Welcome to my blog! I’m your average movie lover and I like to watch and discuss films from all over the world. Today, I want to talk about the movie Glass Castle. I was curious about where it was filmed and did some research. Here’s what I found out!
The Glass Castle: A True Story
The Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir by Jeannette Walls. The book recounts the unconventional, poverty-ridden upbringing Jeannette and her siblings had at the hands of their deeply dysfunctional parents.
The film adaptation of The Glass Castle was released in 2017, and it was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The movie starred Brie Larson as Jeannette, Woody Harrelson as her father Rex, and Naomi Watts as her mother Rose Mary.
The majority of the film was actually shot in Vancouver, Canada. However, some exterior shots were filmed in West Virginia, which is where Jeannette’s story takes place.
The Movie: Glass Castle
The movie, Glass Castle, was filmed in Welch, West Virginia. The town is located in McDowell County. The movie is based on a true story and the book of the same name by Jeannette Walls. The story follows the lives of Jeannette and her siblings as they are raised by their dysfunctional and nonconformist parents, Rex and Rose Mary. The movie was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and stars Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, and Max Greenfield.
The Filming Locations
The Glass Castle was filmed on location in Asheville, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. Several of the key locations from the book can be found in Asheville, including the Biltmore Estate, which served as the stand-in for the author’s childhood home.
The Cast
The Cast of The Glass Castle The film is based on the 2005 New York Times best selling memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. The screenplay was written by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham. Woody Harrelson stars as Rex, and Naomi Watts plays his wife Rose Mary. Brie Larson plays their daughter and protagonist, Jeannette; Max Greenfield co-stars as Jerry, her fiancé; and Sarah Snook appears as her sister Lori. Chloe Treichel was cast in the role of Young Lori at age 10, while Ella Anderson portrays her at age 17. Brigitte Lundy-Paine signed on to play Maureen, one of Rex and Rose Mary’s younger daughters. Josh Caras plays Brian, the eldest son of Rex and Rose Mary.
The Crew
Although the film is set in Arizona, it was actually filmed in Vancouver, Canada. The majority of the film was shot on location in the city, with some exterior scenes also filmed in the nearby town of Burnaby.
The Production
The film was shot on location in Welch, West Virginia, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3][4] The rural town of Welch stood in for the rural town of Gary, Indiana, where the Walls family lived for much of the book. The filmmakers were able to film inside actual abandoned cabins and coal mines. Many of the exterior shots in Welch were filmed near Lakeview Elementary School (now closed), which is where Jeanette Walls attended school as a child.
The Release
The film was theatrically released on August 11, 2017, by Lionsgate. It received mixed reviews from critics, although the performances of Harrelson and Larson were praised.
The Reception
The film was warmly received by critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on 162 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “The Glass Castle makes satisfying work of a tough, true story, bringing its weighty source material to the screen with impressive grace and nuanced humanity.” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B” on an A+ to F scale.
