, middle, and end. Obviously the goldstandard of a 24-hour story is James Joyce's 1922 legendary novel Ulysses, a tale of two down-on-their-luck Dubliners, whose lives intersect on June 16, 1904. 

Most movies that take place over 24-hours are action movies -- they're basically lengthy chases, one slambang sequence after another -- that only work narratively over a short period of time. Also, the movie usually has a hook that such and such a thing must be done before a specific time or else a bomb goes off. Non-action movies are harder to tell within 24-hours but some have tried.

Either way, this list of the best movies set over 24-hours is intriguing. 

There are a bunch NYC movies on this list that take place over 24-hours (or less), some of which I've either written about or reviewed over the years: Dog Day Afternoon, My Dinner With Andre, After Hours, Do The Right Thing, Night On Earth, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. 

A couple of other very good set-within-24 hours NYC movies that aren't on this but that I've also written about are New Year's Day and Vanya on 42nd Street. 

Of course NYC is the perfect place to set a story within 24-hours because there's so much to do, and it's so relatively easy to get around, that a lot can happen within a short period of time. I hope many such movies will be made in the future!