Netflix's new movie Pedro Páramo puts the spotlight on a small town in Mexico known as Comala, making some wonder if the movie locale is a real place.
The Spanish-language drama, which debuted on the service on Wednesday, November 6, is based on a 1955 novel of the same name.
The film follows a young man, who promises his dying mother to find his father in the Mexican countryside, only to find he is living in a literal ghost town (a city occupied exclusively by spectral beings).
Pedro Páramo Comala: Mexico Location Explained
Much of Netflix's Pedro Páramo takes place in a Mexican township known as Comala.
This town in the Mexico countryside serves as the movie's primary setting, being the (for lack of a better term) ghost town where the story's main character finds himself.
The movie centers on a young man named Juan Páramo who happens up Comala after telling his mother while on her deathbed that he would look for his long-lost father, Pedro Páramo, now that she is gone.
However, the big twist comes as Pedro discovers Comala is occupied only by the ghosts of its dead residents, with him being the only living being found within its bounds.
In his time venturing up and down Comala's streets, it is revealed to him that his father was a big part of the ghostly community, being central to just about everyone's story he meets (for better or for worse).
Is Comala, Mexico a Real Place?
For those wondering if Pedro Páramo's Comala is a real place, or was created just for this generation-hopping story, it will be reassuring to find out that it is, in fact, a real town in Southwestern Mexico.
However, it does not seem that the film used the real town to film the Comala sequences for the movie. Instead, it seems as though the movie was shot in various locations throughout the Central American country.
According to reporting from Netflix, the movie was shot in the states of Nayarit, San Luis Potosi, as well as Mexico City.
Director Rodrigo Prieto told the streamer on its official blog, that "many exteriors were required, streets with specific characteristics, plazas, fondas, and the Media Luna," which is why the movie opted to shoot where it did:
"For the filming, which took more than 50 days in the states of Nayarit and San Luis Potosí, and Mexico City, many exteriors were required, streets with specific characteristics, plazas, fondas, and the Media Luna, which is a very important place in the book."
In real life, Comala can be found in the state of Colima about six miles north of the state capital.
The municipality is quite small, hosting a meager population of just over 50,000 people, and has been nicknamed the "White Village of America" because of its iconic white facades seen in its historic town center.
Pedro Páramo is now streaming on Netflix.
