Maya is a Boston nurse in her twenties. She marries a man named Charlie. The pandemic takes him. She cuts ties with her best friend, leaves her apartment, and moves to Lisbon with a laptop and no fixed plan.
That journey is the spine of Love of Your Life, the 2026 Amazon Prime Video film directed by Rachel Morrison. Every city Maya passes through is a real place. The Lisbon trams run. The Algarve cliffs stand above actual sea. The London venue where scenes were shot still serves dinner.
The film wrapped on October 26, 2025 after ten weeks of shooting across the United States, England and Portugal. Morrison told Elle she wanted real settings, not green screens. She said real places can take on a personality of their own and let you change plans when something better appears in front of the camera.
Here is every location, what happened there, and how to visit.
Love of Your Life (2026) Filming Locations
Love of Your Life (2026) was filmed across the United States, England, and Portugal. Key locations include Boston, New Orleans, London, Lisbon, and the Algarve coast. Filming began on August 19, 2025, and wrapped on October 26, 2025.
| Countries | United States, United Kingdom, Portugal |
| Cities | Boston, New Orleans, London, Heacham, Lisbon, Alcochete, Algarve |
| Filming start | August 19, 2025 |
| Filming end | October 26, 2025 |
| Director | Rachel Morrison |
| Cinematographer | Todd Banhazl |
| Production company | Open Invite Entertainment |
| Distributor | Amazon MGM Studios |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
Directed by Rachel Morrison, the film uses real-world settings to bring Maya’s journey of grief, healing, and new beginnings to life.
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston opens the film. Maya lives here, nurses here, and falls for Charlie here. The city holds her whole life before it collapses.
The production captured shots of Maya at work as a nurse, showing how her life with Charlie begins and then falls apart. Specific streets and hospital buildings have not been publicly named, but Boston carries its own weight on screen. The neighborhoods look used and real, not polished.
The city has hosted dozens of productions before this one. Good Will Hunting, The Holdovers, Little Women and Challengers all filmed here. Boston knows how to sit behind a story without becoming the story.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| State | Massachusetts |
| Role in the film | Maya’s life before her marriage ends |
| Scenes filmed | Her work as a nurse, early romance with Charlie |
| Other productions | Good Will Hunting, The Holdovers, Legally Blonde |
New Orleans, Louisiana
The crew flew to New Orleans in October 2025, near the end of the shoot. The city sits on the Mississippi River. Its architecture mixes French, Spanish, Caribbean and American influences in a way that looks like no other American city.
The production has not named specific streets or buildings from the New Orleans shoot. What the city offered was contrast. Boston is tight and gray and New England. New Orleans runs warmer and looser. That shift in visual texture mirrors where Maya is in the story at that point.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| State | Louisiana |
| Filming period | October 2025 |
| Visual character | French, Spanish, Caribbean and American architecture |
| Specific locations confirmed | None publicly named |
Also check: Where was Animals (2026) filmed? Real locations behind Ben Affleck’s Netflix thriller
London, England
London is where Maya considers staying in Europe for good. She has met Felix by this point. She is deciding whether to trust the feeling.
Aaron Pierre, who plays Felix, grew up in London. He told ScreenRant that filming in his hometown let him bring something personal into the character. “It kind of felt like I could infuse that into Felix, like he was sort of showing Maya around. It was really cool,” he said. That ease reads on screen. Pierre does not perform London. He just inhabits it.
Sessions Arts Club, Clerkenwell
The most specific London location confirmed by reports is Sessions Arts Club at 24 Clerkenwell Green in Islington. It is a restaurant, bar and arts venue inside The Old Sessions House, a restored 18th-century courthouse with Grade II* listed status. The ceilings are high. The walls hold two hundred years of use. It is not a generic filming backdrop.
The venue is open to visitors. You can eat there. You can sit in the same room where the cast shot their scenes.
South Beach, Heacham, Norfolk
A smaller portion of filming moved out of London to the Norfolk coast. The crew worked at South Beach in Heacham. The beach is wide and flat, and the light there is different from anything you get in a city. Norfolk appears in films precisely because it offers that kind of open, uncluttered frame.
| London location | Area | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions Arts Club | 24 Clerkenwell Green, Islington | 18th-century listed courthouse, open as a venue |
| South Beach, Heacham | Norfolk coast | Sandy beach, smaller portion of the shoot |
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon is the emotional center of the film. Maya arrives here running from grief. She becomes a digital nomad. She learns a new city. She meets Felix. She starts questioning whether one person really only gets one great love.
The official trailer shows the details clearly: the yellow tram on a steep cobbled street, the River Tagus in the background, old building facades covered in blue-and-white tiles. The trailer uses Lisbon the way the film does. The city is not decoration. It tells you something about who Maya is becoming.
The crew spent about two weeks in Portugal. Margaret Qualley spoke about it in an interview with ScreenRant:
“Portugal is pretty amazing. I’d love to go back to Portugal and spend more time there. We had two weeks there, and it was great because by the time we got there, the crew was really ready to jump in the ocean and let loose a little bit. It was fun to do that, and it was just beautiful. The food was amazing, and the people were so cool.”
Aaron Pierre said the same. “Lisbon is gorgeous, and it was awesome filming there.”
Lisbon works for this story for a specific reason. It is warm. It is affordable. It has a big community of remote workers and digital nomads. It is still underrated compared to Paris or Rome. That all fits who Maya is becoming: someone restarting on her own terms, not following a script.
| Element | Role in the story |
|---|---|
| Yellow trams | Show Maya’s new daily rhythm |
| Old quarters | Signal her break from the past |
| River Tagus | Gives the city its open, waterfront atmosphere |
| Felix (Aaron Pierre) | Maya meets him here |
Also check: Where was The Love Hypothesis filmed? All Filming Locations Revealed
Other Locations in Portugal
The crew did not stay only in Lisbon. They made two more stops, both worth knowing if you plan to visit.
Marinha Beach, Algarve
Some scenes were shot in and around Marinha Beach on the Algarve coast. The beach sits in the Lagoa area, on the Atlantic, surrounded by tall orange limestone cliffs and sea arches. It regularly appears on lists of the most beautiful beaches in Europe.
Qualley told Elle this was her personal highlight from the shoot. “I’d never been to Portugal before, and it was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever been. The swimming scenes there were a standout for me. I was so ready to jump in the ocean.”
You can see why Morrison chose it. Standing under those cliffs with the Atlantic in front of you, it is hard to feel stuck. For Maya at that point in the story, that is the whole idea.
Alcochete and Largo da República
About 30 minutes from Lisbon sits the small riverside town of Alcochete. The crew filmed in Largo da República, the central historic square in the town’s heart. Alcochete is quiet and traditional. Its streets have not changed much. If you visit Lisbon and want to see somewhere less visited, Alcochete is a straightforward detour.
| Portugal location | Region | What you will find |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon city center | Greater Lisbon | Trams, old quarters, River Tagus |
| Marinha Beach | Algarve | Orange limestone cliffs, sea arches, swimming scenes |
| Largo da República, Alcochete | Near Lisbon | Historic riverside square, small-town feel |
Who’s in the cast of Love of your Life (2026)?
Julia Cox wrote the original script. Amazon MGM Studios acquired the rights in October 2024. Ryan Gosling and his producing partner Jessie Henderson came on board to produce through their company Open Invite Entertainment. Rachel Morrison joined as director in March 2025.
| Character | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maya | Margaret Qualley | Protagonist, Boston nurse |
| Felix | Aaron Pierre | Maya meets him in Lisbon |
| Charlie | Gabriel Basso | Maya’s husband |
| Jason | Patrick Schwarzenegger | Maya’s best friend |
| Supporting | Catherine Keener | Supporting role |
| Supporting | Tamara Lawrance | Supporting role |
Production Details
| Written by | Julia Cox |
| Produced by | Ryan Gosling, Jessie Henderson |
| Directed by | Rachel Morrison |
| Cinematography | Todd Banhazl |
| Score | Dustin O’Halloran |
| Distributor | Amazon MGM Studios |
| World premiere | Toronto International Film Festival, September 13, 2026 |
| US theatrical release | October 7, 2026 |
| Prime Video release | October 14, 2026 |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
Where to watch Love of your Life?
Love of Your Life is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. You need an active Prime membership to watch it. The film had a limited US theatrical run from October 7, 2026 before landing on Prime Video on October 14.
FAQs
Is Love of Your Life based on a true story?
No. Julia Cox wrote an original screenplay. The story is fictional.
Was it actually filmed in Lisbon?
Yes. The crew spent about two weeks filming in Portugal across Lisbon, the Algarve coast and Alcochete.
Can you visit the filming locations?
All of them are accessible to the public. Sessions Arts Club in London is open as a restaurant and bar. Marinha Beach and Largo da República are open year-round.
Who produced the film?
Ryan Gosling and Jessie Henderson through their company Open Invite Entertainment.
Who directed Love of Your Life?
Rachel Morrison, whose previous feature as director was The Fire Inside.
Final Thoughts
Boston holds what Maya lost. New Orleans sits in the middle. London opens a door. Portugal gives her a reason to walk through it.
Rachel Morrison did not use a sound stage or an LED wall for any of this. Every city in the film is the real city. You can fly to Boston, drive to New Orleans, take a cab to Sessions Arts Club, or book a flight to Lisbon and ride the same yellow tram Maya rides.
If you only go to one location, go to Portugal. Lisbon is compact and easy to walk. The Algarve is a short drive south. Alcochete is 30 minutes from the city. You could do all three spots comfortably in four or five days.
Then rewatch the film when you get home. Real places do something to a story. That is exactly what Morrison was betting on. She was right.
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