A Beautiful Life (Netflix, 2023)

Buoyed by a commanding performance by Danish singer Christopher, A Beautiful Life is a romantic musical drama, that hits (almost) all the right notes.

At first it seems like we’re heading into familiair terrain, but since A Star Is Born has already been made three times, it is probably wise that writer Stefan Jaworski and director Mehdi Avaz steer the story in another direction.

Elliott (Christopher Lund Nissen) is a struggling fisherman by day who moonlights as an unknown singer at night.

One night when Elliott and a friend play a club date he is discovered by Suzanne (Christine Albeck Børge), a high-profile talent manager, who introduces the singing fisherman to her daughter Lily (Inge Ibsdotter Lilleaas), who just so happens to be a very talented music producer.

Lily and fellow producer Patrick (Ardalan Esmaili) have their doubts because Elliott is basically ‘a nobody’, but as Suzanne rightfully points out ‘we were all nobodies once’ and ‘it’s not about who you are but who you can become.’

In real life Christopher, whose voice has a similar emotional power as Danny O’Donoghue from The Script, has made five albums - including a Danish number one - and has played on many international stages.

A filmmaker once told me that he liked to cast musicians in his movies, because they often have a natural presence in front of the camera. I think this also applies to Christopher, who is very convincing as Elliott, while also getting able support along the way from his two leading ladies. 

Elliott’s way to stardom is full of stops and starts, while the past has a habit to raise its ugly head. But in the end Elliott just needs someone to sing to, and Lily might just be the one for him in more than one way.

By this point in the movie I was pretty sure Jaworski and Avaz had also seen John Carney’s masterful musical love story Once (2007), but once again they cleverly steer the story in another direction.

A Beautiful Life is also a family drama. Suzanne is a widow who was once married to a very famous musician and both Lily and she carry the scars of his untimely death. The volatile Elliott also has his own personal shit to work through.

There is a lot of trauma involved, but the way the story is written - keeping in mind that action defines character - helps the characters work through their personal messes.

A Beautiful Life is not perfect. It occasionally veers into soapy melodrama and towards the end the story does start to drag a little bit.

Still, it’s a nicely shot movie that has its heart in the right place and quite effectively tugs at the heartstrings. I liked it.