Where was Spectre filmed?

This entry in the long-running spy saga opens with one of the most ambitious sequences the series ever attempted, a swirling, single-take plunge into a sea of skull masks and costumed crowds. The set-jetting twist is wonderful: the film essentially invented the spectacle it staged, and Mexico City liked it so much that it now puts on the parade for real every year.

The action unfolds across Mexico City, where Bond chases a target through a vast Day of the Dead procession streaming over the Zócalo, the immense main square at the heart of the capital. The sequence also makes use of the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México, whose breathtaking Art Nouveau stained-glass ceiling appears in those opening minutes.

Fans can walk the Zócalo year-round and step into the Gran Hotel to look up at that famous glass canopy. Time a visit for late October or early November and you can witness the city's own Día de Muertos parade, an experience that closes the loop between screen and street in a way few films allow.