Naman Shrestha
From the minds of Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet, Netflix’s ‘Summer ’36’ is a French historical crime drama series that centers on a group of four working-class women from different classes as they are granted their first-ever paid holidays. For their vacation, the four women are sent to the French Riviera, where the elite vacationers are shocked and disturbed by them. Their plans for the summer get upended when the women get entangled in the mysterious murder of a prosecutor at the luxurious Riviera Hotel. The crime ends up turning their lives upside down, affecting their familial relationships and romances. Originally titled ‘L’Été 36,’ the murder mystery show is set in Nice in the year 1936, with most of the drama unfolding in and around the chic hotel where the four women stay and try to solve the murder.
Summer ’36 Filming Locations
The shooting for ‘Summer ’36’ takes place entirely in France, particularly in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Paris. According to reports, principal photography for the inaugural iteration of the period drama series got underway around late March 2025 or early April 2025 and continued for about four months before wrapping up in July of the same year. The production employed about 1,700 extras to bring the narrative to life, working with a budget of €17,000,000.
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
In order to inject a layer of authenticity into ‘Summer ’36,’ the production team primarily set up camp on location in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Various streets and neighborhoods of the city of Nice were transformed into film sets, depicting the 1930s. For instance, the Masséna High School at 2 Avenue Félix Faure doubled as the famous Jetée-Promenade casino. In addition, in May 2025, the cast and crew members were also spotted taping pivotal sequences on top of Castle Hill Park, also known as Colline du Château, a military citadel built on top of a hill that is used as a park these days.
The bar scenes were reportedly taped at a real-life bar in the Hotel Negresco at 37 Promenade des Anglais in the city of Nice. Besides Nice, several other locales located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur served as important production locations, such as the village of Grasse, which is considered the world’s capital of perfume. The resort city of Cannes, on the French Riviera, also hosted production of the whodunnit series. The filming unit took over the municipality of Sospel as well, for the purpose of shooting.
Paris, France
In order to recreate the interiors of the fictional Riviera Hotel, the production team of ‘Summer ’36’ utilized the facilities of a film studio near Paris, the capital of France. In an interview, Nolwenn Leroy, who portrays the hotel’s housekeeper, revealed, “The hotel interiors were recreated in a studio, with a lot of work done on the sets, the details… Many of my scenes took place in these corridors, these rooms…” Apart from the Netflix production, Paris has hosted the production of many other notable movies and TV shows, including ‘Léon: The Professional,’ ‘The Killer,’ ‘Once Upon a Time in America,’ ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ ‘Army of Thieves,’ ‘Wingwomen,’ ‘Berlin and the Jewels of Paris,’ and ‘Furies.’
