‘Sharp Objects’: Where Is The Real Wind Gap Missouri?

HBO’s new crime drama Sharp Objects takes place in an eerily all-American small town called Wind Gap, Missouri. Troubled journalist Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) must return to her hometown of Wind Gap to cover the story of a young girl’s disappearance. However, Camille’s homecoming isn’t quite the dreamy return home she’d like.

Even though everything about Wind Gap feels viscerally real — from the lived-in town square to gritty old gas stations — Wind Gap is a fictional place, concocted by Sharp Objects novelist Gillian Flynn. So where was Sharp Objects filmed? What small town transformed into an HBO filming location? And what was it that drew HBO’s Sharp Objects there?

Where was Sharp Objects filmed?

Sharp Objects was not filmed in Wind Gap, Missouri (because, again, it’s not a real place), but Barnesville, Georgia.

Barnesville, Georgia is a town 60 miles south of Atlanta and HBO spent five months there in 2017 working on Sharp Objects.

Why Is Barnesville, Georgia Perfect To Be The Real Wind Gap, Missouri?

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sharp Objects‘ production team stumbled upon Barnesville while looking for pig farms. Sharp Objects producer Gregg Fienberg told a reporter that Sharp Objects director Jean-Marc Vallée took an instant liking to Barnesville. “The town has streets coming into it at different angles, which added to the charm and small-town nature of it,” he said.

Barnesville also had a number of old-timey murals which had all been painted by a local 26-year-old artist named Andrew Henry. HBO asked Henry to paint some new Wind Gap-specific ones for the town, including the haunting “Welcome to Wind Gap” mural that greets Camille upon her return.

Where to Stream Sharp Objects