QT, Queenstown Tourism
Top of the Lake
🎬 Feature FilmIMDb 7.4

Top of the Lake

2013-2017Directed by Jane Campion7 episodesDrama, Mystery

Jane Campion's acclaimed drama used Queenstown's moodier side: the misty lakes, isolated communities and raw alpine light that define the region's winter character.

Quick Answer

Jane Campion's acclaimed drama used Queenstown's moodier side: the misty lakes, isolated communities and raw alpine light that define the region's winter character.

Jane Campion2013-20172 filming locations
Kaiwhakahaere
Jane Campion
Tau Whakaputa
2013-2017
Te Roa
7 episodes
Momo
Drama, Mystery
IMDb
7.4/10
Ngā Wāhi Kiriata
2
Kāwai
TV Drama
📅Released2013-2017
Runtime7 episodes
🎬DirectorJane Campion
🎭GenreDrama, Mystery
IMDb7.4/10
🍅Rotten Tomatoes95%
🎥TypeTV Series
🌍StatusAvailable Now

Official Trailer

Watch the Trailer

Watch the official trailer for Top of the Lake, featuring Queenstown's breathtaking landscapes.

Top of the Lake trailer
🎬

Behind the Trailer

The trailer showcases several Queenstown locations including Moke Lake, Glenorchy Wharf.

Te Kōrero

What happens on screen, and what happened behind the camera.

A twelve-year-old girl walks into a freezing lake. She doesn't come out. This is how Top of the Lake begins , with the kind of silence that only exists deep in the New Zealand backcountry. Jane Campion's Palme d'Or-winning series is the most artistically significant television ever shot in the Queenstown region. Where The Lord of the Rings showed the landscape as epic fantasy, Campion revealed its darker face: the isolation, the secrets, the quiet menace beneath the beauty.

Jane Campion's Top of the Lake is arguably the most artistically significant television ever shot in the Queenstown region. The series: starring Elisabeth Moss and Nicole Kidman across its two seasons: used the landscapes not as backdrop but as character: the brooding lake, the isolating mountains, the small-town dynamics that the geography enforces.

Moke Lake, a small alpine lake 15 minutes from Queenstown, stood in for the fictional community of Laketop (Season 1, though the series was officially set in Glenorchy). The lake is a DOC reserve with a campsite and a 2-hour walking track around its perimeter. On a still winter morning, with mist hanging over the water and the Remarkables reflected on the surface, it is exactly as it appears in the series: unsettlingly beautiful.

The Glenorchy wharf and its iconic red shed appear in multiple lake scenes. It's one of the most photographed spots in the region, and the 45-minute drive from Queenstown along Lake Wakatipu is itself worth the trip. Go at dawn to catch the same light Campion's cinematographer Adam Arkapaw captured.

Top of the Lake cinematography

FrameThrower still

Moody, painterly, natural light only. Arkapaw shot on ARRI Alexa with vintage Cooke lenses, favouring overcast days and low-contrast colour grading. The palette is cool blues, mist greys, and deep ...

Cinematography Analysis, via FrameThrower

Where Top of the Lake Was Filmed

Real locations you can visit, with GPS coordinates, access info, and the exact scenes shot at each spot.

Moke Lake

Scene: Paradise community (Season 1)

Public access

15 min from Queenstown. DOC campsite. Gravel road, 2WD fine.

-44.9900°, 168.5700°

Glenorchy Wharf

Scene: Multiple lake scenes

Public access

Famous red shed at end of Glenorchy wharf. Free access.

-44.8500°, 168.3833°

Top of the Lake by the Numbers

2
Ngā Wāhi Kiriata
12
Ngā Whakaahua FrameThrower
7.4
Whakatauranga IMDb
Aotearoa
Tau Whakaputa

Kei Muri i te Whakaari

Ngā kōrero whakaputa, ngā pānga ā-rohe, me ngā mea i tino tupu i runga i te wāhi whakaata i Queenstown.

He aha i Kōwhiria ai a Queenstown

Moody, painterly, natural light only. Arkapaw shot on ARRI Alexa with vintage Cooke lenses, favouring overcast days and low-contrast colour grading. The palette is cool blues, mist greys, and deep greens: winter in Queenstown as locals know it.

Pānga Whakaputanga

The production of Top of the Lake brought significant economic benefits to the Queenstown Lakes District. Local crew, accommodation providers, caterers, and transport operators all benefited. The film continues drawing visitors to Queenstown years after its release, proof of screen tourism's enduring power.

From the Crew

Top of the Lake showcased Queenstown in a way no tourism campaign ever could. The landscape became a character in the story.

Kaihoro Wāhi ā-Rohe, Tari Kiriata o Queenstown

🎬 Fun Facts

  • Over 2 distinct Queenstown-area locations appear in this production

  • Rated 7.4/10 on IMDb, one of the highest-rated films shot in New Zealand

  • Queenstown doubles as multiple countries across this production

  • Many local residents appear as extras in crowd scenes

🌏 Local Impact

The filming of Top of the Lake generated significant local economic activity. Accommodation providers, transport operators, catering services, and local crew all benefited. Today, film tourism continues bringing thousands of visitors to Queenstown, proving that great cinema is the most powerful tourism marketing there is.

Ngā Pātai Auau

Everything visitors ask about Top of the Lake filming locations in Queenstown.

Season 1 used Moke Lake (near Queenstown) and Glenorchy as its principal locations, standing in for the fictional Laketop. Season 2 was set in Sydney with additional New Zealand scenes. Both seasons were created by Jane Campion.