Anton Sigurdsson filmed ‘Pandemonium’ in Las Cruces after previously shooting ‘A Better Place’ in southern New Mexico

Organ Mountain News report

LAS CRUCES - Icelandic director Anton Sigurdsson returned to Las Cruces this year to film “Pandemonium,” his second production in southern New Mexico in the past year.

Sigurdsson previously filmed “A Better Place” in Las Cruces in 2025. That film is now in post-production and is expected to be released in 2027, according to the New Mexico Film Office.

“Pandemonium” wrapped filming in June and employed 30 New Mexico crew members, 15 New Mexico principal actors and 25 background actors, the Film Office said.

“A Better Place” employed more than 100 New Mexico residents, including 40 crew members, 27 principal actors and more than 30 background actors.

Sigurdsson said New Mexico’s film incentive program initially drew him to the state, but his experience working in Las Cruces brought him back.

“The reason why I came first to New Mexico was all transactional,” Sigurdsson said. “It was because of the tax rebate, and I had producers who said, ‘Can you look into that?’”

Both projects were originally set in Washington state, Sigurdsson said. After scouting Las Cruces, he adapted the scripts to the region.

“I started scouting and just went into the script and took out rain and wrote desert,” he said. “It just worked.”

Sigurdsson said he also liked the local crews, people and production environment.

“It’s just a film town,” he said. “There’s a lot of films done there, and you know the weather fit the story.”

New Mexico’s film incentive program offers a refundable tax credit with a 25% base rate and incentives that can increase the credit to as much as 40% on qualifying production and post-production spending, according to the Film Office.

Steve Graham, director of the New Mexico Film Office, said repeat productions help keep local crews working.

“Anton is just one example of a filmmaker who has returned to New Mexico for more than one project,” Graham said. “It’s productions like these that keep our hard-working crews on set.”

“Pandemonium” follows a group of wealthy New Yorkers who arrive at a secluded desert retreat without communication to the outside world while seeking personal transformation.

“A Better Place” centers on a disgraced deputy and his partners whose involvement in a cover-up leads to paranoia, greed and buried secrets.

Both films star Theo Rossi, Billy Campbell and Rosaline Elbay and exist in the same fictional universe, according to the Film Office.

Andrew Jara, film liaison for Film Las Cruces, said the production gave local performers an opportunity to showcase their work.

“Film Las Cruces is excited to have another project from Anton Sigurdsson especially because of how many locals ‘Pandemonium’ has showing off their amazing talent,” Jara said.

Sigurdsson said returning for a second production made another trip to Las Cruces easier to envision.

“Coming back for the second film made it easier,” he said. “It opened up the idea for coming back for a third time.”