Where was the Netflix movie I Believe in Santa filmed? We discuss the popular Christmas film and the locations the production team picked.
I Believe in Santa is a romantic comedy-drama from Netflix, released in the run-up to Christmas and aimed at examining the relevance of belief and faith and the broad abyss that can arise between people that have opposing views.
If that opening gambit has caught you off guard, then I can only suggest you take some time out of your day or night, wrap yourself up in a blanket, and watch this strangely-themed movie that will offer up more than you expect if you look for it. Or you could take it at face value and watch Tom (John Ducey), who really believes in Santa, and Lisa (Christina Moore), who does not care about the holiday season at all, try and find some middle ground to allow their relationship to work.
This is such an odd film that the themes and layers would really need to be discussed in a separate article, so make sure you look for such content on this very site, but in the meantime, you only need to know this is a Christmas film. We are wondering about the filming locations.
What is I Believe in Santa about?
That depends on where you are coming from philosophically. Still, the basic plot follows a relationship between Lisa, played by Christina Moore, a columnist for an online site called Mile High E-Zine.
While covering a 4th of July local fair, she meets Tom, played by John Ducey. Trivia fans can note that the pair are married in real life, and Ducey also wrote the script for the movie. So the couple hooks up and starts dating, and everything is going great even though Lisa’s friend perpetuates the myth that if things are going great, it means there must be something wrong.
Then the holiday season starts to come into view, and we learn that Tom really loves this time of year, and Lisa does not. The thing here is that when I say Tom loves Christmas, he actually does love it, and of course, the big reveal is that he believes in Santa Clause. Not the idea of Santa, but he actually believes that some immortal and magical deity delivers presents on Christmas Eve to every child, under ten, in the world. Tom is unashamedly open about his belief to everyone, and Lisa struggles that this grown man is able to have such faith in such a childish concept.
She obviously didn’t see Violent Night at the movies this year. If you are looking for a little slice of Christmas hokum, then this should fill the gap, and although it may sound a little pretentious to mention, underneath it all, there is ultimately a story here about the nature of belief and faith. Make of that what you will.
Where was I Believe in Santa filmed?
The movie was filmed in two major locations. Los Angeles and Denver, Colorado, are listed as the principal locales. Principal photography began in September 2021 and went on for about three weeks.
Filming moved to California, where a lot of the main action happens. Malibu seems to be a backdrop for a lot of scenes, as was Los Angeles. California is a popular location for films and TV shows and contains plenty of beachy areas, opulent neighborhoods, and city shopping areas. Of course, it has huge ties to the entertainment industry and is well-versed in being used for all kinds of productions. Meanwhile, Denver is the capital of Colorado, where more important footage was captured for this film. Denver has a wide range of locales that have been utilized in many other productions. Die Hard 2, In The Line of Fire, and Blades of Glory were all filmed there.
