Netflix’s heartwarming mystery drama Remarkably Bright Creatures wraps you in the kind of small coastal town that feels like it has always existed – fishing docks draped in Pacific mist, a quietly lit aquarium at closing time, a main street where everybody knows your name.
The film is set in the fictional town of Sowell Bay, Washington, but was filmed entirely in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. This guide covers every confirmed filming location so you know exactly where Tova, Cameron, and a cantankerous genius octopus named Marcellus actually came to life.
Directed by Olivia Newman, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Whittington, the film is an adaptation of the 2022 novel by Shelby Van Pelt, and stars Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, Beth Grant, Sofia Black-D’Elia, and Colm Meaney, with Alfred Molina providing the voice of Marcellus.
Remarkably Bright Creatures Filming Locations
Principal photography began on Mar 3, 2025 and wrapped in Canada by May 15, 2025.
Deep Cove, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
If you’ve already watched Remarkably Bright Creatures, you’ve essentially spent two hours wandering one of the most picturesque villages in the Vancouver area without realising it. Most of the movie was shot north of Vancouver, in the small town of Deep Cove.
The beautiful bay, the mountains, Tova’s house, the main drag – all of that is in Deep Cove, which was decided upon after location manager Amy Barager showed the production every Pacific Northwest-looking little town around Vancouver.
The neighbourhood sits at the southern tip of Indian Arm fjord and has the kind of unhurried, waterfront charm that makes it a natural stand-in for a sleepy Washington State fishing town. Director Newman said in an interview with Collider:
“It was really important to me that the movie stay true to the emotional heart and tone of the book. Although Remarkably Bright Creatures addresses themes of grief, loss and longing for connection, there is also this wonderful humor and wit that comes through each character’s unique perspective and voice.”
Gallant Avenue, the main street in Deep Cove running through the village center toward the Indian Arm fjord, served as the central street of Sowell Bay.
📍 How to visit: Deep Cove is located in North Vancouver, approximately 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver by car. The village is fully open to the public, with cafés, kayak rentals, and walking trails along the waterfront.
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Deep Cove Yacht Club – The Sowell Bay Aquarium (Exterior Scenes)
The building that houses Tova’s lovely aquarium and Marcellus isn’t actual aquarium at all. The Sowell Bay Aquarium exterior is the Deep Cove Yacht Club in North Vancouver, overlooking the southern tip of Indian Arm fjord. The facade was digitally modified using colors and design elements from the Lookout Coffee Shop, a scenic spot in Horseshoe Bay, perched above Sewell’s Marina with panoramic views of Howe Sound.
📍 How to visit: The Deep Cove Yacht Club is on the waterfront in Deep Cove village. Horseshoe Bay, whose Lookout Coffee Shop contributed the building’s screen appearance, is about a 25-minute drive west along the coast.
Vancouver Aquarium, Stanley Park – The Aquarium Interiors (and the Real Marcellus)
Once the camera moves inside the aquarium, the location shifts entirely. Many interior shots of the aquarium, including some jellyfish tanks, were filmed at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. Opened in 1956, Canada’s largest public aquarium houses around 65,000 marine animals across 120 exhibits.
The aquarium also played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in creating Marcellus himself. The production team filmed hours of footage of Agnetha, a Giant Pacific octopus living in the Vancouver Aquarium, and used that footage wherever possible, while the visual effects team created a CGI double of Agnetha for scenes that required specific movements and placement.
📍 How to visit: The Vancouver Aquarium is located at 845 Avison Way in Stanley Park. It is open to the public year-round. Entry fees apply. While Agnetha may still be in residence, don’t expect her to voice sardonic observations about your cleaning habits.
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Deep Cove Government Dock – Tova’s Bench
One of the film’s most recurring and quietly emotional images – Tova sitting alone on a weathered bench at the end of a dock was shot just steps from the aquarium exterior.
The dock with Tova’s bench, featured several times in the movie, is the Deep Cove Government Dock, located near the boating club used as the aquarium. If you visit the area, you won’t be able to sit there like her, since the bench and the streetlight were film props.
📍 How to visit: The Deep Cove Government Dock is publicly accessible and right in the heart of the village. The props are long gone, but the dock and its views of Indian Arm are very much real.
Gallant Avenue, Deep Cove – The Town’s Main Street
The shops, storefronts, and street-level texture of Sowell Bay all came from a single stretch of road. Olympus Realty was filmed in a vacant store on Gallant Avenue, and Rita’s Hair Design is a real beauty salon located across the street. Next door to the vacant shop is Sorry Coffee, which appears as Avery’s Wild Tide paddleboard store.
📍 How to visit: Gallant Avenue runs right through the center of Deep Cove village. Sorry Coffee is a real café you can visit – though you will find coffee on the menu rather than paddleboards.
Tova’s House, Deep Cove – The Waterfront Home
The warmly lit home where Tova tends her garden and nurses her grief is as real as it looks, and arguably the most remarkable property used in the entire production. Tova’s beautiful home is also located in North Vancouver’s Deep Cove, with its private dock and waterfront garden featured at the end of the movie. The house was rebuilt in the 1970s and 1980s around an early 1920s log cabin. This four-bedroom, four-fireplace property was listed recently for more than five million CAD (around 3.7 million USD).
📍 Visitor note: This is a private residential property. Please do not attempt to visit.
Deep Cove Kayak Centre – The Paddleboarding Scene
In the background of the paddleboard scene is the Deep Cove Kayak Centre, situated at a popular spot for water sports in the area. Given that the real Deep Cove is one of the most popular kayaking destinations in greater Vancouver, it’s a fitting detail the production didn’t have to fake.
📍 How to visit: The Deep Cove Kayak Centre is open to the public for rentals and lessons, typically from spring through autumn.
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Whytecliff Beach, West Vancouver – The Coastal Breathing Scene
Not every scene in the film was captured in Deep Cove itself. After a failed trip to the also fictional town of Elsbeth, Tova and Cameron stop to breathe some fresh air at Whytecliff Beach, part of a scenic oceanfront park near Horseshoe Bay along Howe Sound.
📍 How to visit: Whytecliff Park is located at the end of Marine Drive in West Vancouver. It is open to the public and a popular spot for scuba divers, swimmers, and anyone in need of a view that recalibrates the soul.
Blue Canoe Waterfront Restaurant, Steveston Village, Richmond – The Knitwits Dinner
The scenes involving Tova’s circle of friends, the Knitwits, played by Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, and Beth Grant were filmed outside central Vancouver.
The restaurant scene with Tova’s friends was filmed at the Blue Canoe Waterfront Restaurant, a well-known seafood eatery in Steveston Village, Richmond, just south of Vancouver.
📍 How to visit: Steveston Village is a historic fishing village in Richmond, approximately 30 minutes south of downtown Vancouver. The Blue Canoe is open to the public, sitting right on the waterfront.
Bufala River District, Vancouver – The Simon Scene
The scene with Simon was filmed at the Bufala River District, a stylish modern Italian restaurant located in a large riverside neighbourhood in southeast Vancouver along the Fraser River.
📍 How to visit: The River District is in southeast Vancouver along the Fraser River waterfront. Bufala is a working restaurant open to the public.
Lions Bay and Maple Ridge, British Columbia – Additional Locations
The production also traveled to other parts of British Columbia beyond Vancouver. Some scenes were filmed in the small residential community of Lions Bay, located between Vancouver and Squamish. The city of Maple Ridge reportedly served as another minor filming location.
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Is Sowell Bay a Real Place?
No. The fictional town of Sowell Bay is located on the Puget Sound, but the Sowell Bay scenes were filmed in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Deep Cove. There is no Sowell Bay in Washington State, and no Wandarra-style wilderness preserve to accompany it – just the remarkably photogenic inlet community of Deep Cove, doing what Vancouver has always done best: standing in for somewhere else while being entirely, quietly itself.
The Climactic Pier Scene was filmed in the Rain, for Real
The film’s emotionally devastating final scene on the pier was not enhanced by weather effects. It was simply a very wet night in Vancouver, endured by cast and crew over two full days of filming.
Sally Field described the experience:
“It was pouring, pouring rain. I was completely soaked all the way. You could see it, water dripping off my face, my glasses, everything. Our fabulous Canada crew were all around me. The minute we would yell cut, they had me surrounded in blankets and their arms. Somebody would shove a hot water bottle under my arms because I was so, so cold.”
Director Olivia Newman said the team carefully monitored the forecast while preparing to shoot the scene. “There wasn’t a lot of wiggle room,” Newman said. “Sally was such a trouper. It was not easy but I think she’s such a committed actor and wants to get it as truthful as possible. She understood that the weather was really right, but that was pretty scary.”
Field’s own verdict on surviving the shoot: “I’ve heard, when you stop shivering in that cold, call the ambulance because it’s when you’re shivering, your body is trying to stay warm. When you stop shivering, hypothermia sets in. But I lived!”
The film is streaming exclusively on Netflix, runs 111 minutes, and is rated PG-13.
