Havoc’s Dark City: Where Was It Filmed and What Inspired Its Gritty Setting?

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Havoc.

The intense 2025 action thriller, “Havoc,” directed by Tom Hardy and Gareth Evans, is set in a city marred by corruption and avarice from both the law enforcement and criminal sides. In this dangerous metropolis, where peril lurks at every turn, viewers are introduced to Tom Hardy’s character, Walker, a hard-boiled yet morally compromised homicide detective who anchors the compelling cast of “Havoc.” The pulse-pounding chase sequence at the film’s outset underscores the frequency of high-risk crimes and chases in this gritty city, which might even rival the unsettling atmosphere of instability reminiscent of Gotham City in “The Batman.

In the movie “Havoc,” the grimy metropolis plays an integral role, serving as a complex character and shedding light on why almost every figure embraces illicit activities. Forest Whitaker’s mayoral candidate, Lawrence Beaumont, also operates in secrecy, striking a deal with Walker – a man with a questionable past – to locate his son following a drug transaction gone awry. What sets “Havoc” apart, marking it as Evans’ first action film in a decade, is that even the most upstanding individuals find themselves compelled to engage in unsavory deeds.

Havoc Takes Place In An Unnamed American City

It Was Deliberately Left Ambiguous By Writer/Director Evans

The movie “Havoc” unfolds in an undetermined yet distinctly American urban setting. While no city in the U.S. mirrors the chaos depicted in Havoc, the film’s backdrop is unmistakably American, given the characters’ accents. Tom Hardy, who often sparks discussions about his accent across his films, adopts a typical East Coast American city tone in this movie. His dialect leans slightly towards both New York and Philadelphia accents, but it’s not intentionally either.

In the undisclosed city portrayed in Havoc, there’s an imminent threat of being overtaken by its powerful criminal network, with corrupt police officers such as Walker and Vincent playing significant roles, along with the menacing gang known as the Triads, whose roots are based on real-world organizations.

The city is intentionally left anonymous to symbolize a setting universally embodying corruption. Although some American cities are generally less corrupt than others, none can match the crime rate portrayed in the city of Havoc. Establishing Havoc within an actual city would have made it too entwined with its specific subculture, which wouldn’t have suited the exaggerated action-thriller style of the film.

Filming For Havoc Took Place In Wales

Evans Took Inspiration From Several American Cities

Despite the fact that the city portrayed in the movie “Havoc” is set within the U.S., it was entirely filmed in Wales, United Kingdom, where its writer and director Gareth Evans resides. As stated by Netflix’s production notes on “Havoc”, Evans decided to shoot in this location because it stirred his initial passion for filmmaking. He shared, “The thought of wrapping up a day’s shoot and then going home to read my son a bedtime story held great allure. And Wales is where I nurtured my love for cinema, both as an art form and something I might one day pursue as a profession.

Evans initially pondered setting Havoc within an American cityscape for filming, but ultimately incorporated urban aspects of various American cities to build a fictional metropolis. As he put it, “We scouted areas in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, and New York, trying to blend them into one convincing cinematic representation of America.

Evans was excited about the opportunity to experiment and develop an entirely fresh environment for “Havoc”. He explained, “This is our unique city, and there’s a Triad element to the story, so we designed a Chinatown. I didn’t want it to resemble the Chinatowns found in Western cities like London. Instead, we opted for a more mythical approach when creating our world.

How Havoc Filmed The Cabin Scenes

Practical Shots & Stunts Backed By Lots Of VFX

In much the same way as many large-scale scenes in the movie “Havoc”, such as its captivating opening truck chase and the climactic confrontation at the cabin, seamlessly blend real-life footage with an array of visual effects. Although the CGI in Havoc can sometimes appear overt, the overall outcome is usually quite impressive. Many stunts were executed by a skilled stunt team on set rather than relying solely on VFX. Regardless of one’s preference for visual effects, “Havoc” skillfully uses them to create some genuinely mind-bending action sequences.

2025-04-25 15:20