A Beautiful Life Review: Netflix’s Danish language film stars musician Cristopher as Elliott and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Lilly, along with Christine Albeck Børge, Ardalan Esmaili, Sebastian Jessen and others. Directed by Mehdi Avaz, the story is written by Stefan Jaworski. The cinematography is done by Daniel Cotroneo. The runtime is of 99 minutes.
Christopher composed the music for the film along with Thomas Volmer Schulz. The movie is dubbed in English and also has subtitles.
In the Netflix film A Beautiful Life, Elliot, a young fisherman, is born with exceptional singing talent. However, being a singer is not his dream, but his best friend’s. During a popular music manager, Suzanne’s birthday event, Elliot and his friend perform together. But it is Elliot who charms everyone, including Suzanne.
Suzanne is a widow, and her late husband, Vincent Taylor, was a music rockstar. Ever since his death, Suzanne and her daughter Lilly have been distant. To help Lilly move on, Suzanne asks her to help Elliot create music to make him the next star. So is the star born easily, or are there challenges? That’s something to look forward to.
There have been so many movies where an underdog makes it big. From A Star is Born to La La Land, Hollywood has consistently told us such stories. The characters of Netflix’s A Beautiful Life have a similar journey, but it’s not all glamour and glory. It takes us to the dark side of being an artist, where you sing one day and feel that life is worthless the next moment.
Elliot and Lilly initially had no interest in working with each other. But with time, their professional as well as personal bond grows. While creating some good melodies, they build new memories and also understand each other’s past/life. Their journey hasn’t been easy, but when they’re together, it’s beautiful. However, things go wrong when Elliot starts to become popular. His insecure friend and complicated relationship also distract him from the new goals he set some time ago.
But that’s not where the hardships end. A Beautiful Life on Netflix only adds more pain and heartbreak to Elliot’s story. Ultimately, it’s his choice – to keep going on or give up. The movie is heavy on dialogues, which are also used as song lyrics. Lines like ‘If you have nothing to die for – what are you even alive for?’ and ‘imagine you’re singing a song for someone’ are beautifully translated into lyrics.
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The song that strikes a chord with you in the first hour is ‘Hope this song is for you’. Movies like Rockstar and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in Bollywood have told us that heartbreaks/pain lead to great music. But here, it is misery that helps Elliot to start all over again. He is already talented and needed a push from the right people, and destiny helped him meet them. In the end, another song called ‘Baby, I’m Pregnant’ will touch your hearts. In those few minutes, he wonderfully explains the beauty of life.
Elliot is the main character in the movie, but that doesn’t mean Lilly is just a manic pixie dream girl. He helps revive her career too. We learn so much about her distressing past, her father and what led to the bitter equation with her mother.
Christopher, a popular Danish singer, made his acting debut with A Beautiful Life (2023). The singer-actor has done a marvellous job in both the department. His voice truly touches the heart, and it is intoxicating. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas is amazing as Lilly, a strong-headed character without whom Elliot’s journey is incomplete. Christopher and Inga’s romantic chemistry also lights up the screen.
A Beautiful Life Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, Netflix’s latest Danish film is an aching musical tale of dreams, life and love. The story is quite familiar, but the last 30 minutes keep you engaged. There seems to be no hope for Elliot. But as the makers showed, choosing to live despite all the agony is a lovely choice every individual gets to make.
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
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Love the movie, 5 stars. Gives me courage to dream again despite the problems in the world. You have to be brave to life and love
The message in the end was truly inspiring and hopeful.
His voice is beautiful and I loved the songs.
I loved the movie, the songs were so beautiful.
Love the movie. Beautiful life! Full of hearts