Cincinnati’s just a small American city landing big appearances in the film. This past summer, two movies that were filmed in The Queen City were featured in two different annual international film festivals that feature the best films of the year: the Cannes International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Cincy has a long history of welcoming big-time movie productions. Read on to learn about five recent movies that were filmed partially or completely in different parts of the city.

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The Killing of a Sacred Deer

It's an International Hit!

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is coming to a theater near you on November 3rd, 2017, but in the fall of 2016, the movie, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, was filmed in the Greater Cincinnati area. There are many famous Cincy landmarks featured in the film, including The Christ Hospital, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, Hyde Park, and Fountain Square. In terms of the movie’s plot, Nicole Kidman plays the role of an ophthalmologist that’s married to a cardiovascular surgeon named Dr. Murphy, who’s played by Colin Farrell. They have two children and live a relatively normal suburban life until Martin, a fatherless teen, is taken under Dr. Murphy’s wing. Martin stirs up some unexpected drama and tension within the family that soon escalates to an unbearable level. If this dark and twisted plot isn’t enough to get to to the theater on November 3rd, the fact that this R-rated psychological thriller won “Best Screenplay” at the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival this past May might do the trick. This is the second time in three years that a Cincinnati-made film made its debut at Cannes. Not only is this great publicity for the city, but it brings in more people, business, and movies.

Carol

Are you a Sucker for Dramas?

Are dramatic, romantic movies more your thing? Carol hit theaters in the States in November of 2015, but you can still cozy up and watch it in your home “theater” because it’s currently on Netflix.The British-American film was directed by Todd Hayes and is based on the romance novel, The Price of Salt, which was published in 1952. The main stars in the movie are Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Cate plays the role of an older woman going through a divorce and Rooney plays a young photographer. The story tells of their intense and forbidden love affair. Although the movie is set in New York City in the 1950s, it was mainly filmed in Cincinnati. Eden Park as well as Downtown Cincinnati, Hyde Park, and Over-the-Rhine were some of the featured areas. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, which is the highest award that a film can receive at the festival. Even though the film didn’t win, being a competitor for the highest honor is still pretty neat.

Marauders

You’ll be on the Edge of Your Seat as This Case Unfolds

This action-packed crime film was directed by Steven C. Miller and released in theaters on July 1st, 2016. Law & Order SVU star, Christopher Meloni, plays a lead role as well as Bruce Willis, Dave Bautista, and Adrian Grenier. The plot centers around a brutal robbery that happens at a bank. The evidence initially points at the bank owner and some of his wealthy clients, but when the FBI takes the case on, new evidence is revealed and a larger conspiracy unfolds.

Marauders are actually set in Cincinnati, and so all of the filmings was done there. Filming took place at the Dixie Terminal building, the Stock Yard Bank & Trust, the downtown area, and at Over-the-Rhine.

My Days of Mercy

Another Day, Another Drama, Drama

Screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, this drama-packed movie is sure to give you all the feels. Directed by Tali Shalom Ezer, My Days of Mercy’s plotline revolves around two women who see their differences and end up falling in love. Lucy Morrow, who is played by Ellen Page, is a fervent advocate for abolishing the death penalty because her father is on death row for committing a murder. Lucy meets her love interest, Mercy, played by Kate Mara, at a protest. Kate is protesting for the opposite side because her father is a policeman whose partner was killed by a man that is about to receive the lethal injection because he’s on death row.

The movie was filmed in areas of Greater Cincinnati, such as Clifton, which is a central-northern neighborhood of the city. The filming crew was also spotted at the Loveland Castle.

Gotti

John Travolta? I’m in.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston star in the film, Gotti, which will be released in theaters on December 15th of this year. The movie is an American biographical crime drama that was directed by Kevin Connolly. The film follows New York City Italian mobster, John Gotti: his tragic and crime-ridden life and how he becomes the leader of the Gambino crime family. It also explores John’s relationship with his son and how his son ends up trying to redeem his family name.

The movie was filmed in the Greater Cincy area and in New York City. Indian Hill, Butler County Jail, and Finneytown are three of the notable places where the movie production took place.

No matter what kind of movies you enjoy watching, there was probably one of them that was filmed in the bustling, “film-friendly” city of Cincinnati. Be sure to catch Gotti and The Killing of a Sacred Deer in a theater near you soon!