Aahana Swrup
‘The Survivors’ presents a captivating story about a small-town murder mystery that blankets the lives of the victims’ surviving family in thick, inescapable grief. Kieran Elliot and Mia Chang, new parents, visit their hometown, Evelyn Bay, which faced a tragic storm fifteen years ago. In the storm, the former’s brother, Finn, his friend, Toby, and Mia’s best friend, Gabby, perished. Consequently, the couple’s return remains laced with lingering feelings of pain and guilt, especially in the face of the town’s scornful glances. However, things become worse when the dead body of Bronte, a young tourist, washes up on the coastal town’s shore.
As a result, ghosts of the past are unburied as cryptic mysteries and unanswered questions come rushing back. The geographical and social make-up of Evelyn Bay, as a home to sharp cliffs and a tight-knit community, plays a huge role in the thematic narrative of the Netflix show. For the same reason, the town’s on-screen depiction and possible off-screen connections remain a point of intrigue for the viewers.
The Real-Life City Behind the Fictional Town of Evelyn Bay
Evelyn Bay, a town in Tasmania, Australia, is confined within the fictionalized world of ‘The Survivors.’ The show brings the coastal town to the screen. However, it was first created by Jane Harper, who wrote the eponymous 2020 novel, which serves as a source material for the live-action adaptation. The British Australian author set the central location of her mystery thriller novel in Tasmania due to the state’s perfect geography, which set a dark, broody, yet fresh feel for the story. Tony Ayres, the showrunner of the Netflix adaptation, maintains this crucial geographical connection by employing several real-life locations in Tasmania as the filming locations for the on-screen Evelyn Bay.
Notably, Hobart, the state’s capital city, which is also featured in the show as itself, acts as a frequent stand-in for the small town. Between its various coastal locations and the small-town charm of its picturesque landscapes, it becomes an ideal backdrop for Evelyn Bay. Numerous other known locations, like the Freycinet National Park and the Tasman National Park, played a prominent role in bringing the town’s vast beaches and jagged cliffside to the screen. Similarly, the Great Oyster Bay on Tasmania’s east coast becomes the on-screen counterpart to the melancholic oceanside.
As such, most of Hobart’s real-life nature and communities create the visual identity for Evelyn Bay’s fictional town. Alternatively, the cast and crew likely filmed any deep-sea diving endeavors conducted in the area in Melbourne’s Docklands Studios. On the flip side, the thematic nature of the town and the instrumental role it plays in the story remain reflective of the unique reality of small coastal towns. Evelyn Bay and its residents fit into the perfect mold of tight-knit communities that are as populated with secrets as they are devoid of privacy. Therefore, it serves as an ideal setting for Kieran Elliot and his family’s tragic tale. Nevertheless, ultimately, the town remains a work of fiction without any direct counterparts in reality.
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