Where was The Thing with Feathers filmed? All filming locations revealed

The Thing with Feathers adapts Max Porter's Grief Is the Thing with Feathers into a UK drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a widower raising two sons amid grief personified as an eight-foot crow

The Thing with Feathers was filmed primarily in early 2024, utilizing studio interiors to control light, sound, and creature work, with UK city exteriors used for grounding shots. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2025, and was part of the Berlinale Special program on February 18, 2025. It opened across the UK and Ireland in November 2025.

The Thing with Feathers: All filming locations

1) Bristol, England, UK: Bristol anchors the on-the-ground city presence for The Thing with Feathers.

Bristol’s terraces, Victorian streets and harborside textures double cleanly for a broadly British setting while offering film-friendly permits and crews.

2) London, England, UK, stage reference and probable unit work: Although the story’s house plays like a real London home, the interiors were built on a stage with a photographed London street as the view outside the windows. As per Filmmaker Magazine report dated January 25, 2025, DP on the sets of the movie, Ben Fordesman, said,

“This was my first feature mostly shot in a studio set build. All of the house interiors were on a stage with windows looking out to a London street.”

3) UK studio interiors, complete house build and controlled sets: The set build enabled claustrophobic framing, safe choreography for an actor in a crow suit with an animatronic head, precise control of darkness and a reliable day-to-night cycle for long schedule blocks.

Fordesman also explained the balance of big lights through small sash windows and the need to keep the translight at the right level. He added that the raptor scene from Jurassic Park was an influence on a supermarket sequence, which hints that even the store was staged for suspense and control.

How the locations are used on screen

The home was built on a stage so the team could sculpt shadows, hide seams in the suit work, and preserve continuity for intense night sequences. That choice delivers the boxed-in feel of grief that defines The Thing with Feathers. As per Filmmaker Magazine report dated January 25, 2025, Fordesman stated,

“The light would bounce everywhere, and our trans-light background of a London street required a perfect level of light, so it was a balancing act pumping big lights around while shaping it carefully into the right places.”

The production also employed a 4:3 aspect ratio to keep the camera close to faces and emotions. Director Dylan Southern cites a living room tableau that unites the family and Crow into a single, protective image. As per Entertainment Weekly's report dated January 27, 2025, Southern said,

“There’s a really cool picture of the Who on the cover of The Kids Are Alright where they’re wrapped in the Union Jack....And that was my reference for that.”

That cue explains why a stage build was essential for precise blocking, including wings, kids and a towering creature. Short exterior beats, anchored in Bristol, break the intensity and signal ordinary life outside the house before the film drops back into the interior nightmare.

The Thing with Feathers: Production details and cast with location-relevant quotes

Backers and companies: Film4 and the BFI supported the project, with Lobo Films and SunnyMarch serving as producers. The film received BFI Filmmaking Fund production support in 2024, and the British Council maintains a listings track for UK companies involved.

Timeline: Principal photography began in early 2024. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2025, and held its European premiere at the Berlinale on February 18, 2025. It opened in UK and Irish cinemas in November 2025.

Core cast: Benedict Cumberbatch plays Dad, with Richard Boxall and Henry Boxall as the boys, Eric Lampaert as the physical Crow, and David Thewlis as the voice of Crow. Supporting roles are played by Vinette Robinson, Sam Spruell, Leo Bill, and Tim Plester. According to a Reuters report dated February 18, 2025, Benedict Cumberbatch stated that “odd moments would just sideswipe” him while recalling a scene in which he folded his character’s late wife’s clothes.

Stay tuned for more updates.