Where was ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ filmed?
Remarkably Bright Creatures, the Netflix movie that adapts author Shelby Van Pelt’s 2022 novel, feels like a hug straight out of the screen, and the warmth, calmness, and comfort that it so effortlessly conveys are largely due to the film’s serene locations that speak without dialogue.
The mystery drama, starring Sally Field and Lewis Pullman, tells the story of Tova, a 70-year-old widow, who unexpectedly befriends a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus at the local aquarium where she works, and new-in-town Cameron, eventually finding healing when she was least looking for it.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is set in the misty, capricious town of Sowell Bay, which can make viewers justifiably curious about whether it’s a real place. Unfortunately, Sowell Bay doesn’t exist, and the film was filmed entirely in Vancouver, Canada, with the town scenes shot mostly in the city’s Deep Cove locale.
According to Tudum, the rainy Pacific Northwest vistas were originally supposed to be shot along the Puget Sound in Washington. However, production designer Jennifer Morden recalled, “When we decided to look for our town, we found that Deep Cove was a really good fit”.
As for whether the Netflix adaptation was filmed at a real aquarium, well, it turns out, yes. At least, for a few scenes. Certain sequences were shot at the Vancouver Aquarium, where the original visual inspiration behind Marcellus, the giant Pacific octopus Agnetha, lives.
“The aquarium has been quite the journey. Our exterior aquarium is [Deep Cove’s] yacht club, and we’ve married that with the Vancouver aquarium for some of our larger tank scenes,” clarified Morgen, “Where we needed a little bit more flexibility around shooting times or layout – we built that portion [as a set].”
Now, coming to the questions surrounding Marcellus and whether his screen time required an actual tank, it turns out that before the creation of the creature through VFX animation, visual effects supervisor Chris Ritvo actually did spend a long time with two real octopuses, one being the previously mentioned Agnetha, and the other being Brando, at the Vancouver Aquarium.
“Agnetha was quite shy and hid for most of the visit. She came out right at the end, which was amazing,” Ritvo recalls. Meanwhile, speaking of Brando, he said that he “came out as if he was auditioning for something, in full spectacle, swimming back and forth in this giant tank. And he was huge. He was 12 feet long!” After the visit, the production team constructed a tank based on that of Agnetha’s. “Our department actually hired a tank builder; they build it all onstage. It was a real tank with real water,” claimed Ritvo.
The aim for the Remarkably Bright Creatures team was to ground the story in reality. As a result, they felt it was only righteous to shoot in a physical tank. Lastly, the scene that shows Marcellus’s home under the sea was captured originally underwater on Vancouver Island. So, in case you’re hoping to visit any of the Remarkably Bright Creatures locations in real-life, keep this handy!