5 Local Ontario Spots Featured in Season 3 of Amazon’s Reacher

The third season of Amazon’s Reacher has come and gone, and many fans are still buzzing about it. Most of the buzz is about the fact that this series continues to be a whole lot better than the Reacher movie, which came out back in 2012 and starred Tom Cruise. 

While the movie had its upsides, it was hard to get over how miscast Cruise was in the Reacher role, with current actor Alan Ritchson being a lot more faithful to the source material. Apart from this, the show is incredibly entertaining, with intense action scenes that feel deserved and well-developed characters that really bring Lee Child’s novels to life. 

Here in Ontario, however, we love it for a different reason! Although Reacher is set in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia, many people don’t know that filming doesn’t actually take place in the US at all. Instead, the cast and crew film in various locations in Ontario, Canada, where towns like Brantford, Caledon, and Millbrook stand in for small-town America. 

As one of the most welcoming provinces in the Great White North, we’re no strangers to having movies or game shows choose Ontario as their backdrop, but when it comes to hit Amazon streaming shows, this is a huge win. 

This highlights Ontario’s growing reputation as a top-tier filming destination. Canada has long been seen as the perfect place to visit on vacation, but now places like Ontario are perfect places for shooting films and TV shows, and this brings a lot of significant economic benefits when it comes to creating jobs and supporting local businesses.

It’s also a lot of fun trying to spot the specific Ontario locations they used for filming! Taking months to shoot and travelling all around Ontario to capture the perfect settings, Reacher truly showcases the diversity and beauty of this province. Let’s take a moment to point out a few of our favourite local spots!

Brantford

This season didn’t waste any time showing off Ontario. In fact, the very first sequence, which involved that dramatic truck chase, was filmed on multiple roads in Brantford, including George Street, Dalhousie Street, and King Street. 

Caledon

Remember Zachary Beck’s mansion? It might have been hard to recognize that as an Ontario location since the visual effects team added a coastal backdrop to most of the scenes. This was actually the luxurious Escarpment House in Caledon, which is a stunning estate that many Caledon residents know well. 

Port Perry

Another local Ontario spot used by the Reacher crew was Port Perry, which was used for scenes set in the fictional town of Abbottsville. There are many historical experiences to be had in Ontario, but this is one of the most beautiful historic towns in the region, with Port Perry’s charming main street filled with old buildings and quaint shops. This also worked to perfectly capture the small-town American vibe without actually being shot in America at all. If that’s not movie magic – or streaming magic – we don’t know what is!

Millbrook

A major location featured in episode 3 was Millbrook, where Reacher and Richard Beck have an important conversation outside The Peddler bistro. Once again, the town’s quaint streets and classic architecture worked to provide that small-town atmosphere. For residents of Millbrook watching the show, we’re sure there were a few double takes!

Hamilton

Last but not least, one of our favourite local spots that was featured prominently in the latest season was Hamilton. Its versatile landscapes – one minute you can be staring at a gorgeous lakefront, and the next you might be surrounded by gritty urban architecture – provided the perfect playground for the Reacher production team to make the show feel more cinematic than ever. 

Indeed, Ontario as a whole is a very cinematic place, and now that Reacher has placed a spotlight on it, we can expect to see a lot more production crews heading here to show it off!