In the 1975 film Jaws, the fictional island terrorized by a great white shark is Amity Island.
Amity is the principal setting for Steven Spielberg’s film, adapted from Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel Jaws. The story follows police chief Martin Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper, and professional shark hunter Quint as they try to stop a great white shark attacking swimmers during the busy summer season. The island’s beaches and tourist economy make the attacks both a public-safety crisis and a political problem.
Amity Island is fictional, but the production used real coastal locations. Much of the film was shot on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, especially around the town of Edgartown, whose harbor and beaches stood in for Amity. The choice helped give the story a convincing New England seaside atmosphere.
A common mix-up is confusing Amity with other fictional islands from later films or unrelated stories. Mako Island belongs to the television series H2O: Just Add Water, while Skull Island is associated with King Kong. Jaws’ island community is specifically Amity, and the film’s fictional geography is central to its suspense.