Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘The Tourist’ is a suspense thriller with a dash of humor as it follows the journey of a man who has become a mystery to himself. A car crash renders him unable to recall his memories, including his own name, and the situation becomes even more problematic when he realizes that there are people after him, and they will not rest until they have killed him. Finding out about his past and who he really is leads him on a daunting journey across the Australian Outback, where he hops from one town to another across a desolate road. A place called Burnt Ridge is one of the most important stops in his story.
Burnt Ridge is Not a Real Town in the Australian Outback
When the Man wakes up in the hospital with no memory of himself, a note in his pocket becomes the only source of hope as it points him toward a person who might answer all of his questions. The note mentions the address of a diner in a town named Burnt Ridge. He has to cross miles and miles of desolation and desert to get to that place, and even he starts to wonder what he is doing there.
Burnt Ridge becomes a pivotal point in his story, but it is not a real place. There is a place called Burnt Bridge in Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia, but it has nothing to do with the fictional Burnt Ridge, where the Man tries to figure out his past while dodging enemies who are hell-bent on killing him. The production team of ‘The Tourist’ filmed the show in real towns in the Australian Outback, with several locations from different places serving to create the town of Burnt Ridge.
The town becomes an important place in ‘The Tourist’ Season 1, especially after the Man meets a woman named Luci. Soon after they meet, a bomb explodes at their meeting place. It calls for the attention of the authorities, who are surprised because nothing of note had ever happened in the town before the mysterious Man came around. The next day, the Man also becomes the target of a shootout in which the owner of the house is killed. This is another red flag, which convinces the authorities that the Man is behind all the trouble that has suddenly erupted in an otherwise sleepy and uneventful town.
While Burnt Ridge might not be a real town, it is created in a way that appears realistic to the audience, especially when it comes to its residents, who are warm and welcoming and find their lives completely flipped after the Man walks into their lives. It also sparks the curiosity of the audience, who, like the Man, are completely unaware of who he is and what his arrival means for a town like Burnt Ridge.
Read More: Where Is The Tourist Filmed?
