Filming in Vancouver: Sacred Lies, Virgin River, Godfrey, and more

Juliette Lewis

This week’s round up of what’s going in Vancouver’s screen scene is divided into matters of the heart—and matters of the dark.

On the lighter side of things, there’s a feature romcom that’s wrapping up after spending a month in town.

But while that one leaves, there’s a romantic drama TV series starting work on its second season.

On the murkier side of things, a TV movie is underway about how a community tries to continue on after being shaken by the murder of a teenage girl.

And the second season of an anthology series, that began with a handless teen who escaped from a cult, is embarking upon its second season with a new storyline and cast.

So if that all sounds intriguing, read on below for what’s filming Vancouver this week.

NIck Thune

Off the top, the indie feature film Godfrey started principal photography on August 6 and wraps today (September 9).

Directed by Ken Mok (America’s Next Top Model executive producer), this romcom follows the titular main character (Nick Thune) who was traumatized by a tragedy that he has to adopts different personas as a way of coping with his dark past—until he loses all sense of who he actually is.

Cleopatra Coleman

But a writer (Cleopatra Coleman), intrigued by him, attempts to uncover who Godfrey is.

The cast also includes Iliza Shlesinger, Trezzo Mahoro, and Anthony Shim.

The release date is yet to be announced.

Anthony Shim

But while one door closes, another one opens.

The Netflix TV series Virgin River begins Season 2 today (September 9) and will continue until December 17 with production based in Richmond.

Based on the book series by Robyn Carr, this romance drama follows a nurse practitioner who leaves Los Angeles to work in a remote Northern California town to leave behind her painful past and find a new beginning.

Alexandra Breckenridge

But she discovers that things aren’t quite so simple and that she has to find a way to heal herself in order to truly feel at home.

The cast includes Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Tim Matheson, and Annette O’Toole.

Martin Henderson

Even though production on Season 2 will begin, the first season hasn’t premiered yet. So stay tuned for that.

Moving along to a darker note, the TV movie When the Street Lights Go On will shoot from Wednesday (September 11) to October 11.

Rebecca Thomas

In this coming-of-age murder mystery directed by Rebecca Thomas (Stranger Things), when the murder of a beautiful girl shocks a suburban community, her sister and high-school classmates try to maintain a sense of normalcy amid an investigation underway.

The cast and premiere date haven’t been revealed yet.

Elena Kampouris

Carrying on with the grim theme, Sacred Lies completes filming Season 2 on Friday (September 13), having started back on July 3.

This Facebook Watch series is based upon the novel The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes.

Season 1, which premiered on July 27, 2018, stars Elena Kampouris as 17-year-old Minnow who emerges from the woods, having escaped from a cult—with both hands missing.

After she’s arrested for brutally beating a mentally ill teen, an FBI forensic psychologist seeks to obtain information about her cult from her as he investigates the death of the cult leader.

The cast also includes Kevin Carroll, Kiana Madeira, Toby Huss, and Ryan Robbins.

Kiana Madeira

However, the show is reported as being an anthology series, so Season 2 will feature a whole new cast and storyline.

Like the first season and the book, the second season, entitled Sacred Lies: The Singing Bones, will also draw upon inspiration from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

Ryan Kwanten

In this season, Elsie (Jordan Alexander) searches for the family who abandoned her as a child.

Her search leads her to her father (Ryan Kwanten), who is an inmate who may be guilty of more crimes, and an armchair detective (Juliette Lewis), who is obsessed with searching for unidentified murder victims.