Fast Color is a 2018 American superhero film directed by Julia Hart and starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lorraine Toussaint, and David Strathairn. The film tells the story of a young woman with supernatural abilities who goes on the run to protect her secretive power. Fast Color garnered positive reviews upon its release, with praise for its original premise, strong performances, and powerful themes. If you enjoyed this unique superhero movie, you may be wondering where Fast Color was filmed to bring its distinctive story to life.
In Fast Color, we follow Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a woman who has abandoned her family due to her uncontrollable supernatural abilities which cause earthquakes when she loses control of her emotions. As Ruth’s powers grow increasingly unstable, she goes on the run across the American Southwest to evade capture and search for answers about her mysterious abilities. Along the way, she finds her way back to her family farm where her mother Bo (Lorraine Toussaint) and young daughter Lila (Saniyya Sidney) possess similar powers, and Ruth must help them use their abilities to potentially save the world.
The film’s director Julia Hart has described Fast Color as a superhero origin story in reverse, beginning when the hero has already gone through their journey of self-discovery. This unique narrative called for shooting on location across the Southwestern United States to capture Ruth’s lonely travels across epic landscapes. The film shot at a variety of real small towns, farms, motels, and natural landscapes across New Mexico and Texas to create an authentic sense of place. Keep reading to find out all the key filming locations used to bring the story of Fast Color to the screen.
New Mexico Filming Locations
The majority of Fast Color was filmed in New Mexico, which stood in for many of the story’s Southwestern settings. Due to the state’s arid climate, open rural areas, small towns, and range of landscapes from deserts to grasslands, New Mexico has hosted hundreds of Hollywood productions over the decades. It offers filmmakers a wide variety of affordably priced locations that can convincingly double for the American West and Southwest.
Here are some of the key cities, towns, and landscapes around New Mexico that were used for filming Fast Color:
- Espanola, New Mexico – Ruth’s family farmhouse was filmed at a private ranch in Espanola, NM north of Santa Fe. The production constructed the farmhouse set on the grounds of the real working ranch. Espanola’s rural desert scenery stood in for the remote isolated area where Ruth finds her mother Bo living off the grid.
- Los Alamos, New Mexico – This northern New Mexico town lent its streets, motels, and surrounding landscapes to serve as filming locations. In the movie, Los Alamos stands in for the fictional town of Bishop where Ruth gets a motel room.
- Ghost Ranch – This famous 21,000-acre outdoor education and retreat center in northern New Mexico contains dramatic rock formations and desert landscapes. The ranch’s scenic vistas were used for the film’s opening shot of Ruth walking alone through an otherworldly desert area.
- Bandelier National Monument – This national park near Los Alamos contains mesas, sheer cliffs, and canyons carved by the Frijoles River. Its beautiful natural scenery provided remote desert filming locations.
- Jemez Springs, New Mexico – Ruth hitches a ride with fellow traveler Rico in this small village known for its natural hot springs and mountain views. Scenes were filmed on location in the village.
- Albuquerque, New Mexico – As the largest metro area in New Mexico, Albuquerque provided access to urban locations for scenes of Ruth on city streets, as well as office buildings and warehouses for interior shots.
Shooting in New Mexico allowed the Fast Color production to capture a wide range of Southwestern terrain all within a close proximity, from ghost town deserts to small rural enclaves. The state’s moderate climate, experienced local crew base, and 30% tax rebate for film productions also provided an accommodating environment for the independently produced movie.
Texas Filming Locations
While the majority of the film shot in New Mexico, the production also ventured into West Texas to capture some specific locations important to the story.
Here are some of the key Texas filming sites used in Fast Color:
- Presidio, Texas – This small remote city along the Mexican border provided the location for the climactic scene where Ruth, Bo, and Lila use their powers to create a massive rainstorm. A powerful sequence was filmed of the women summoning a towering dark cloud above the desolate Presidio landscape.
- Marfa, Texas – The artsy desert city of Marfa appears in the film when Ruth is running from the law and stumbles across the Marfa Lights phenomenon. The area’s unique natural nighttime light displays were captured by filming at night in the Marfa countryside.
- Alpine, Texas – Another small rural Texas town that served as a filming location for highway and motel scenes on Ruth’s travels.
Shooting in sparsely populated West Texas allowed the filmmakers to capture the isolation and big open skies that become important visual motifs in the story of a woman wandering alone across the desert.
Significant Filming Locations
Within these New Mexico and Texas filming sites, there are a few specific locations that took on particular importance in key scenes:
| Location | Scene Description |
|---|---|
| Tseyi Trading Post, Espanola, NM | Bo’s secluded off-the-grid farmhouse |
| Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM | Opening shot of Ruth alone in an alien landscape |
| Cross of the Martyrs, Santa Fe, NM | Ruth discovers her childhood drawings at the shrine |
| Presidio, TX | Climactic storm creation scene |
Capturing the right locations was essential in bringing to life the movie’s emotional arc following Ruth’s physical and spiritual journey across the Southwest. The Southwestern settings almost become like additional characters, with the harsh, isolating landscapes reflecting Ruth’s inner turmoil.
The Importance of Filming Locations
For location-driven films like Fast Color that cover a character’s journey across different cities, towns, and landscapes, securing the right mix of filming sites is crucial. The filmmakers needed diverse New Mexico and Texas locations that would allow them to convincingly capture Ruth’s odyssey across the Southwest while staying within budget. The variety of terrain and settings found within a close proximity in northern New Mexico, paired with vital iconic sites in West Texas, provided everything needed to bring Fast Color’s unique vision to the screen.
Shooting on location also adds an intangible authenticity and texture that makes the storyworld feel real and lived-in for audiences. The ability to capture the real worn-down motels, expansive desert vistas, and isolated small towns Ruth encounters adds a tangibility that enhances the film’s tone and emotional impact. Locations like the iconic Ghost Ranch and Presidio bring specificity and character that sets Fast Color apart from generic superhero settings. Overall, the complex patchwork of filming sites used across New Mexico and Texas was essential in grounding Fast Color’s original superhero tale in a believable Southwestern reality.
Conclusion
Fast Color required diverse Southwestern filming locations to capture Ruth’s epic journey of self-discovery and reconcilement with her family. Shooting took place across the neighboring states of New Mexico and Texas to collect a rich catalogue of small desert towns, open rural landscapes, city streets, national parks, and more to shape the film’s distinct setting and tone. Securing the perfect mix of filming sites within budget constraints was essential in bringing Fast Color’s unconventional superhero origin story convincingly to life. The complexity of this location filming and rural cinematography added unique visual textures that complements the film’s themes of isolation, family, and controlling destructive power. Fast Color ultimately crafted an impactful sense of place tied intrinsically to its characters’ struggles, with its Southwestern filming locations becoming an important extension of the film’s poetic narrative.
