Netflix’s His & Hers shows Dahlonega can play more than a Christmas town on TV

Photograph courtesy of Netflix

Years ago, Sabrina Walker read Alice Feeney’s novel His & Hers, a psychological thriller detailing a murder in the small British village of Blackdown. She never could’ve imagined how the story would eventually intersect with her home and business in Dahlonega, Georgia.

In the fall of 2024, film producers hung around her restaurant, Spirits Tavern, as they filmed scenes for the television adaptation of the His & Hers novel on Dahlonega Square. Rather than taking place in England, the hit Netflix series follows an Atlanta reporter and her estranged husband investigating a murder in Dahlonega. The producers told Walker there weren’t plans to film her business, but her restaurant would still get a shout out.

“Hey, what’s the name of that bar where all the press hangs out at?” Jon Bernthal’s detective character asks in episode five.

“Spirits,” replies his sister, played by Marin Ireland, as the detective rushes out the door. The dialogue is a fun easter egg for Dahlonega residents.

“A lot of our regulars got a kick out of that. They thought it was pretty funny. It was us, but not us,” Walker says. The TV series used a different restaurant façade, but the fictional restaurant’s inspiration is undeniable.

She’s capitalizing on the nod by selling His & Hers-inspired Spirits t-shirts in her business.

Many Dahlonega residents welcome the success of the Netflix limited series starring Bernthal and Tessa Thompson. The thriller debuted in Netflix’s top spot, dethroning the streaming platform’s mega franchise Stranger Things in its second week of release in mid-January.

Photograph courtesy of Netflix

Several Dahlonega landmarks took a supporting role, serving as backdrops for key scenes, including the city’s historic square, the Dahlonega Square Hotel, Lake Zwerner reservoir, and the vineyard of Montaluce Winery & Restaurant.

As the executive director at Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Visitors Bureau, Sam McDuffie worked with the film’s producers and location scouts to source the best backdrops for the miniseries, even coordinating a ride-along for the actors with the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office. He says William Oldroyd, one of the screenplay writers, grew up near the U.K. town where the novel takes place and said Dahlonega felt like home.

“There are probably people all over the country that are now familiar with Dahlonega from that TV show,” McDuffie says, but the reach goes farther than that. “Is Dahlonega Real?” Grazia magazine asked in a recent article published on its website, breaking down Georgia filming locations in for its British audience.

Despite plenty of dialogue mentioning Dahlonega and Lumpkin County, the bingeable series hasn’t resulted in much film tourism yet, but McDuffie remains hopeful. He anticipates the spring to bring film tourists to the area.

An early indication of that came during a recent North Georgia municipal meeting held in Dahlonega, in which several family members tagged along with council members, mayors, and city managers to check out Dahlonega’s His & Hers filming locations.

The show’s murder mystery is a stark contrast to the Christmas cheer Dahlonega is traditionally known for. It was enough to get Senator Raphael Warnock in on the joke: “I had no idea all THAT was happening in Dahlonega! Better go check on my constituents,” he posted on social media in February.

Photograph courtesy of Netflix

Three made-for-TV Christmas films have been filmed in the north Georgia town.

“Christmas in Homestead, which is the one that was filmed here in 2016, that one alone changed the landscape of Dahlonega because it was a very successful Hallmark movie,” McDuffie says.

The town leans into the holiday theme year-round, with its six-week-long Old-Fashioned Christmas event beginning in November. Last July, the town even hosted the Christmas in a Small Town convention, in which celebrity Hallmark actors met with their cheery fans.

His & Hers may contrast with Dahlonega’s typical holiday cheer, but the show proves there’s room for cinematic variety, even if the script takes a grim turn.

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