Sartaj Singh
With Sebastián Borensztein at the helm, ‘Rest in Peace’ tells the story of a family man who finds himself fleeing his debt-ridden life after an accident gives him an opportunity to fake his death. However, far from his home, he begins to long for the people he has left behind, including his wife and children, and tries to make his way back only to discover nothing is as he expected it to be. Sergio Dayan is trying to make ends meet and keep his family happy while under enormous debt and pressure from a lone shark. Estela, his wife, is worried about how much they actually owe, but Sergio keeps knowledge of their desperate situation to himself.
The day he is walking through town to repay a part of his debt, Sergio is caught in an explosion taking place on the street. He survives and uses the opportunity to covertly cross the border from Argentina to Paraguay. Everyone assumes he is dead, and while Sergio’s family mourns his loss, the loan shark forgives his debt. Despite his plan working out flawlessly, the former family man dearly misses his wife and children as he begins life anew in Paraguay.
As Sergio grapples with his emotions and the reality of his situation, he finds a video that Estela has uploaded, in which she wishes only for his return. The poignant video pushes him past his breaking point, and Sergio travels back home in disguise, making a discovery he couldn’t have been prepared for. Also known as ‘Descansar en paz,’ the Argentinean drama thriller takes us through intriguing environments, between the hustle and bustle of Sergio’s hometown and his lonely existence in Paraguay. The backdrop of the Spanish-language Netflix movie is likely to prompt questions about the diverse locations where it was filmed.
Rest in Peace Filming Locations
‘Rest in Peace’ was filmed on location in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Asunción, Paraguay. Principal photography was carried out over nine weeks, from late March 2023 to May 29, 2023. The cast and crew expressed their heartfelt joy at having created the film, and director Sebastián Borensztein took to social media to congratulate his team and laud them on a job well done. Let us take a closer look at the filming locations that make up the backdrop of ‘Rest in Peace.’
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The national capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, saw a large part of filming for ‘Rest in Peace’ taking place within its streets. The community that Sergio and Estela reside in is actually located within the port city. Since colonial times, the city’s neighborhoods have had a trend of opening a general store at their center, with a bar known as pulpería, where the community gathers. With a cosmopolitan nature, good accessibility, and incentives for filmmakers, Buenos Aires is an attractive filming destination and has housed a number of thriller movies. These include ‘Wild Tales,’ ‘Colonia,’ ‘Diary of a Gigolo,’ and ‘The Secret in Their Eyes.’
Asunción, Paraguay
Much like Sergio in the movie, the film crew traversed the border from northern Argentina into Asunción, the capital city of Paraguay. The river that Sergio crosses in the film is the real-life Paraguay River, which cradles half the city. When the fleeing family man enters Paraguay, we can spot the cityscape of Asunción in cinematic landscape shots of its high-rises and landmarks, including the National Pantheon of Heroes. Located between the Palma and Chile streets in the downtown area, the national monument contains the remnants of figures pivotal in Paraguayan history. In other shots, we can also spot the bustling commercial district of the city.
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