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Good news for fans of the ‘strangers surviving a crashed flight’ genre as they can take a break from their umpteenth rewatch of Lost or Yellowjackets. After premiering in the US earlier this March, MGM’s new thriller Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue is finally available to stream for UK audiences.
With an ensemble cast led by Will and Grace’s Eric McCormack and mystery novelist Anthony Horowitz as show runner, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue lives up to its wordy Agatha Christie-esque title with a mystery set in the lush and grueling Mexico jungles.
What’s Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue about?
The series starts off in a fancy private flight harbouring nine strangers who are left marooned when their plane crashes into the Mexican jungle. While fighting nature is essential, a human threat is also at large: suspicions ramp up when the nine start dying one by one. Survivor-style hi-jinks and psychological warfare follows.
Where was Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue filmed?
Rather than Central America, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue was actually filmed in Spain – more specifically, the cities, studios, and airfields of the Canary Islands. The crew’s primary base of operations was Gran Canaria, the third-largest island of the Spanish archipelago. The island’s lush forests, deep ravines, and volcanic craters set the stage for the perfect Horowitzian thriller. Filming wrapped up in Canary Islands by mid-2024 even though the series is indeed set in Mexican jungles.
Talking to the BBC, the Alex Rider author chose Mexico to drive the plot for its proximity to the US, the Civil Aviation Authority and even the CIA. ‘I thought about a small plane travelling between Guatemala City and Houston and asked myself where it might crash. Well, half a million square miles of rainforest and jungle full of snakes, spiders and other dangers seemed like a good answer.’
Grana Canaria Studios, Canary Islands, Spain
Despite the sprawling greenery and crawling wildlife of the islands, Nine Bodies filmed some of its most realistic sequences in the cutting-edge Grana Canaria Studios. Opened only in 2023, the studio has already become a hub for thrillers, especially the ones that dabble in nature-driven perils.
Along with the MGM+ Original, the studio’s two soundstages and 6,000 square metre area were also used to recreate shark-infested waters for Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart’s upcoming film Deep Waters. Samuel L Jackson’s upcoming tech-thriller The Beast – which stars Jackson as a US President relying on his state-of-the art limousine – was also filmed here.
The studios hosted a cast of lizards and snakes, too. Some of the filming days were reserved just for the animals to allow the crew to tap into their inner Planet Earth mode.
Siobhán McSweeney, who plays nurse-turned-motel owner Lisa Davies, remembers the jungle teeming with creepy crawlies. ‘It was sort of like a micro experiment,’ she tells the BBC, ‘like The Big Bang Theory in a bottle or something’.
Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Gran Canaria, Spain
Gran Canaria’s botanical garden landmark lies on the island’s northeastern corner, attracting locals and tourists alike for its extensive variety of biological life. The 27-acre garden contains over 500 plant species and 400 tree species native to the islands.
Filming exterior shots of Nine Bodies was crucial to utilise all this flora, although the crew also had to approach the location with ecological sensitivity. Hence, it made sense for the production to film some of the more intense dialogue-driven scenes at Gran Canaria Studios while relying on the island’s natural gardens for setting up a template.
Aeródromo de Berriel, Maspalomas, Spain
A story that begins with an air crash is incomplete without an airfield. In Nine Bodies, this private airfield in Maspalomas stands in for a Mexican airstrip. The Aeródromo de Berriel (Berriel Aerodrome) includes a privately-owned asphalt runaway in Maspalomas, a town in souther Gran Canaria. The practical aviation sequences were filmed at its aerodrome.
La Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain
Once considered the de facto capital of the Canary Islands until the 17th century, La Palmas is a city of breathtaking natural vistas, urban beaches and Catholic cathedrals. La Palmas provided the backdrop for Nine Bodies’s character flashbacks and scenes involving the investigating Mexican security forces.
Who stars in Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue?
Emmy-winner Eric McCormack ditches his comedic Will and Grace charm to play the morally broken ex-doctor Kevin Anderson. Playing the other survivors are David Ajala (Supergirl, Star Trek: Discovery), Lydia Wilson (Ripper Street), Adam Long (Happy Valley), Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls), Peter Gadiot (Netflix’s One Piece), and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga). Spanish actor Oscar Faronda (Warrior Nun) rounds up the cast as the Mexican inspector investigating the disappearance (and murders) of our lost protagonists.
Where can I watch it?
While the series has been streaming in the US on MGM+, Nine bodies In a Mexican Morgue finally makes its way across the Atlantic this week. UK viewers can stream the series on BBC One at 9.25pm on Saturday, September 27 and BBC iPlayer on the same day.
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