Overview
- Veloso says about 99% of the film was shot using natural light, with nights lit by real fire and candles to keep the imagery grounded.
- The team chose a 3:2 aspect ratio to echo old photographs, mapping distinct visual rules to different periods in Robert Grainier’s life.
- Filming took place entirely on location in and around Spokane, with key sets such as the cabin and fire tower built from scratch.
- Real flames were used throughout, with the large wildfire sequence created using a wall of lights in a previously burned landscape.
- Joel Edgerton delivers a restrained, largely wordless performance as Grainier, a role he pursued after earlier trying to secure adaptation rights, as the film explores ordinary life, ecological strain and displacement.