Charlize Theron's new Netflix survival thriller Apex is set in a fictional outback park called Wandarra — but most of what you see on screen is real, and surprisingly close to Sydney. The production crisscrossed New South Wales, with a detour to Norway and a finishing touch from Malibu.
The opening climbing sequence was shot at Norway's Troll Wall (Trollveggen), Europe's tallest vertical rock face at 1,100 metres above the Romsdalen Valley. Theron learned to climb from zero with an expert coach and performs most of her own stunts on real cliffs, including barefoot scenes.
Australia supplies the bulk of the film. The first camping spot is Lost City North Lookout in the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area near Lithgow, where sandstone 'pagoda' formations overlook Marrangaroo Creek. The slot canyon Sasha squeezes through is reportedly Dry Canyon in Wollemi National Park, on the way to the Glow Worm Tunnel — an easy add-on for families visiting the area.
Blue Mountains National Park does heavy lifting throughout: the on-screen map pointing to the Grand Isle Narrows shows the real Kedumba Valley, the Grand Canyon near Blackheath appears in several scenes (a 6.3 km loop through a sandstone gorge with rainforest and waterfalls), and Glenbrook Gorge hosts both a swimming scene and the cliff climbing sequence. The nearby Jellybean Pool offers calmer water for an actual dip — though the gorge's waterfall in the film is CGI.
Other spots: whitewater kayaking was filmed at Ginninderra Falls near Canberra (now privately owned and closed to the public since 2004), extra water scenes were shot at The Needles on the Woronora River south of Sydney, and the crew trained at Penrith Whitewater Stadium, the 2000 Olympic slalom course. The small store in the film is a post office beside the Central Garage in Bowning, a historic village in the Southern Tablelands about 75 km northeast of Canberra. Some stunt work happened at Disney Studios in Sydney.
Two curveballs for spotters: the ranger's station looks like Waratah Park near Sydney — the original set of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo — though some readers argue it's the Glenbrook parks office. And the final beach scene isn't Australian at all: it's Westward Beach near Point Dume in Malibu, California.
For travellers, this is a ready-made route through some of NSW's best walking country. Lithgow, Blackheath and Glenbrook are all reachable from Sydney by train or car within a couple of hours, and most of the featured locations are public, hikeable and famously photogenic. Watch the film, then go see the gorges for yourself — minus the survival drama.
