Still Water Wraps Wisconsin Filming as Hans Hernke Heads Into a Mystery With a Few Surprises
Independent mystery thriller Still Water has completed the Wisconsin portion of its production, with filmmaker Hans Hernke returning to his home state to direct, produce and star in a feature built around the secluded lakes and forests of the Northwoods.
Rather than revealing exactly what has been happening in front of the cameras, Hernke and his team are deliberately keeping the story under wraps. What has been confirmed is that the film takes place around the fictional Still Water Lake, with the production using an undisclosed real lake in Northern Wisconsin as its principal location. Additional filming took place at The Sawbuck, a coffee shop and bakery in downtown Land O’ Lakes.
The locations aren’t simply standing in for somewhere else, either. Hernke has designed the film around Northern Wisconsin and intends the forests, roads, lakes and small communities of the area to become part of its identity. Having grown up in Wisconsin, shooting a feature amid the landscapes of the Northwoods was something he had wanted to do for some time.
“I’ve always wanted to film a movie in the Great Outdoors of Up North, Wisconsin. I just had to create the right story to make it possible,” Hernke said. “I wanted to keep things super simple and have fun with it, along with friends helping me up there for a few days. There’s something really special about making a movie in a place that feels authentic and very familiar to me since I was a child.”
What Is Still Water About?
For now, that’s the question Hernke would rather audiences didn’t have answered.
Plot details are being deliberately withheld, with the filmmaker describing Still Water as a story involving mystery and twists rather than revealing the events that bring its characters to the lake. The production has instead emphasised atmosphere, character and the isolation offered by its locations, using a relatively small production footprint rather than trying to turn the independent feature into something much larger than necessary.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a film that will make the audience think twice as they watch, with a few nice surprising twists revealed,” Hernke explained. “The less I say about the story right now, the better. I want audiences to experience it for themselves.”
That secrecy means there isn’t much point trying to guess what is waiting at Still Water Lake. The production has not announced a detailed synopsis, the nature of the central mystery or precisely where the film will eventually take its characters. For a mystery thriller hoping to surprise its audience, keeping those answers away from the publicity campaign for the time being makes plenty of sense.
What has been revealed is the deliberately stripped-back approach behind the film. Still Water was conceived around a focused story, limited locations and the natural environment rather than an extensive production footprint. Northern Wisconsin consequently isn’t simply providing attractive establishing shots. The intention is for the isolation and atmosphere of the Northwoods to complement the mystery itself.
“It was really important to me that this movie felt like it belonged there,” Hernke said. “Northern Wisconsin has such a unique look and feeling. I wanted to embrace that rather than trying to make it look like somewhere else.”
Wisconsin Is Only the Beginning
Although the Wisconsin shoot has now concluded, cameras haven’t finished rolling on Still Water. The production plans additional filming in the UK, Las Vegas and Los Angeles over the coming months, expanding the story beyond its Northwoods setting.
Those shoots will also bring further additions to the cast, with the production promising an expanded line-up that has yet to be announced. For the moment, Hernke is the only confirmed star named in the announcement, alongside his duties as director and producer.
Once the remaining filming is completed, Still Water will move into post-production in Los Angeles, where editing, sound, music, colour work and the other finishing stages are planned to take place. Hernke is currently targeting a summer or autumn 2027 release, although an exact date has not been announced. Distribution arrangements and the eventual release strategy also remain to be revealed.
Behind the film is Hernke-LemJ Productions, with Hernke producing and Randy Kent, Steven M. Smith, Tiffany White, Bill and Brittany Clark, Joseph Krause, Jennifer Krause, Reagan Krause and Marvin Maddicks Jr. serving as associate producers.
For Hernke, the production also represents something of a homecoming. Born and raised in Menasha, Wisconsin, he subsequently built his career in Los Angeles as an actor, producer and filmmaker. Still Water has now allowed him to bring that experience back to the state where he grew up and construct a feature specifically around landscapes he has known since childhood.
There are considerably more questions than answers surrounding the film at present, and that appears to be exactly how Hernke wants it. More cast announcements, behind-the-scenes material and a first look at Still Water are expected as the production moves forward.
Until then, whatever happened at Still Water Lake is staying there.
