Perdition, Michigan is a made-up town in the film "Road to Perdition." This image depicts the film-set cottage, along the shore of Lake Michigan (not far from the port town of Holland), where key scenes in the movie were filmed.
The Road to Perdition, of course, reflects both moral and physical concepts.
On a moral level, Michael Sullivan must personally resolve the differences between what he does for a living and what he believes as a spiritual man. The path he chooses for himself and his son - finding sanctuary at Perdition, Michigan - stems from his dilemma. It is also a necessary journey to physically save his son and morally save himself.
As he invented the characters of the Michael Sullivan family, Max Allan Collins invented the town of Perdition. Scenes in the movie which take place in the fictional town were filmed in one of the most beautiful settings in the Midwest.
Interior views - in "Perdition, Michigan" - take place in a "cottage" which was built on the beach especially for the movie project. Soon after filming wrapped, the structure was demolished. (The local county bought the land with the idea of turning the film site into a public park with beach access.) Reporters for local newspapers, like the Holland Sentinel, took pictures of both the scene and the "cottage."
On the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, one cannot see across the "Big Lake." On a stretch of that beach - between the port towns of Holland and Grand Haven - life is peaceful, with routinely beautiful sunsets. How could such a setting be part of a town called Perdition?
Michael Sullivan’s internal tension is thereby projected on the big screen: How can violent deaths occur in such a place?
Bos, Carole "PERDITION, MICHIGAN" AwesomeStories.com. Jul 01, 2002. Apr 24, 2019.