Written and directed by Paul Schrader, who is also known for writing the 1976 released movie Taxi Driver, the movie, Master Gardener is a crime thriller film that came out sometime in 2022. The movie follows the story of a horticulturist who finds himself getting entangled with the family of a wealthy woman, and how their paths reveal scary secrets from his past.
The movie has actor Joel Edgerton in the role of Narvel Roth, Sigourney Weaver as Norma Haverhill, Quintessa Swindell as Maya Core, Esai Morales as Oscar Neruda, Victoria Hill as Isobel Phelps, Amy Le as Janine, Rick Cosnett as Stephen Collins, and the list goes on.
The making of the movie was announced in late 2021 along with the announcement that actors Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver had agreed to be a part of the film. Master Gardener premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 3rd, 2022 but had a limited release in theatres in the United States.
The film did not leave a heavy print on the audience and was not that memorable despite its positive reviews from fans and critics. While the story itself may not have been groundbreaking on its own, the cast still managed to pull off their characters to make the film work.
The movie follows the story of Narvel Roth, a skilled horticulturist who has decided to devote himself to taking care of the Gracewood Gardens. While tending to the garden grounds, Roth finds himself bonding with the owner of the estate as well, an old woman, a wealthy widow named Mrs. Haverhill.
As Mrs. Haverhill comes to trust the man who seems to be taking great care of her gardens, she decides to give the man another important task. Roth is asked to look after and take care of Mrs. Haverhill’s great-niece, Maya Core, who is a troubled child.
Roth agrees to take her in as his student, trying his best to teach her about plant care, but turns out fate has other plans. Almost as soon as Roth and Maya cross paths, things start going horribly wrong in Roth’s life with his dark past and violent secrets all threatening to come out.
To find out more about Roth’s secrets and all that goes down because of them, we would recommend you to watch the film, but before you do that continue reading to know all about the filming locations for the film.
Master Gardener Filming Locations
The crew and cast went into the movie-making process for Master Gardener in early 2022, and the entire filming process was wrapped easily during the first half of the year. Without revealing a whole lot about the specifics of the filming locations for the film, we were only told that the crew shot part of the film in Louisiana and part of it in St. Francisville.
Many from the audience who belonged to South Louisiana also revealed that there were frames throughout the movie, where they could recognize popular spots, confirming the fact that the shoot was, after all, done in the state.
In St. Francisville, the crew was mostly stuck at two particular locations, Greenwood Plantation B&B and Rosedown Plantation, both of which happened to be historical sites. These two locations were chosen mostly for the fact that they had greenery during January and February when the shooting was to be done.
Not just this, it was also revealed that the production crew had stopped by New Orleans for just a week for some shots for the movie. The gardens and the greenery that are present throughout the movie hold immense meaning to the plot, so great attention was paid to the kind of location used for the garden scenes.
Though the movie is not the most perfectly made piece of art out there, it is clear that some shots and locations in the film received much attention and thought, and fans have picked on this as well.
