As always, filming locations for movies can be a bit of a guessing game. Just because a movie says that you’re in a specific place – this time California – that doesn’t mean the movie was actually filmed there. That can be true even if the filming location actually looks like the place the movie is claiming it is. Movie magic is all about making a place that’s easier to shoot in look like the place you want it to look. That’s the case for Netflix‘s new movie Don’t Move.
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The movie, which stars Kelsey Asbille, Finn Wittrock, Moray Treadwell, and Daniel Francis, follows Iris, a grieving mother who is targeted by a serial killer and injected with a paralytic agent. As her body shuts down, Iris must rediscover her will to just not live, but survive. Executive produced by Sam Raimi, the movie was directed by Adam Schindler and Brian Netto, and written by TJ Cimfel and David White.
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Aerial shots at the beginning of the movie, including Iris’ house and recognizable landmarks like the Bixby Creek Bridge, located in Monterey, California, give us a clear setting for the movie. But where was Don’t Move filmed? And was it anywhere near California?
Where was Don’t Move filmed?
Principal photography for the movie took place in Bulgaria, from June to July of 2023. The movie’s filming was affected by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, but Don’t Move was granted an interim agreement to continue filming two days before completion.
In the movie, Iris heads to Massey Bi Sur State Park, the park where her son passed away during a family hiking trip. This is a fictional location that is supposed to resemble Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in Monterey, California. All the outside shots in this particular park were actually filmed in Bulgaria, with some specific locations being recognizable enough to point them out.
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Among them is the Zlatnite Mostove, the largest stone river on Vitosha Mountain, located in Sofia City Province, Bulgaria. The spot is recognizable as a large river of boulders Iris passes by on her trek to her son’s final resting place. Her destination at the top of the mountain is also a recognizable place for people in Bulgaria, specifically Belogradchik Fortress, located in Vidin Province and spanning almost 110,000 feet.
The movie was, in general, filmed around the capital of the country, Sofia. Don’t Move isn’t the first recent movie to choose Bulgaria as a filming location, with films like The Expendables 2 and 300: Rise of an Empire filming there. It’s not only films, either, with successful shows like Euphoria and For All Mankind having filmed in Bulgaria as well. One of the reasons the country is such a popular filming location is that there’s a 25% tax incentive for productions.