Unmoored – Scandi noir comes to Exmoor

An atmospheric psychological thriller, ‘Unmoored’ is the screen adaptation The Living and Dead in Winsford’, a 2016 novel by award-winning Swedish crime-writer, Hakan Nesser.

It revolves around Maria Holinek (played by Mirja Turestedt) a famous Swedish TV presenter who flees Stockholm for the wilds of Exmoor with her beloved dog, Castor, and some dark secrets.

Filmed in November 2021, the shoot was based in Simonsbath, with much of the stunning scenery filmed in and around the Barle Valley as Maria and Caster walk the moors. In the book, much of the action is set in Winsford and its Royal Oak Inn, but on screen it’s The Exmoor Forest Inn at Simonsbath, where the crew also stayed.

Exford village centre and the West Somerset Railway station in Minehead are easy to spot, and the keen-eyed will note the Manor Garage in Wiveliscombe – which still carries some of the branding of a fictitious fuel company ‘Gastrell’ created for the filming.

Nesser wrote his book during a four-year spell of living in the UK, largely in London but including a six-month stint on the outskirts of Winsford on Exmoor.

Hakan Nesser: “We rented a property pretty much like the house in the film and with roughly the same location. Fall, winter and spring, a lot of fog and rain, both myself and dog Norton, Rhodesian Ridgeback, loved it. I wrote the book in situ, so hopefully I got one or two details correct.”

Unmoored is the feature film debut for Swedish Director, Caroline Ingvarsson.

Caroline Ingvarsson: “When I reached Exmoor, it was like, ‘this is the glue of the film’.

“It’s more than a location, it is one of the main characters of the film. We all fell in love with the area.”

Naomi Despres, the film’s Producer: “The biggest challenge was getting our crew and equipment out onto the moors.

“But once we were out on the moors, we understood even more deeply why Hakan set the novel there. Embrace the logistical challenges, and you will be rewarded with fabulous locations, and the cinematic joy of being able to point your camera in any direction and capture something magical.”