Which city is the main setting of Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss?

New York City is the main setting of Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss.

Released in 1955, Killer’s Kiss is a compact film noir about boxer Davey Gordon, dancer Gloria Price and Vincent Rapallo, a nightclub manager whose obsession drives the conflict. The story unfolds through streets, apartments, clubs and industrial spaces in New York.

Kubrick had grown up in the Bronx and used the city as a practical production resource. Much of the film was shot on location, giving it a stark urban texture that contrasts with the controlled interiors of the nightclub and apartment scenes.

Killer’s Kiss was Kubrick’s second feature, following Fear and Desire. It is often discussed alongside The Killing because both are early crime films, but Killer’s Kiss is more directly shaped by film-noir conventions, including night streets, dangerous desire and a morally unstable underworld.