Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘A Man on the Inside’ focuses on a crime that takes place within a retirement home. A retired professor and a recent widower, Charles Nieuwendyk, finds a newspaper ad by a PI named Julie Kovalenko, who wants a man his age to enter a retirement home undercover. The task is to figure out the identity of a thief who has stolen a precious necklace from one of the residents. Initially, Charles is excited to have the job, but slowly, he gets to know the residents and the staff of the retirement home and comes across some heartbreaking realities. The place doesn’t just offer a new perspective to him but also brings about a change in him that alters his life forever. However, as appealing as it looks, one cannot book an apartment at the Pacific View Retirement Residence.
The Fictional Pacific View Retirement Residence is Inspired by a Real Place
‘A Man on the Inside’ is inspired by the documentary, ‘The Mole Agent,’ which takes place in a real retirement home in Chile. The Netflix series was created by Mike Schur, who was incredibly moved by the documentary. When it came to adapting it into a TV show, certain changes had to be made, starting with the story’s setting. While the original story takes place in a retirement home in Chile, Schur moved the story of Charles to San Francisco. Explaining the logic behind his choice, he revealed that the retirement home in the documentary is called the San Francisco home, which felt like a sign to him. Moreover, he’d thought of Charles as someone with a background in engineering, and San Francisco offers a lot of architectural marvels, talking about which allows more depth to Charles’ character.
Because the city is such an important part of the story, the cast and crew of the show spent a few weeks there to film several scenes. For the exterior scenes of the fictional Pacific View Retirement Residence, they used the exteriors of the Cathedral Apartments at 1201 California Street in Nob Hill. The interiors, on the other hand, were filmed on a set in LA. To get a better understanding of assisted living facilities and retirement homes work, Schur and his team researched such facilities in and around LA and Southern California. They talked to the people working there as well as the residents. They found all the responsibilities of someone like Didi, who has to run the place, to get a better sense of the daily challenges they face and what it takes for them to be emotionally and mentally prepared to handle the residents and their situations.
Schur was also aware that the change of setting from Chile to San Francisco would lead to several changes in how things unfold in the documentary and how they transpire in the series, which takes a fictional turn. The real-life facility in Chile is state-supported. While it has a lovely staff that caters to every need of the residents, there are also some limitations. For example, the residents are not allowed to leave the premises by themselves. The gate remains closed at all times and is opened only when the visitors have to come in or go out. The residents require special permission and the presence of a family member to leave. This limitation changes a bit in Schur’s adaptation.
At Pacific View, the residents, who are physically and mentally capable, are free to come and go from the retirement home. Charles and other residents often take day trips, and they can even have night outs if they have informed the staff about it. There is also a separate wing, called the Neighbourhood, for the people who require greater care, specifically the ones who have dementia and other illnesses that have rendered them incapable of living by themselves. In the real-life Chilean facility, there is no such system, and all the residents live together, providing each other with company and care. At the end of the day, Schur and his team wanted to present a version of the facility, especially its staff, that is respectful and appreciative of the work they do, and with the depiction of Pacific View, they have succeeded at it.
