Lifetime‘s intense two-part movie THE 13TH WIFE: ESCAPING POLYGAMY shows how Rena Chynoweth, a young woman in the 1970s who was tricked into a life of violence and polygamy—went through terrible things. The movie shows her scary journey from being forced to marry cult leader—Ervil LeBaron when she was 16 years old to finally running away from a life of abuse and fear.The present-day Rena is portrayed by Felicity Huffman, while Olga Petsa takes on the role of the younger Rena. Eric Johnson plays the menacing LeBaron, the so-called “Mormon Manson.”
The story takes place in different decades and places in the U.S. and Mexico, which gives the movie a complicated setting. To get this level of realism, the production had to look for places that could represent both the isolated polygamist colonies in rural Mexico and the United States in the 1970s.
Now that we know more about where THE 13TH WIFE: ESCAPING POLYGAMY was filmed, let’s focus on the main places that helped make Rena’s story come to life.
WHERE WAS THE MOVIE FILMED?
Kelowna, British Columbia
The movie was mostly shot in Kelowna, British Columbia, which is a beautiful city in the southern interior. Located along the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake, Kelowna provided diverse landscapes that served both as the community’s inner compounds and general exteriors reflecting the remote feel of Colonia LeBaron.
Indoor scenes, including family and community interactions, were filmed in a rented furnished suite, which served as a base for domestic sequences. Kelowna’s vast natural backdrops, which included vineyards and hilly terrain made the story’s rural and isolated setting feel more real. For exterior shots—parks like Stuart Park and—Knox Mountain Park may have been used to help make the Mexican countryside look more real.
Kelowna is also a popular place for filming because it has modern production facilities that make it a great place to shoot both inside and outside. Other Lifetime films and thrillers, including Raise a Glass to Love and Girl Taken, have also been filmed in this area.
Thompson-Nicola Regional District, British Columbia
Another prominent filming location for the movie was the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, particularly the small village of Ashcroft. This place was picked because it has a semi-arid climate and looks a lot like northern Mexico, which is where the real events happened.
It’s likely that some of the important church scenes were filmed in local churches like St. Alban’s Anglican Church or St. Gerard’s Catholic Church both of which are in Ashcroft. These places helped bring back the spiritual and strict tone of the group’s ideas.
Heritage Place Park, Legacy Park Campground and the Harmony Bell Tower were some of Ashcroft’s natural sites that added to the feeling of being in a remote and tightly controlled place. The contrast between the setting’s beauty and the story’s dark themes added to the impact of the story.
The story takes place in both Mexico and the United States, but British Columbia was a good choice for filming because it was flexible and didn’t cost too much. The province’s tax breaks, production resources, and varied landscape made it a perfect match for Colonia LeBaron and the areas around it in real life. Both Kelowna and Ashcroft were used to show both urban and rural scenes, which were perfect for showing how harshly Rena’s life is divided between being part of a community and being alone.
Rena Chynoweth’s powerful story was brought to life on screen well in THE 13TH WIFE: ESCAPING POLYGAMY, which was filmed in British Columbia. Kelowna and Ashcroft’s natural beauty and visual depth helped make for an intense story of survival and strength in the face of fear and control.
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