Oscar-winning film turns humble California grocery store into a tourist hot spot

Erewhon isn’t the only California grocer drawing crowds.

A supermarket in a quiet corner of Humboldt County has become an unlikely tourist hot spot after landing a cameo in one of last year’s most buzzed-about movies.

Fans of “One Battle After Another” are flocking to the store — and even stopping traffic — for a glimpse of the telephone featured in one of the Paul Thomas Anderson flick’s most memorable scenes.

Murphy’s Market in tiny Cutten is still fielding a steady stream of fans roughly a year after the movie came out, with film buffs hoping to reenact scenes, according to SFGATE.

The only problem? Unlike Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the film, they aren’t finding what they came searching for.

In the movie, the Hollywood heartthrob plays washed-up revolutionary Bob Ferguson, who is on a mission to find his missing daughter.

Clad in bathrobe, beanie and oversized sun glasses, DiCaprio can be seen shouting into a telephone as he calls upon an old ally. But when he forgets the password to patch through, the movie sequence descends into a chaotic meltdown on the pay phone that went viral with audiences.

Now, tourists are flocking to the market to retrace Leo’s steps, only to discover that the silver screen’s hottest landmark was nothing more than a prop used to add some movie magic.

“They ask about it all the time,” five-year employee Ciara Vest told SFGATE. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s not real. Well, it’s real. It’s somewhere. But it’s not here.”

Instead of an iconic relic, disappointed fans are greeted with a PRIMO water refill machine. In the end, tourists reportedly still end up taking photos with the far less glamorous gadget.

Another Murphy’s employee, Jennifer Sherman, said people still storm the aisles to reenact DiCaprio’s panicked sprint, even swarming the checkout counter to buy cheap sunglasses like the ones Leo used as a disguise.

Another bizarre tourist destination is the public restroom. “It’s got the same seat they put in for the movie,” Sherman noted of the grocer’s oddly popular porcelain throne.

On one occasion, a group of die-hard fans stopped traffic from going through the parking lot as they filmed the store.

Workers recalled the madhouse production day back in 2024, when around 80 onlookers lined up across the street to catch a glimpse of DiCaprio as he was fully in character.

“We watched them do it over a hundred times, I swear,” Vest told the outlet. “But it makes you appreciate the process. And it’s been really cool to have a lot of people seeing our store, being like, ‘Oh, I go there. I shop there all the time.’”

Fans hoping for a telephone may one day get their wish. Apparently, the store’s employees have been discussing getting a mock version that would be perfect for photo ops.

“I think it could probably bring more customers,” Vest said.

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