Shubhabrata Dutta
Directed by Christian Zübert, Netflix’s ‘Exterritorial’ is a German fast-paced action thriller movie that follows a mother looking for her son. Josh, the young son of Sara, an ex-Special Forces soldier, mysteriously disappears from the US consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, where she had brought him along for an interview for a US work VISA. No one else seems to have noticed the kid, and she realizes he has been kidnapped.
With the German police having no jurisdiction inside the consulate premises, Sara decides to find Josh herself. However, the mission is not easy, as people are bent on seeing her, too. Can a “scared mother” be strong enough to take on the forces of an entire building? For a movie that follows a character desperately searching for someone, the visuals need to convey tension and provide spatial awareness, and the team opted for real strategic locations to achieve this feat.
Exterritorial Filming Locations
Filming of ‘Exterritorial’ took place in Germany and Austria. Principal photography seemingly commenced in August 2023 and lasted about four months before wrapping up by the end of November the same year. Filming in two different countries required a lot of scouting, but the production crew was successfully able to pick spots that enabled it to do justice to the narrative. Germany served as the base for the shoot, with Austria being used to film additional portions.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
The city of Frankfurt am Main, located in Hesse, a state in north-east Germany, was used extensively for capturing many outdoor scenes of ‘Exterritorial.’ The crew resorted to one of the most easily recognizable cities in the country and used its urban skyline for establishing shots. The Frankfurt Central Station, AKA Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, and other urban landmarks also make an appearance in the film. The city is home to the German National Library, one of the largest of its kind in the world, world-class universities like the Goethe University and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, and the Alte Oper concert hall. The city has also hosted the filming of the Netflix series ‘Skyline.’
Vienna, Austria
The crew used the exterior of the old Alte Wirtschaftsuniversität building, AKA the Vienna University of Economics and Business building, located at Augasse 2/6, 1090 Vienna, to shoot various scenes too. The scenes of Sara climbing a building were shot here, with the exterior of the establishment doubling as the terrace section of the US embassy. In 2013, the university shifted campus, moving to a new and bigger one in Vienna’s Prater Park. The geometric shape of the building is yet another reminder of the urbanism incorporated in the narrative, providing an overwhelming inhuman aspect in stark contrast to the emotional protagonist.
The interiors of the building were reportedly turned into the insides of the US consulate building and were used to capture many crucial scenes, including Sara’s interactions with the staff and the action sequences. The production team also accessed an underground parking garage to lens a handful of crucial scenes. Vienna is the cultural center of Austria and is known for its rich historic architecture, including the Schönbrunn Palace, the Ringstrasse, the Burgtheater, the Hofburg, the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, and the Vienna State Opera. The Vienna State Opera also served as the backdrop for some scenes in ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.’
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