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According to Ray McKinnon, Sundance TV’s “Rectify” is a crime psychological drama series starring Aden Young as Daniel Holden, who spent nearly two decades behind bars for raping and murdering his 16-year-old girlfriend, Hannah, when she was still a teenager. After new DNA evidence proved his innocence, he was eventually released from prison after his conviction was overturned on appeal. Although Daniel returns to his hometown of Pauley, Georgia, he finds that half of the town sees him as a criminal and an outsider.
However, his younger sister, Amantha, who believes in his innocence and pleaded for his release, is the only source of comfort in Daniel’s life. On the other hand, his stepfather, Ted Jr., is still suspicious of his motives and wants to keep his family safe. Meanwhile, the prosecutor responsible for Daniel’s arrest is hell-bent on reopening the case and sending him to prison. In addition to Aden, “Rectify” features stellar performances from Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Adelaide Clemens, Klein Crawford and Luke Kirby. The action takes place in the fictional town of Pauley, Georgia, which serves as an additional character to the deeply buried secrets.
Fix shooting locations
The production of “Rectify” took place mainly in Georgia, especially in Griffin and its surrounding area. As far as we can tell, principal photography for the inaugural iteration of the drama series took place in the summer and spring of 2012. As for the second round, filming began in early February 2014. The fourth and final season of the Sundance TV production began filming in April 2016. Creator-Ray McKin’s full cast has been announced. The actors spoke with authentic Georgian accents.
Griffin, Georgia
Most of “Rectify” was reportedly shot in and around the town of Griffin. The county seat of Spaulding County, Georgia, doubles as the fictional town of Pauli, where most of the drama takes place. A private residence near Griffin Country Club and Shoal Creek Lake stood for Talbot House, home of Daniel Holden’s family. During filming, the film crew took over the Bank Street Cafe at 126 South Hill Street and transformed it into a film that appears repeatedly throughout the show. The cast and crew were reportedly spotted filming key sequences at Hill’s Tire and Auto Service Repair – Goodyear Store at 415 West Taylor Street when it doubled as the fictional Paulie Tire & Rim, a business owned by Daniel.
The actual optometrist’s office at 112 West Oak Street was used to film the scene where Daniel visits the optometrist to get his glasses after being released from prison. Over the course of four seasons, several key scenes featuring characters like Roland Foulkes were filmed at Murphy’s Restaurant at 508 West Taylor Street #2820. In addition, the Shell gas station in Griffin also stood in for the convenience store where Daniel buys SmartWater. To film the rural scenes, the production crew traveled to the countryside around the town of Griffin and the wooded area along the banks of the Flint River. Speaking with Atlanta Magazine, creator Ray McKinnon explained the reason for filming “Rectify” in Griffin.
He said, “I wanted it to feel authentic, so I was looking for a town with a layer of history. At the very least, I wanted Southerners to be able to look and say, ‘Yeah, this really is the South.'” In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Abigail Spencer, who plays Amantha Holden, was asked about her schedule while filming. He revealed: “It’s intense. You work every day until you kill yourself and then you have a week off. We landed in Griffin, Georgia, which is a really small town about an hour south of Atlanta. It’s a double-edged sword to be so isolated because you’re completely immersed, but sometimes you need to capture the outside world.” He also admitted that he became friends with many of the Griffin locals because they mostly shot on location using real locations.
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