Amazon MGM Studios’ Love of Your Life premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sunday, and director Rachel Morrison, writer Julia Cox and stars Margaret Qualley, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aaron Pierre and Gabriel Basso spoke to the audience at the Royal Alexandra Theatre following the screening about the film’s exploration of grief, love and healing.
How Maya’s travels became part of her healing
Asked about Maya’s globe-trotting arc and whether her travel was an escape or something deeper, Cox said the character’s journey shifts over time.
“I think it’s true that what begins as an escape and a desire to feel present in distraction, food and sex and looking at beautiful things and just being anonymous in a strange environment, does become a way to heal,” Cox said. “That kind of disengagement, I think it’s complex, and I think it’s not until she’s really sort of found some inner peace that she’s able to go home, and it sort of sneaks up on her that that’s really what she needs to do to totally heal.”
Morrison pointed to what Cox’s script captured about pain: “Julia articulated it beautifully. I think when you’re in that kind of pain, like you can be in the most incredible places and tasting the most incredible food and you’re living life, but you’re not living it.”
Cox also revealed that the film’s Portugal setting was written into the original script and that production was able to shoot there. “It was so amazing that the original script that I wrote took her on this journey to Portugal in particular, and we actually got to film there,” she said. “It’s rare that you get to do that when you’re just dreaming something up.”
Morrison added that Amazon MGM Studios’ willingness to let the production shoot on location, including in New Orleans, was part of what made those places feel lived-in on screen.
What Margaret Qualley took from playing Maya
Asked what lesson she took from the role, Qualley pointed to Maya’s reluctance to lean on others.
“Maya is such an insular person who wants to deal with everything on her own, and I think it’s a good reminder that when you’re going through those really difficult moments of life, that even if it’s scary to ask for help, to call your friends and be vulnerable and be needy, reach out and build that network so that you have people that are there for you, and you can show up for them too,” Qualley said.
The different kinds of love in Maya’s life
Asked what Maya gives and receives in her relationships with Charlie, Felix and Jason, Gabriel Basso, who plays Charlie, said the film resists ranking one connection above another.
“I think it just goes to show that love is multifaceted, and all the sort of relationships are different and complementary in a lot of ways,” Basso said. “I don’t think one is necessarily better than the other, and all of them are needed. Not everything has to be transactional. You don’t have to get anything out of something, you can just sort of appreciate it for what it is, and while it lasts.”
Aaron Pierre, who plays Felix, said the film invites the audience into its questions rather than handing them a resolution.
“I think what this film does so magically and so beautifully, and again points to these two phenomenal artists, is that it doesn’t present itself as having the answers and presenting an answer to audiences. It presents an opportunity for the audience to engage with us, to workshop what the answer might be,” Pierre said. “It’s not didactic, it’s not a lecture, it’s inviting you into a conversation. I think that’s sort of what Felix is about: relinquishing control and understanding that his path is actually the one where he falls forwards and just sort of lets life happen to him, versus him trying to impose himself on life.”
Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Jason, talked about what his character represents in Maya’s life relative to the other men in her orbit.
“I loved how much it represented life, of the unknown, and how people deal with love and relationships in so many different ways,” Schwarzenegger said. “Jason is not there as much as these guys, but he has a unique perspective because he’s kind of in each of their lives. The platonic side, the friendship side, in someone’s life, that part of love is something that’s so meaningful and real, and he’s there at the test of time and over the course of time.”
Love of Your Life opens in select theaters Oct. 7 before streaming on Prime Video Oct. 14.
Photo: Michael Hurcomb/JanuaryImages, Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
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