Netflix’s ‘Find Me Falling’ whisks you away to Cyprus — all about the real locations

Netflix’s new movie “Find Me Falling” is more than just a rom-com set to a Mediterranean backdrop — but a loving ode to Cyprus, the current home of the film’s writer and director, Stelana Kliris.

In the film, Harry Connick Jr. plays a rocker named John Allman, who moves to the island after his comeback album is a flop. Although he retreats from the public eye, he can’t hide from his past and decisions he made.

The movie, which landed on Netflix July 19, is the streamer’s first movie filmed in Cyprus. Aside from Connick and star Ali Fumiko Whitney, the cast is Cypriot, including star Agni Scott.

Kliris, who was raised in South Africa and moved to Cyprus later in life, tells TODAY.com that the film is a “love letter to Cyprus” and that Netflix’s reach could change the public perception of the island, which has a population of 1 million.

“For a small country like us, this could literally put us on the map,” she says.

Speaking of a map, Connick shares with TODAY.com that he had to consult one when he took the gig.

“I couldn’t really place (Cyprus) on a map in my mind, which was a little embarrassing,” he says. “I didn’t realize it was that far east. I thought it was closer to Greece.”

While filming in Cyprus, Connick immersed himself in Cypriot culture. During one instance when he was traveling from Nicosia, the island’s capital, to the west coast of the island, a crew member asked Connick if he’d like to stop by her parents’ farm for lunch.

“We got there, and they had — I’m not kidding you — food for 50 people. There were like six of us. So much food,” he recalls. “I said, ‘That’s what life is. Being with people you love. Family and friends and having substantive conversation. That’s what I enjoy doing.”

Connick says he saw parallels between Cyprus and his own hometown of New Orleans. “People love good food, they love to hang out, they love to have a good time. They love to be together. It’s about family. I love that — that way of life is really appealing to me,” he says.

Kliris deliberately incorporated Cypriot culture into the plot, whether it’s a yiayia (“grandmother” in Greek) reading fortunes in coffee cups or the rate at which gossip spreads.

“Rom-coms and themes of finding love and family are very universal, but I think adding a local flavor to something just makes it so much more interesting and somehow even more relatable,” she says.

Where is Cyprus?

Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia.

Cyprus has been divided since a 1974 invasion by Turkey, which followed a coup of people who wanted to unite the island with Greece. Today, the island is divided into a southern portion, governed by Greek Cypriots and internationally recognized, and a northern portion, run by a Turkish Cypriot government and recognized only by Turkey. The situation is an ongoing matter of political dispute.

The movie comes out the same month as the 50th year of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which began July 20, 1974.

“Find Me Falling,” however, doesn’t tell that ongoing story, though many other works do, like the book selected by Reese Witherspoon’s book club called “The Island of Missing Trees,” penned by the Turkish author Elif Shafak.

Kliris says she wanted to make a movie that was “nonpolitical” and “nonhistoric.”

“It’s a very important issue and we live with it every day, but it shouldn’t define us. It isn’t the only thing about Cyprus. We are so much more than this invasion,” Kliris says.

“For people to even care about that, they need to know where Cyprus is,” she continues. “This film is a nice, light introduction to to our home. I think once people know where even is on the map, then we can delve into deeper issues.”

Where was ‘Find Me Falling’ filmed in Cyprus?

Filming for “Find Me Falling” took place throughout Cyprus.

The cliffside scenes were filmed in Pegeia, a town on the western side of the island, near the city of Pafos.

Kliris says that after scouting “every village on the island,” the movie ended up filming in the Kaimakli neighborhood of Nicosia, the island’s capital.

In “Find Me Falling,” John’s skinny-dipping scene is filmed at Titsiros, or Pezounospilioi beach in Paralimni, located on the island’s east coast. Titsiros translates to “naked,” fittingly.

Is John Allman’s house in ‘Find Me Falling’ real?

No. The house was built for the movie and was located above White River Beach, an environmentally protected area in Pegeia. Production had to wrap before turtles arrives to lay their eggs on the beach.

“We had to build the house in a factory and then bring it over to the location and then remove it as if it never existed,” Kliris says. “It’s sitting in a warehouse at the moment, and we’ve had some people offer to buy it, but we’re waiting to see what we’re going to do with it.”

The cliff, however, is definitely there — and “beautiful,” Kliris confirms.