Where Was Nocturnal Animals Filmed? A Gripping Psycho-Thriller Flick From 2016!!

Do you like watching films with riveting plots, which give you the chills? If you do, then continue to read this article to know all about the bone-chilling flick, Nocturnal Animals. Furthermore, I’ll also share with you, where was Nocturnal Animals filmed.

The American psychological thriller flick, Nocturnal Animals was primarily inspired from Austin Wright’s best-selling novel, published 23 years prior to the film. However, apart from directing this crime drama film, Tom Ford also pitched in as a screenwriter and wrote the entire screenplay of the movie. Ford did a commendable job in presenting a captivating story to his audience.

The basic premise of Nocturnal Animals is centered around the character of Susan Morrow, a rich art collector, who loses her mental balance after her divorce. The plot thickens, when Susan comes across a novel, written by her ex-husband, which profoundly speaks about gore revenge.

Nocturnal Animals wasn’t a roaring success of any sort. This film only managed to gross over $32.4 million at the box office, against the production budget of $22 million. But, the cast members gave their best performance in bringing the characters to life. The critics and audiences enjoyed the overall storyline of this mystery thriller flick as well. Nocturnal Animals was nominated for an Oscar along with 153 other prestigious nominations and won 21 major awards in total.

Now, without wasting any time, let’s find out where was Nocturnal Animals filmed.

Where Was Nocturnal Animals Filmed? Let’s Know This Psychological Thriller Flick Closely!

The shooting of Nocturnal Animals was supposed to take place in Texas. However, after Tom finished perfecting the script, he asked the production members to scout for various filming locations in and around the state of Texas.

The production members visited the locations in person, and then submitted the list of potential shooting locations to the director. Tom was pretty satisfied with the overall look of the sites and wanted to commence filming in Texas, as well. But, when the filming crew couldn’t acquire the shooting permissions, Tom was forced to shoot the sequences elsewhere.

So, after discussing the standing issue with other creative heads, the director arrived at the final conclusion, to shoot the entire film in California. Suitable filming locations were scouted by the team, after which they were instructed to commence shooting.

The principal photography began in the first week of October 2015 and continued till the first week of December, of the same year. The majority of the shooting took place in and around the city of Los Angeles. Whereas, some important sequences of the movie were also captured near the city of Lancaster and the Mojave Desert.

Reportedly, the production members didn’t face any major issues while shooting. Thus, the filming schedule wasn’t impacted, in fact, the crew managed to complete filming before the estimated time.

Let us now discuss where was Nocturnal Animals filmed in-depth.

Los Angeles, California | USA

The opening sequence of the movie, where we see the character of Susan for the first time, hosting a party at her house, was actually filmed in Los Angeles. The production members arranged a medium-sized mansion located in the posh area of the city, to capture the exterior shots of Susan’s home.

You’d be amazed to know that famed fashion designer, Tom Ford who happened to be the director of this film didn’t make any changes to the overall look of the property. Instead, he asked the crew to minimize the fixtures inside the property to give it a more minimalistic touch.

Other sequences of the movie, such as the scenes of the Art Gallery, were also filmed near the downtown area of Los Angeles. Replicas of expensive art pieces were carefully brought in and later mounted on the walls of the gallery. Special lighting techniques were used to make the art pieces pop out.

Filming in Los Angeles continued for a month or so, during which the crew captured a number of sequences in and around the city. The production members then moved to the next filming location in California.

Other Filming Locations, California | USA

The sequence where Susan is shown to run into her ex-husband for the second time in the movie was actually filmed inside a vacant coffee shop. The production members turned around the shop in no time and gave it a more posh look. 

Additional sequences were filmed inside The Trap Bar, located at 2822 East Avenue I, Lancaster. In order to shoot the final sequence of the movie, the production members moved to a place situated near the Mojave Desert and captured the ending outdoor sequence at night.

The entire shooting process was wrapped by the first week of December 2015, after which the crew began working on post-production. 

Ok friends, now let’s briefly discuss the plot of Nocturnal Animals. In the meantime, you can check out The Tall T, Three Amigos, and The Violent Men as well.

Plot Of Nocturnal Animals | What’s It About

The basic premise of Nocturnal Animals is centered around the character of Susan Morrow, a middle-aged American businesswoman, who deals with art pieces. At the beginning of the film, Susan receives a strange letter from inside her Art Gallery, which is from her ex-husband.

As the story progresses further, the female lead learns about the recent crime novel, written by her estranged spouse. But after finding the main character strikingly similar to herself, she gets paranoid. Watch Nocturnal Animals to find out how Susan dealt with her paranoia.

Final Words

Alright, guys, I hope you liked the read and finally know where was Nocturnal Animals filmed. If you’d like us to make any changes, do let us know in the comments section below. To read similar pieces, you can also check out other articles on Viebly.