Pittsburgh-Shot Series “Nocturne” Premieres Next Week
Western Pennsylvania has a bit of a history with movies and TV shows about serial killers. David Fincher’s criminally unfinished series, Mindhunter, was shot in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. Decades before, though, Jonathan Demme’s seminal Silence of the Lambs was filmed in Pittsburgh’s suburbs, with Buffalo Bill’s house available to rent for your next vacation. On October 30, Apple TV+’s new show, Nocturne, will continue this filmic legacy.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
Unlike most movies and TV shows about killers, Nocturne begins when the perpetrator has already been caught. Based on Lars Kepler’s bestselling novels Lazarus and The Sandman, Nocturne sees Jonah Lynn (Liev Chreiber) moving to Western Pennsylvania for a chance at a quiet life with his family. He’s an ex-soldier who became a homicide detective on the other side of the Keystone State, in Philadelphia. Jonah and his surrogate daughter, Saga Bauer (Zazie Beetz), were instrumental in taking down serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham), but something’s not right. Jurek is underground in a psych prison, but killings with his MO are still happening.
When Nocturne first came to town, it was under the name “Parallax.” Filming took place in Vandergift, West Mifflin, Dormont, New Kensington, South Buffalo, and Beaver in the summer and fall of 2025. It had been ten years since a film production had called Vandergrift home. The production team used the 125-year-old Casino Theatre as the bones for what would become Banshee City Hall, an office building became the fictional town’s public library, and an old J.C. Penney was turned into the sheriff’s department. Some of the surrounding downtown streets were also used for filming.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
West Mifflin’s contribution to shooting locations was the Community College of Allegheny County South Campus. The CCAC campus was a stand-in for the Riverside Psychiatric Hospital that houses Jurek Walter.
Dormont’s forty-year-old institution, the Dor-Stop Restaurant, became The Counter Stop in the fictional town of Fairhaven. Shooting at the restaurant took place over a few days in August and October, and customers were served in the newly re-done The Counter Stop in the middle of filming.
In New Kensington, Nocturne shot at the Allegheny River Terminals. When the production moved to South Buffalo Township, their sights were set on the Clinton neighborhood. Finally, Beaver had a chance to be in the spotlight near the town’s gazebo.
Apple TV+ will premiere the first two episodes of Nocturne on Friday, October 30, followed by new episodes every Friday through December 25, 2026.
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