The Glass Castle is an American movie released in 2017 that is based on a Novel of the same name by Jeannette Walls. The Novel is among the best-selling memoir from the 2005 collection, and the author describes her story in it. When the movie was released, viewers loved it, but the critics had mixed responses towards it. According to them, the performances of the cast were amazing, but the crew failed to put the emotional tones in the way they should be. It would not be wrong to say that it is an underrated movie, as it was able to collect around $22 million dollars only.
The story revolves around the author, Jeannette’s life, and her family struggles, and her Dad’s dream house, The Glass Castle. An older Jeanette understood how she was convinced by her parents since she was a kid. All those struggles, psychological abuse, forced poor conditions, and the nonconformist lifestyle were troubling her. The movie was shot in a few locations that were transformed into the old New York in order to adapt the Novel well. Read on to learn about the Glass Castle filming locations.
The Glass Castle Plot
The story, The Glass Castle, revolves around a family, a family’s head’s dream house. The movie starts with the introduction of the family we’re going to talk about. Jeanette Walls is a kid who lives with her family, including her mother, who is a painter, her siblings, and her superintelligent dad Rex. Her dad is a bit irresponsible, too. Because of this, they had to live a nomadic life. Rex wanted to have a glass castle, and the whole family was convinced by his plans. He did every possible work to aid his family. I mean, ‘Every possible work,’ even gambling. However, the family had to move from one place to another and had a tough time.
When Jeanette grew older and got placed in a job, she eventually learned that her father owned a million-dollar property but never sold it. She started hating her dad for being the owner of such property since the beginning, still letting his family struggle. Jeanette was married to David, but the relationship wasn’t going well. When she learned that his father was dying, she hesitated to meet him but eventually learned the truth about her parents, and she ran away to meet her dad. She reached on time, and the family reunited. The movie reveals the immense love that Rex had for his family by the end. You can watch the movie since I haven’t spoiled much.
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The Glass Castle Filming Locations
Jeanette’s family moves from one place to another in the movie, which certainly appears as if the movie might have traveled to different places for the shoot. But that’s not the case. The movie was filmed in a few distinct locations so that all the scenes could get captured. Here are a few locations where the maximum part of the movie was shot.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The city part shown in the movie as New York was Canada, basically. The exterior scenes in the movie were filmed in Montreal, Canada, and the crew made it look like old New York. It was a major location as most of the part of the exterior scenes were shot there. Jeanette met her future abusive husband, got her job, and all other things. Also, Montreal has always been a favorite destination for the makers of many movies since the location is so apt that it can be converted into various major cities around the world.
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New Mexico
Next is Mexico. The team shifted the filming location to To’hajiillee and Laguna Pueblo tribal lands, which are a few miles away from the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico. The location is a desert and gives out nomadic vibes. When the intelligent dad teaches his kids about the trees and the constellations, the location is needed. From the beginning, the movie had the family roaming through abandoned lands, so To’hajiillee and Laguna Pueblo tribal lands came out best for such scenes.
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McDowell County, West Virginia
Jeanette Walls’ childhood was spent in West Virginia. She spent some of her childhood years in McDowell County in West Virginia. At the beginning of the movie, we see that Jeanette accidentally burns herself while cooking, and when the doctors ask her how she got burnt, her father takes her away. The family then ran away and shifted to a new house that was located in Welch, West Virginia. The crew shot one-third of the movie was shot in Virginia.
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