The Manchester locations featured in viral Wes Anderson TikTok trend including Man Utd and Manchester Museum

TikTokers are turning Manchester into the set of a Wes Anderson film thanks to the latest trend to take the social media platform by storm.

The trend involves people filming themselves going about their everyday lives, grabbing a coffee or getting on the train, in the auteur director’s signature twee style and set to music from his 2021 film The French Dispatch.

Social media managers at some of Manchester’s favourite institutions quickly jumped on the bandwagon to create their own versions. The list so far includes the Palace and Opera theatres, the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Museum and even the city council, who used the TikTok trend to promote Castlefield Viaduct.

This is not the first time the Wes Anderson look has gone viral either. In 2017, the Accidentally Wes Anderson Instagram account started tracking all the buildings, interiors and landscapes that fit the director’s aesthetic. All these images were made into a book and now a website. As of today, there are two Manchester spots on the list – the Grade II-listed Victoria Baths and the Whitworth art gallery.

Manchester also has another connection to Wes Anderson. The Altrincham-based animation studio Mackinnon and Saunders made the puppets for his first stop-motion feature, Fantastic Mr Fox.

What is the Wes Anderson look and how to recreate it?

Wes Anderson has been making feature films since the late 90s with cult classics like Rushmore (1998), but it wasn’t until the mid 2000s that his signature aesthetic started to take shape. He achieved mainstream success with his 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel, which won four Academy awards, including in production design and costume, and five BAFTAs.

There are several elements that make up the West Anderson aesthetic that we know and love today, which has developed in collaboration with cinematographer Robert Yeoman. If you are looking to recreate this, the first thing to remember is symmetry – as demonstrated by the Manchester United TikTok account.

Colour is also important. Each Wes Anderson movie has its own colour palette that runs as a theme throughout the film – pink and purple in Grand Budapest; warm, earthy oranges and yellows in Fantastic Mr Fox; and bold primary colours of Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. You can also experiment with filters to recreate the warm, hazy feel that some of his films have.

Think about your outfit choices. Wes Anderson takes a postmodern approach to his costume and prop choices in that it’s hard to pinpoint what era his films are set in. For example, in the Royal Tenenbaums, Chas, played by Ben Stiller, wears an red eighties-style tracksuit, while Gwenyth Paltrow’s Margot has a 1920s bob haircut and a glam fur coat, which were popular in the forties and fifties. When in doubt, though, just add a quirky hat – think Zero’s bellhop hat, the Belafonte crew’s red beanies, Sam’s racoon skin or Herbsaint Sazerac’s beret.

Most importantly, have fun. Childhood and growing up are common themes in Wes Anderson’s work, as seen in the coming-of-age stories at the heart of both Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom (2012). This, combined with his “doll-house” production design, miniature model sets, use of animation and the stylised, dead-pan acting style often lead critics to describe Wes Anderson’s works as “whimsical” and “playful” – which is exactly what TikTok trends are all about.

Where to recreate the Wes Anderson trend in Manchester

At first glance, Manchester may be a far cry from the picturesque yet fictional settings of Zubrowka and Ennui-sur-Blasé, but the TikTok craze proves that you can make any location look like a Wes Anderson film. If you do want to go the extra mile, there are plenty of places that are ready-made for this trend.

As previously mentioned, Victoria Baths and the Whitworth are already listed among Manchester’s “accidentally Wes Anderson” locations, but there are several buildings from the same era that could also fit the bill if the Grand Budapest is your inspiration. There is Barton Arcade, with its coloured tile flooring and glass ceiling, and the luxury Midland Hotel on St Peter’s Square.

Refuge, the restaurant and bar inside the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, is already one of Manchester’s most Instagrammable spots, but its mix of high Victorian architecture and sleek modern furnishings lends itself to the timeless Wes Anderson aesthetic, as with Dishoom, the contemporary Indian restaurant inside a former Masonic hall.

Elsewhere, the circular Reading Room of Manchester’s Central Library is the perfect place to practise your symmetrical shots. Similarly, the interior of the Albert Hall, with its glazed tiles and wooden fittings, would not be out of place in a Wes Anderson film – although, not when it’s a Bongo’s Bingo night.

Droylsden’s Moravian Settlement and Ancoat’s Anita Street are two of the quirkiest streets in Greater Manchester as they appear to have been stuck in time, unlike the rapidly developing areas around them.

You can also take inspiration from The Darjeeling Limited and head to Bury’s Bolton Street station, which is part of the East Lancashire Railway’s heritage line and still has many of its Victorian-era features.

If you want somewhere that reminds you of the quiet town in French dispatch, Chorlton Green and Beech Road is a good place to start, as well as Didsbury’s Burton Road, which is lined with cafes and independent shops. The nearby Sale and Chorlton water parks could also make a great substitution for Moonrise Kingdom’s Camp Ivanhoe.