There’s plenty of horror in Hulu’s science-fiction thriller movie ‘The Mill,’ which is mostly a one-man show anchored by comedian and actor Lil Rel Howery. The Sean King O’Grady directorial follows the story of Joe, who works at a mega-corporation, Mallard. He wakes up one day in an open-air prison and is told to complete tasks for his new job at Mallard, guided by an eerie voice that sounds like trouble. Trapped inside with no way out, Joe has to constantly work with a grist mill if he wants this to end well for him.
Joe knows that the employee who does the least amount of work in the given time gets “terminated” every day, quite literally, as he has heard enough screams to prove that. His only hope is to somehow make it out of the hellhole on time before his pregnant wife gives birth to his child. The movie is set in the future and explores how modern-day labor is perceived and the impact of artificial intelligence. It is also supported by actors like Pat Healy and Karen Obilom. As most of the movie is about Joe and his prison, it naturally raises questions about where it was filmed.
The Mill Filming Locations
‘The Mill’ was filmed entirely in New Jersey. According to the director, the work on the building of sets commenced in November 2022, and principal photography was wrapped up two months later by January 2023. O’Grady revealed in a podcast that Howery was always willing and excited about holding a major portion of the movie together with his acting and expressions. Now that we’ve understood when it was taped, let’s find out about the specific locations where this sci-fi thriller was shot!
New Jersey
A major part of ‘The Mill’ focuses on the open-air prison Joe is forced to stay in; thus, the shooting took place on sets in New Jersey, in the northeastern part of the country. The sets for the Hulu production were constructed keeping in mind that the setting should echo the feelings of the workers who feel stuck in a sort of time loop at their job, where no amount of hard work seems enough, and the compensation isn’t as rewarding for the amount of effort that goes into it. This is the reason why an open set was built with limited space for the lead character to perform his activities, which mostly consisted of working on the mill.
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As this is a futuristic film, the makers had to rely heavily on graphics. O’Grady revealed that everything else apart from the set, like the company’s office, was a result of a commendable team working on the VFX. Interestingly, the director also revealed that even while they were shooting the film, the impact of AI like ChatGPT wasn’t felt yet, and had he known AI would become a dominant reality so soon, he would have set the story way earlier in the future than the 15 years it considers.
Since the film was all shot in one location, the cast and crew members were only spotted in the studio and at the location. Most filmmakers prefer New Jersey due to the ease of production and its geographical diversity, giving them plenty of options to choose from. Also referred to as the Garden State, New Jersey has served as the filming site for several movies and television shows over the years; some of the popular ones are ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Severance,’ ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ and ‘Knock at the Cabin.’
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