my beautiful life movie review

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Stream It or Skip It: ‘A Beautiful Life’ on Netflix, A Cheesy Danish Music Drama With A Hunky Lead

Where to stream:.

• A Beautiful Life (2023)

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A Beautiful Life , the new Danish Netflix movie that began streaming last week, is mostly an excuse for Danish pop singer, Christopher Lund Nissen (or simply “Christopher,” his stage name) to show the world he’s a sensitive, hunky heartthrob. The 31-year-old singer recorded a new album for the movie’s soundtrack, which also released last week, featuring nine new songs written by him—including an autobiographical song about his reaction to his wife informing him she’s pregnant. (This is relevant because it will come up again later, in an inexplicable plot twist.)

Christopher’s biggest hit is arguably still his 2016 single, “ I Won’t Let You Down ,” featuring American singer Bekuh Boom, but perhaps a Netflix movie will help increase his fame outside of Denmark. That’s clearly the hope!

Though some aspects are inspired by Christopher’s real life, the movie is a fictional drama, in which Christopher stars as a humble fisherman named Elliot, who, with very little effort on his part, rockets to fame after he’s discovered by a producer playing an open mic at a bar. However cheesy you think this movie is going to be: It’s cheesier. Read on for Decider’s movie review of A Beautiful Life, now streaming on Netflix.

A BEAUTIFUL LIFE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Elliott (Christopher) is just a lowly fisherman trying to scrape by. He has no aspirations of becoming a professional musician. His buddy Oliver (Sebastian Jessen), however dreams of becoming a star singer. Elliott agrees to accompany Oliver on the guitar at an open mic, during which Oliver knows a famous music producer will be present. When Oliver flubs his singing, Elliott swoops in to save him—and, lo and behold, he’s a much better singer than his friend. Oliver and Elliott get into a fight after the set, which leads to Oliver cutting Elliott out of his life. Luckily, the music producer, Suzanne (Christine Albeck Børge) offers Elliott a new life: Come to her studio for a few weeks, and she’ll make him a star.

After getting fired from her job, Elliott takes Suzanne up on her offer. Suzanne introduces him to her daughter, Lilly (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), also a producer, who will work with him to write a new album of songs. After a rocky start, Elliott and Lilly hit it off, fall in love, and sleep together. Also, the album is an instant hit. Suddenly, Elliott is an overnight superstar. Girls scream for him while he conducts interviews, as if he were Paul McCartney in 1964. Everything is going great… until Elliott’s old BFF Oliver slinks back into his life, and wants a piece of his fame. Things pretty much spiral from there.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s every cliché of a rags-to-riches musician drama rolled into one, but if I had to pick one, I’d say A Star Is Born . (My deepest apologies to every version of A Star Is Born . None of you deserve this.)

Performance Worth Watching: A Beautiful Mind is very clearly a vehicle for Christopher to earn more fame, but, to his credit, he is a decent actor. When he stands in front of a huge crowd and hears them singing back the words that he wrote, his eyes shimmer with emotion, and only the most cynical will remain unaffected. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that the scene is a manufactured dream come true for any singer-songwriter—it’s easy to imagine that Christopher, in that moment, wasn’t acting.

Memorable Dialogue: Early in the film, Oliver tells Elliott, “If we’ve got nothing to die for, what the hell are we doing?” which later provides inspiration for Elliott’s first big hit.

Sex and Skin: Christopher spends a not-insignificant portion of the film with his shirt off, showing off his many tattoos and impressive physique. There’s also one implied, fade-to-black sex scene after our two romantic leads take turns sharing their sob stories.

Our Take: Christopher is undeniably a great singer, and watching him perform is a pleasure. Unfortunately, A Beautiful Mind fails to construct an interesting, or even coherent plot to connect those performances. The film is decidedly not a comedy, and yet I found myself laughing out loud time and time again, at the sheer absurdity of the characters’ actions. (The group of eight screaming teenagers banging on the windows while Elliott talked to a radio DJ was particularly mirth-inducing.) The dialogue is so cliché, you wonder if writer Stefan Jaworski was even trying. Poor translation can only excuse so much; surely “He can sing, but he’s scared ,” is trite in any language. More than that, Lilly’s traumatic backstory—that her father died by suicide, unable to handle the pressure of the music industry—is handled poorly, with little nuance or understanding of a serious real-life issue.

Then there’s the (spoiler alert!) completely out-of-left-field plot twist that Lilly is pregnant. Its obviously manufactured so Christopher can end the movie on the song he wrote about his actual baby and actual wife, but feels entirely forced for the character he’s playing. It’s a fittingly ridiculous ending for a ridiculous film.

Our Call: A Beautiful Mind is beyond clichéd—it’s borderline non-sensical. Unless you’re a Christopher super fan who’s just here for the eye candy: SKIP IT.

• Stream It Or Skip It

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A Beautiful Life (2023) Review and Ending Explained – An Inspiring Journey of an Artist Finding Love in all Places

What  A Beautiful Life   explores is the ability to grow at any stage in life. Elliott is someone who is just living for the next day because of his current profession. His heart is not one with the sea as a fisherman, instead, his heart lies with the music industry. He has been in the shadows because his friend overpowers him and he always gets what he wants because of who his father is.

Director Mehdi Avaz explores one man’s dream to move forward in life with something that he has always wanted to do. Elliott keeps fighting and challenging himself throughout the film, but he doesn’t forget to humbly be himself.

Table of Contents

A beautiful life review and plot summary, is a beautiful life worth watching, a beautiful life ending explained.

Elliott is a young fisherman works extremely hard to make a living during the day to keep himself afloat. But his love of music is where his passion lies. He has an incredible voice and he plays guitar. He plays a gig with his close friend, who doesn’t have the strongest voice. It’s clear that he wanted to be the lead singer and kept his friend as backup, which doesn’t make sense if he has a better voice.

At this one gig, there were music producers in the audience and once Elliott starts singing the entire room stops for him. His friend noticed how people responded and wanted to wait for the producer after the show. Unfortunately, his friend gets into a scuffle with some bad people in the alley and Elliott defends him.

The producer follows Elliott to the police station and offers him money for his singing capabilities. He really wants to perform and get out of this life that he’s currently living. His friend doesn’t have his best interests at heart and he sees that. He has a gambling addiction and survives off his father’s money, which is the opposite of how Elliott lives.

A Beautiful Life  is a sweet film that shows the love artists have for the industry and the different passions they express. It’s important for Elliott to stay true to himself and his roots while navigating this industry no matter how he gets there.

Even though he does come off as reserved, there are moments in the film that show his big heart. It is a good film that has a bit of romance as he opens himself up to other possibilities in his life.

If you are looking for a heartfelt inspirational journey then this is something you should watch. Elliott has a wonderful voice and the dedication to his craft is inspiring. His soul comes through the songs he sings and it’s an enjoyable movie because of it.

Elliott finds a new family that uplifts him and wants him to succeed. Once the romance comes in it does overpower the rest of his journey, but it’s important for him to dive into something new to change his life for the better.

In the beginning, Elliot and Lillt had no interest in working with one another. Her mother forces them together to see if producing music will help her come out of her shell. As they work together, their professional and personal bond grows strong. It feels unexpected for Lilly, but Elliott knows something was there.

How does Elliott decide to move forward in the industry?

Once social media becomes involved, Elliot becomes larger than life, and his stardom spikes. Elliot and Lilly have helped each other in this industry. Lilly has had a tough past with her father, and Elliot pulls her out of it. As he rises to fame, his relationship with Lily is tested.

When he’s on a late-night talk show, he is questioned by the host about who he wrote the love song for, and he doesn’t mention Lilly. He knows his popularity will fizzle if he mentions being in love with someone, especially when trying to build a fanbase. As he is about to perform, Lilly appears at the top of the stairs, and they make eye contact. He slowly realizes that he can’t do this without her and that she is his muse when writing these songs.

He sings “Baby, I’m Pregnant” directly to Lilly instead of his first hit, that’s skyrocketing up the charts. He knows that his life would change with a baby, but he knows things will be alright with her by his side.

The movie ends right after he finishes singing it. He continues performing in the credits to sold-out crowds. So it’s unclear if he does choose her and he still performs or if he accepts that their love wasn’t meant to be, and he accepted that it was only for a short period of time.

What did you think of A Beautiful Life? Comment below.

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Article by Amanda Guarragi

Amanda Guarragi joined Ready Steady Cut as an Entertainment Writer in June 2022. She is a Toronto-based film critic who has covered TIFF, Sundance Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, and HorrorFest International. Amanda is also a growing YouTuber, with her channel Candid Cinema growing in popularity.

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Should You Watch ‘A Beautiful Life’? Review of Netflix’s New Musical Drama

Picture: Netflix

The new music world drama from Denmark, A Beautiful Life , is now streaming, but should you give it a watch?

Multi-platinum-selling artist Christopher ( Toscana ) delivers his first leading role in A Beautiful Life, a music-based drama set in his native country of Denmark.

Christopher plays Elliott, a young fisherman with an extraordinary voice, who gets the chance of a lifetime when he is discovered by the successful high-profile music manager, Suzanne (Christine Albeck Borge). She soon pairs Elliott with her estranged daughter and music producer, Lilly. On his way to becoming a star, struggles from the past threaten not only his big breakthrough but also the budding love with Lily (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas).

Directed by Mehdi Avaz (Toscana), A Beautiful Life is a clear showcase for Christopher and his talents as a singer-songwriter, with the possibility of adding crossover success in the U.S. to his resume.

One of the biggest pop stars in Denmark, Christopher has branched out in the past three years as he managed to have several #1 records in Asia & Top 20 records in areas of Europe. However, to become a global sensation, he would need a bigger platform to spread his talents.

Enter Netflix & A Beautiful Life.

“The creative process and the journey of making A Beautiful Life – both the movie and the soundtrack – started more than 3 years ago, so to finally share it with you guys feels dope.” said Christopher in a video he made for Spotify.

With nine brand new original songs, including the title track that features prominently in the film’s closing moments, A Beautiful Life seems to be a perfect vehicle for him and seems to mirror some of Christopher’s most personal real-life experiences.

In another video message for Spotify, Christopher explained how the project and the title track came together.

“It’s how the whole thing started. I remember writing this song because my wife came to me and said she was pregnant with our first kid. And it became the core of the whole thing. It’s a song that is very personal and very close to my heart and probably one of the best songs I’ve ever written.”

While his musical acumen was never in doubt, his acting abilities would be up for debate as he is front and center for the first time in a film that has some strong emotional themes throughout.

“It’s about love. Not only about music, but for your friends and family. It’s about grief. It’s about breaking patterns. But, most importantly for me, I feel like this movie is about seizing the opportunities that life throws at you and finding your voice and finding your people.”

At its best, the film is about all those things. The love connection between Elliott & Lily is littered with obstacles in the shape of family tragedies & absent parents, which elevates the story at times from the standard rise-to-fame musician arc that we’ve all seen & heard ad nauseam.

We also get a 2nd hand account of the perils of pop stardom with the large shadow & cautionary tale of Lilly’s father & Suzanne’s husband, a musician who dominated the charts and toured obsessively to the detriment of his family & mental health. The shrapnel left behind by his untimely passing is also one of the core pieces that makes this film stray away from the cliche for stretches.

Ultimately, the film works when the pacing is slow & subtle, the relationship between Elliott & Lilly is blooming, and the songs are being formed in real time. Many of the songs are beautifully constructed and work on tugging the heartstrings of its audience.

However, the film doesn’t work well when it flips the script in the rise to fame portions of the story. While it’s understandable to create villains out of jealous friends & desperate parents, the tonal shift and loss of momentum is very apparent and not well handled. To further complicate things, the character of Patrick is used far too often as a key figure in discussions with Elliott that don’t make logistical sense. Their relationship with each other appears cursory & professional at best, but the film creates multiple moments where Elliott’s mental status and stomach for the onslaught of new found fame are being questioned with Patrick as the sole guide to see him through.

Will any of these story inconsistencies matter to the core audience of Christopher fans & suckers for a good melodrama? I doubt it. The memorable songs & the swoon-worthy performance from Christopher himself will make many of the problems of the film disappear much like Lilly’s reaction to him in the film’s final minutes.

Overall, A Beautiful Life could broaden the musical career of Christopher on a global scale with certain songs from the film already reaching over half a million streams on Spotify, but the story won’t live in the minds of filmgoers beyond the first viewing. Reluctant music stars shying from their new found fame is nothing new or special, but the songs and the chemistry in their creation may get a tad more mileage.

Watch A Beautiful Life on Netflix if you like:

• Purple Hearts
• I Used To Be Famous
• A Star Is Born

MVP of Netflix’s A Beautiful Life

CHRISTOPHER as ELLIOTT

While I thought Elliott & Lilly as a pair worked well in their more intimate scenes of creative passion, the performance of Christopher as Elliott, particularly in the execution of his character’s hit songs, makes the film pop when it needs it. He displays enough range between his brooding beginnings as an orphan fisherman to his development as a musical talent to make many of the key scenes of the film work. This is his star vehicle and he makes the most of it.

PLAY, PAUSE, OR STOP?

Just when you think the movie gets too boring or too cliche, you hear a song or a story that makes it worth the effort. But ultimately, it IS a tad messy & cliche to fully endorse.

Andrew Morgan is a film critic & podcaster with 20 years of experience on the sets & offices of film & television. Current podcast host of the entertainment review show, Recent Activity. He lives in the Northeast of the United States.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, life is beautiful.

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Some people become clowns; others have clownhood thrust upon them. It is impossible to regard Roberto Benigni without imagining him as a boy in school, already a cutup, using humor to deflect criticism and confuse his enemies. He looks goofy and knows how he looks. I saw him once in a line at airport customs, subtly turning a roomful of tired and impatient travelers into an audience for a subtle pantomime in which he was the weariest and most put-upon. We had to smile.

"Life Is Beautiful" is the role he was born to play. The film falls into two parts. One is pure comedy. The other smiles through tears. Benigni, who also directed and co-wrote the movie, stars as Guido, a hotel waiter in Italy in the 1930s. Watching his adventures, we are reminded of Chaplin.

He arrives in town in a runaway car with failed brakes and is mistaken for a visiting dignitary. He falls in love instantly with the beautiful Dora ( Nicoletta Braschi , Benigni's real-life wife). He becomes the undeclared rival of her fiance, the Fascist town clerk. He makes friends with the German doctor ( Horst Buchholz ) who is a regular guest at the hotel and shares his love of riddles. And by the fantastic manipulation of carefully planned coincidences, he makes it appear that he is fated to replace the dour Fascist in Dora's life.

All of this early material, the first long act of the movie, is comedy--much of it silent comedy involving the fate of a much-traveled hat. Only well into the movie do we even learn the crucial information that Guido is Jewish. Dora, a gentile, quickly comes to love him, and in one scene even conspires to meet him on the floor under a banquet table; they kiss, and she whispers, "Take me away!" In the town, Guido survives by quick improvisation. Mistaken for a school inspector, he invents a quick lecture on Italian racial superiority, demonstrating the excellence of his big ears and superb navel.

Several years pass, offscreen. Guido and Dora are married and dote on their 5-year-old son Joshua ( Giorgio Cantarini ). In 1945, near the end of the war, the Jews in the town are rounded up by the Fascists and shipped by rail to a death camp. Guido and Joshua are loaded into a train, and Guido instinctively tries to turn it into a game to comfort his son. He makes a big show of being terrified that somehow they will miss the train and be left behind. Dora, not Jewish, would be spared by the Fascists, but insists on coming along to be with her husband and child.

In the camp, Guido constructs an elaborate fiction to comfort and protect his son. It is all an elaborate game, he explains. The first one to get 1,000 points will win a tank--not a toy tank but a real one, which Joshua can drive all over town. Guido acts as the translator for a German who is barking orders at the inmates, freely translating them into Italian designed to quiet his son's fears. And he literally hides the child from the camp guards, with rules of the game that have the boy crouching on a high sleeping platform and remaining absolutely still.

At this year's Toronto Film Festival, Benigni told me that the movie has stirred up venomous opposition from the right wing in Italy. At Cannes, it offended some left-wing critics with its use of humor in connection with the Holocaust. What may be most offensive to both wings is its sidestepping of politics in favor of simple human ingenuity. The film finds the right notes to negotiate its delicate subject matter. And Benigni isn't really making comedy out of the Holocaust, anyway. He is showing how Guido uses the only gift at his command to protect his son. If he had a gun, he would shoot at the Fascists. If he had an army, he would destroy them. He is a clown, and comedy is his weapon.

The movie actually softens the Holocaust slightly, to make the humor possible at all. In the real death camps there would be no role for Guido. But "Life Is Beautiful" is not about Nazis and Fascists, but about the human spirit. It is about rescuing whatever is good and hopeful from the wreckage of dreams. About hope for the future. About the necessary human conviction, or delusion, that things will be better for our children than they are right now.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Life is Beautiful (1998)

Rated PG-13 For Holocaust-Related Thematic Elements

114 minutes

Roberto Benigni as Guido

Nicoletta Braschi as Dora

Giorgio Cantarini as Giosue

Giustino Durano as Zio

Sergio Bustric as Ferruccio

Horst Buchholz as Doctor Lessing

Directed by

• Roberto Benigni
• Vincenzo Cerami

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Life is beautiful, common sense media reviewers.

Wrenching Holocaust fable with bittersweet humor.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Love for family, country, and above all, the bond

Guido is a doting husband and father, and uses hum

Threats of torture, hangings, and being murdered i

Some mild flirtations between Guido and Dora.

A few words like "ass" are visible in th

Champagne, hard liquor is visible at restaurants a

Parents need to know that the award-winning Italian import Life Is Beautiful is set during the Holocaust, and features some very difficult themes, including war, fear, and the loss of a parent. There are clear references to the atrocities being committed, but most of the focus is on the humorous efforts of a…

Positive Messages

Love for family, country, and above all, the bond between father and son, are major themes here. Fascism is discussed, and the horror of the holocaust is also underscored.

Positive Role Models

Guido is a doting husband and father, and uses humor to overcome the incredible obstacles that stand in his way. Characters display courage, gratitude, and perseverance.

Violence & Scariness

Threats of torture, hangings, and being murdered in gas chambers are discussed, and those who understand the Holocaust will get the gravity of these threats. Occasional bloody images are visible. Guns (rifles, pistols, machine guns) are visible; gunshots are audible. Tanks are visible. A major character dies.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A few words like "ass" are visible in the subtitles.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Champagne, hard liquor is visible at restaurants and social functions. Cigarette smoking is occasionally visible.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the award-winning Italian import Life Is Beautiful is set during the Holocaust, and features some very difficult themes, including war, fear, and the loss of a parent. There are clear references to the atrocities being committed, but most of the focus is on the humorous efforts of a father to shelter his son from them. Drinking (wine, champagne) is visible in social settings; references are made to drunkenness. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (12)
• Kids say (30)

Based on 12 parent reviews

Missing an important detail

Sad, funny, heartwarming and educational., what's the story.

An Oscar-winner for Best Actor and Best Foreign Film, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is a fable is about a father's love for his wife and son in the midst of the Holocaust. Writer/director Roberto Benigni stars as a Chaplinesque character who charms a beautiful teacher by creating a world of gentle magic around them. But then Benigni and his wife and child are sent to a concentration camp. To protect his son's life, he teaches him to hide from the guards during the day. To protect his son's heart, he constructs an elaborate fantasy that they are participating in a very difficult contest to win the ultimate prize, a real tank. And his son finds that this make sense, and he goes along with it.

Is It Any Good?

This magnificent film gives us a glimpse of the Holocaust, but it is really about love, and the indomitability of humanity even in the midst of inhumanity. Life Is Beautiful inspired a lot of controversy from people who said that it was an inaccurate portrayal of the Holocaust, and that it was wrong to set a comedy, even a gentle bittersweet one, in a concentration camp. But the movie is never less than respectful of the suffering during the Holocaust, and of the impossibility of any kind of real portrayal of that experience. Even Schindler's List is not a portrayal of the Holocaust. That experience is fundamentally incomprehensible. The best we can hope for from art is that it gives us glimpses.

We often see in life and in movies that people react to extreme adversity by magnifying whatever sense of control they have left -- think of Mrs. Van Dam's focus on her coat in The Diary of Anne Frank , absurd in light of the fact that they never go outside, so she has no real need for a coat, but important because somehow she has chosen the coat as a place to locate her sense of herself as not having lost everything. In Life is Beautiful , the father focuses on his special talent for creating a feeling of magic to protect his son from the worst reality of the Holocaust, the sense of utter betrayal. Very importantly, he gives his son a sense of control, by letting him think that he has made the choice to participate in the contest. And knowing that he has kept his child's faith intact gives him a sense of control, and purpose, that keeps him going.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the historical framework of Life is Beautiful . Does the movie teach us anything? How have other movies dealt with the same subject?

Why do you think this movie was received so warmly? What makes it special?

How do the characters in Life is Beautiful demonstrate courage , gratitude , and perseverance ? Why are those important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 23, 1998
• On DVD or streaming : November 9, 1999
• Cast : Giorgio Cantarini , Nicoletta Braschi , Roberto Benigni
• Director : Roberto Benigni
• Studio : Miramax
• Genre : Drama
• Character Strengths : Courage , Gratitude , Perseverance
• Run time : 116 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• Last updated : October 15, 2023

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A Beautiful Life

Elliott, a young fisherman with an extraordinary voice, gets the chance of a lifetime when high-profile music manager Suzanne discovers him at a party. Elliott, a young fisherman with an extraordinary voice, gets the chance of a lifetime when high-profile music manager Suzanne discovers him at a party. Elliott, a young fisherman with an extraordinary voice, gets the chance of a lifetime when high-profile music manager Suzanne discovers him at a party.

• Stefan Jaworski
• Christopher
• Ardalan Esmaili
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
• 41 User reviews
• 31 Critic reviews
• 1 nomination

• (English version)
• Julie (Police Officer)

• Dock Workers

• Bandmember of Elliots band

• All cast & crew
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Is A Beautiful Life based on a true story? All your questions answered

A Beautiful Life has been popular among Netflix subscribers but is it based on true events? Here's what you need to know.

A Beautiful Life is a feel-good Danish movie on Netflix that sees a young fisherman being offered the chance of a lifetime.

Directed by Mehdi Avaz, the film sees what happens when Elliott, a man with an extraordinary singing voice, is discovered by a big-time music producer. He's subsequently offered the chance to leave his days as a fisherman behind in exchange for a shot at pop superstardom. From there, Elliott sets off on a journey to find his voice, crafting an album with another producer who he develops a connection with.

As a feel-good, rags-to-riches style story, it's no surprise that there are many viewers around the world asking the same question: is A Beautiful Life based on a true story? Get answers to this question and more below. 

Is A Beautiful Life based on a true story? 

No, A Beautiful Life is not a true story, even though the idea of an everyday person being discovered and catapulted to fame is a common movie trope. 

Despite starring a real-life pop star, the film is instead based on an original screenplay written by screenwriter Stefan Jaworski. Jaworski has previously written for Chosen, Elves, The Devil Below, and Those Who Kill, among other projects.

What is A Beautiful Life about?

A Beautiful Life is a classic rags-to-riches movie that follows Elliott, a fisherman with an extraordinary singing voice who is content with just scraping by in life. However, his friend, Oliver, is dead set on becoming a big star and convinces Elliot to play guitar for him at an open mic night that Suzanne, a famous music producer, is attending.

Oliver's performance doesn't quite go to plan, leading Elliot to step in to help, upstaging him with his much stronger voice (which subsequently leads to a big fight between the two former friends). 

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Elliott is nevertheless discovered by Suzanne and says she's going to make him a big deal. From that point, she pairs Elliott up with her estranged daughter and fellow producer, Lilly, and the pair start putting together a break-out album (falling in love in the process!)

Unfortunately for Elliott, his past threatens to get in the way of his newfound stardom and his new relationship. 

Who is the singer in A Beautiful Life? Who is Elliott?

Elliott is played by Danish multi-platinum-selling pop star, Christopher Lund Nissen, who is better known simply by the name Christopher. 

Most of the music in the film is composed and sung by Christopher himself, including songs like "Led Me To You" and the song that goes viral in the film, "Hope This Song Is For You".

A Beautiful Life is now available to stream on Netflix. 

Martin is a Staff Writer with WhatToWatch.com, where he produces a variety of articles focused on the latest and greatest films and TV shows. 

Some of his favorite shows are What We Do In The Shadows , Bridgerton , Gangs of London , The Witcher , Doctor Who , and Ghosts . When he’s not watching TV or at the movies, Martin’s probably still in front of a screen playing the latest video games, reading, or watching the NFL.

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REVIEW: Beautiful Music And Beautiful People Don’t Make ‘A Beautiful Life’

I’m so frustrated having to review A Beautiful Life,  a Danish-language Netflix Original movie directed by Mehdi Avaz and written by Stefan Jaworski. The film is about Elliot ( Christopher ), a fisherman with a hidden talent as a singer-songwriter who is discovered one night by Suzanne, the widow of the greatest Danish musician of all-time ( Christine Albeck Børge ) who convinces him to record a song with her daughter Lilly ( Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas ).

There is so much devastating pressure to be a successful musician. Forget about the ups and downs of gigging and making a living, your entire career, and tied to it, your self-worth, is based on a skill that you are either born with the ability to sharpen to perfection or you aren’t. If you’re not a good singer or don’t have an ear for music, no amount of training can turn you into something that others are just blessed with from the start. And even with all that skill, if you can’t channel it into music that moves other people? Forget about it. You have a hobby, not a career.

As a professional musician myself, Elliot’s fear of diving into a career in music is palpable. I spend every day of my life questioning whether I’m good enough, whether I’m better than other people who do the same thing I do, and whether that even matters. All the external validation in the world is rarely enough to keep me from guessing whether I’ll last in this career as long as I want to and whether what I’m producing is even having the impact I want it to. Like Elliot, I have a well of experiences to draw from but a hard time tapping into them, something A Beautiful Life understands well as we watch Elliot and Lilly spend the first half of the movie dancing around their emotions and the devastating pasts that hold them back.

But  A Beautiful Life suffers enormously from its brevity, its contrived conflict, and its corny antagonist. There is just not enough time to get emotionally invested in Elliot or Lilly as individuals or as a couple. We’re told but never shown the pain they both suffer from their pasts. We’re told but never shown that they’ve both struggled to find their places in the world. They’re obviously destined for one another the second Lilly locks eyes on Elliot, but when they finally collide, the romance is dull, the sex is prude, and there is nary a spark lit in a single scene thereafter.

I’m frankly sick of movies, regardless of their platform, their star power, or their run times that cram two characters together without doing the diligence of making me fall for them. If you’re going to center romance in your story, I have to fall in love too. I can’t just be told that these two characters are suddenly in love. It’s not enough. Beautiful people and beautiful music are one thing, but a beautiful life requires a sustained emotional connection and moments over time, not just a splash in the pan after one raw conversation and ta-da — they’re in love.

The movie had all the right elements to make me love these two separately and together, but for once in my life, I wish it had been a longer movie so we could spend more time watching them grow together. Plus, the biggest source of their conflict comes to a head with a big twist that screams conflict for the sake of conflict. There’s so much room for organic and deep conflict between these two potentially complicated characters, but instead, the movie opts for the most tactless and disinteresting route possible.

Instead, we waste our time with an absolutely aggravating best friend Ollie ( Sebastian Jessen ) as the principal antagonist. Ollie is the reason Elliot is in this situation in the first place. Ollie has a gig singing and Elliot is supposed to play guitar for him. But Ollie isn’t a very good singer and loses Suzanne’s attention, so he gets flustered and Elliot jumps in to save him, wowing everyone there, Suzanne and Lilly included. So when Ollie comes back into the picture later, he’s rightfully angry that Elliot is getting the chance at stardom that Ollie had actually worked hard for. It’s a miserably unfair industry . The hardest workers don’t always win over the people with the purest talent, or even just the best looks.

I appreciate this part of Elliot’s conflict with Ollie. But on the other and far more pressing hand, Ollie is an incredibly annoying, trite, and irredeemable character. He’s obnoxious. He says terribly insensitive and unfunny things at every turn. And Elliot can’t help but get wrapped into his orbit. It’s irritating to watch. It isn’t fun. I can empathize with Elliot here, of course. Ollie is his only real friend and it’s hard to recognize when your only friend sucks. I’ve been there. But as a writing choice, it just ruins an entire portion of the movie because it is so deeply unfun to have to watch. There are infinite other ways that Elliot could have gone through a crisis of identity or confidence and that he and Lilly could have found themselves at odds, but instead, she gets shoved to the side for a conflict with a boring and rude man and Elliot gets his opportunity for growth wasted by a massive step backward only to return to par when it’s all over. And then it gets to the end.

The movie is filled with some good songs. Mixing-wise, I was put off at first by how badly it sounds like the music was recorded separately and dubbed over. But the end brings forth one last surprise song that almost made me forget how annoying the twist was. Almost. It’s preceded by one well-act and one finely-acted emotional beat that would have been substantially elevated if I actually felt any connection to or between the characters involved. But the worst part of it all is the flashback montage. There is so little time spent showing Elliot and Lilly being romantic that it keeps cutting to the same scene over and over and then making up new scenes we never even saw. Why didn’t we see them? Why couldn’t we have those actual scenes? And why do I need a flashback to something I just saw 40 minutes ago?

I want to like  A Beautiful Life so badly. It touches on so many of the deepest and most emotional parts of artistry and love but only ever skims their surfaces, trading time that could have been spent building out the emotional depths of its core characters for a nuisance of an antagonist and a contrived curveball. It’s such a shame how much potential is left on the table here.

A Beautiful Life  is streaming now on Netflix.

A Beautiful Life

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A Beautiful Life: Netflix’s Danish Musical Not a True Story

Netflix’s ‘A Beautiful Life’ is a Danish movie directed by Mehdi Avaz. The musical romantic drama follows Elliott, a young fisherman who is a gifted singer. After a high-profile music manager discovers Elliott, he gets an opportunity to showcase his talent. However, Elliott’s traumatic past and reservations about stardom keep him from achieving his true potential. The heartfelt rags-to-riches story is marked with an emotional tone and compelling soundtrack that help viewers resonate with it. Naturally, viewers must be curious to learn more about the inspiration behind ‘A Beautiful Life’ and if it is based on actual events.

The Inspiration Behind A Beautiful Life

No, ‘A Beautiful Life’ is not based on a true story. The film is based on an original screenplay from writer Stefan Jaworski. It tells the fictional story of a young man named Elliott, who works as a fisherman. However, Elliott is a gifted singer and soon enters the musical world when a famous producer discovers him. The movie is not based on the life of any particular real singer from Denmark. Instead, the idea of a fisherman becoming a famous singer is rooted in fiction. However, real-life pop singer Christopher Lund Nissen, commonly known as “Christopher,” plays the role of Elliott in the movie.

In an interview, Christopher clarified that his personal experiences do not inspire the movie. However, the narrative features some parallels to his real life. Christopher was born in Frederiksberg and brought up in Amager, Denmark. Unlike Elliott from the movie, Christopher comes from a different family background as his parents weren’t fishermen and were present during most of his childhood. In contrast, Elliott is an orphan who grows up with the pain of loneliness . Hence, it is evident that Christopher’s life is not the inspiration behind the film. Interestingly, Christopher does have a younger brother named Oliver. In the movie, Elliott’s best friend, whom he considers a brother, is also named Oliver.

Christopher wrote and performed all of the songs in the movie while making his acting debut in the lead role. The singer stated that he discussed the role with director Mehdi Avaz, and the duo decided that his character should not be an imitation of his real life. Instead, it should be something original with shades of his personality. Christopher stated that the need to be authentic about your emotions and feelings in your music is the aspect he shares with his character in the movie. However, the first-time actor struggled with connecting with the more depressing parts of Elliott’s story and had to rely on director Mehdi Avaz for guidance.

In a separate interview, Mehdi Avaz stated that he drew from his difficult upbringing and childhood to add pain to Elliott’s story. As a result, the movie is primarily an exploration of the relationship between pain and success. The film also sheds light on the music industry, and the various demons artists must face to achieve and maintain their fame. The difficult choices and personal sacrifices that Elliott makes represent the same. However, Elliott’s story also has an underlying sadness, as his fear of losing everything drives him.

The movie also explores the themes of romance, friendship, and building meaningful relationships through music. Given the movie’s exploration of the interconnected nature of pain, sadness, and music and a gifted but untrained singer’s rise to stardom, it has drawn comparisons to the 2018 romantic musical film ‘ A Star Is Born ‘ and its previous iterations. Ultimately, ‘A Beautiful Life’ is not based on a true story. It tells the fictional story of a man’s journey from being bogged down because of the pain caused by his past to using his gift to build a fulfilling life for himself.

Read More: Where Was Netflix’s A Beautiful Life Filmed?

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Netflix's A Beautiful Life: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know

A Beautiful Life, starring Danish singer Christopher, chronicles the journey of a rising musician. Here's what we know so far.

Life can be difficult sometimes, but it is as beautiful as it gets once we overcome the barriers that hold us back. Artists who aim to inspire people by sharing their thoughts through music, in particular, must overcome numerous rejections to reach the stage. The upcoming Netflix film A Beautiful Life attempts to evoke the same feeling through the inclusion of beautiful songs from Danish singer Christopher.

A Beautiful Life is an upcoming Danish musical drama written by Stefan Jaworski and directed by Mehdi Avaz. The film, which has a runtime of 98 minutes, addresses the challenges of a music artist while also emphasizing the value of love in one's life, as seen in the teaser.

The filming reportedly began on December 22, 2022, in multiple locations throughout Denmark, including Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Ebeltoft, before wrapping up on March 15, 2023. Having said that, here's everything we know about A Beautiful Life , including its plot, cast, trailer, and release date.

A Beautiful Life: The Plot

Netflix has released the official teaser for the film , and here's our take on it. To draw in audiences, the two-minute teaser does not seek to mix the story with glimpses of musical performances. Instead, it provides us with just one scene highlighting the Danish singer Christopher, who plays Elliot in the film. While Elliot continues to sing his heartfelt song " Hope This Song Is For You ," a few people in the room listen to his angelic voice and are captivated by his talent.

Related: Best Romance Movies on Netflix for Valentine's Day, Ranked

In the film, Elliot is discovered by a high-profile music industry manager named Suzanne, who recognizes his talent after hearing his voice and sends him on his way to becoming a star. She introduces him to her estranged daughter Lilly, with whom he eventually falls in love and comes to understand her pivotal role in his ascent to success.

However, Elliot's road to fame is littered with challenges that force him to confront his past traumas and test his emotional resilience. Will Elliot be able to make it as an acclaimed performer despite all of these obstacles?

While we expressed the plot of the film based on the teaser, here's how Netflix defines A Beautiful Life 's synopsis :

Elliott, a young fisherman with an extraordinary voice, gets the chance of a lifetime when he is discovered by the successful high-profile music manager, Suzanne. Suzanne soon pairs Elliott with her estranged daughter and music producer, Lily. On his way to becoming a star, struggles from the past threaten not only his big breakthrough but also the budding love with Lily.

The teaser is brief, focusing solely on Elliot's singing, but it also allows the audience to sense what the other characters who observe him while he sings feel. With a lovely romance story and plenty of difficulties of a musician, A Beautiful Life is bound to provide us with something to remember.

A Beautiful Life: The Cast & Crew

The film is fronted by famous Danish singer Christopher Lund Nissen, who began his musical career in 2011 and has since released five studio albums. Although this will be Christopher's first film as a main protagonist, he has previously appeared as Mads in the Danish-language TV series Centrum and as Svend in the Netflix film Toscana . In a statement, Christopher remarked that playing Elliot was the most challenging thing he had ever done. In his own words:

Being a part of making and shaping this movie has been one of the most amazing journeys and creative processes I've ever been a part of. Playing this character, Elliott, was the most challenging thing I've ever done. The fact that this is my acting debut and coming out in 190 countries is pretty scary. But I am ultimately beyond excited and proud of this film, and I simply can't wait to share it with everyone.

Meanwhile, Christine Albeck Borge plays Suzanne, the manager who discovers Elliot's talent, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas plays Lilly, the main character's love interest. While the former is well-known for her works Darkness: Those Who Kill , The Other World , and The Bridge , the latter is renowned for her roles in The Last King , Betrayed , and Going West as Yiva, Amalie Laskov, and Lotte.

Ardalan Esmail, Sebastian Jessen, Paw Henriksen, Jonathan Harboe, Marie Askehave, Tobias Stelzner, Aksel True Kluver, Jonas Gulstroff, Ian Burns, and Jefferson Bond appear in the film's supporting cast.

Related: Best Leading Men in Romantic Comedy History, Ranked

Mehdi Avaz, the director of successful films such as While We Live , Toscana , and Collision , is behind the helm for A Beautiful Life . The script for the film is written by Stefan Jaworski, who penned the scripts for Netflix's Elves , Those Who Kill , and The Devil Below .

While Christopher provides the original music, Thomas Volmer Schulz, most notable for his work on Alfa , Collision , and Toscana , composes the score. The film is produced by Julie Rix Bomholt and Anna Malmkjaer Willumsen, with executive producers Lars Bjorn Hansen and Tim King, in association with SF Studios Production and Rocket Road Pictures.

A Beautiful Life: Release Date

A Beautiful Life , the new musical romance movie , will be released on Netflix on June 1, 2023.

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A Beautiful Life Reviews

Ye Liu gives a warm and tender performance, and Qi Shu sizzles, but the film [eventually] becomes too melodramatic and occasionally drags.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.44/10 | Jun 14, 2011

An uncommonly well sketched romantic drama, anchored by nice performances, about the tractor-beam allure that a certain type of wild, damaged women possess for a particular corresponding type of lonely men.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 7, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 7, 2011

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A Beautiful Life Parent Guide

The romantic story and the soundtrack hit the expected notes but the movie falls flat with profanity..

Netflix: Elliott is a fisherman who has the unexpected opportunity to record an album. Will success come at too high a price?

Release date June 1, 2023

Run Time: 99 minutes

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kirsten hawkes.

Elliott Winther (Christopher) is a Danish fisherman with a side gig as a guitar player for his friend, Oliver (Sebastian Jessen), who is chasing a singing career. Oliver is thrilled when he gets the chance to play at a nightclub but freezes in front of the mic. Elliott picks up the vocals – and attracts the attention of the very woman Oliver was trying to impress.

Suzanne is the widow of a famous musician, and she offers Elliott the chance at a recording career. Not only does Suzanne want to launch a star; she wants her estranged daughter Lilly to produce the new album, in the hopes of rebuilding their relationship. Lilly begrudgingly agrees and Elliott soon finds himself composing and recording music – and falling for Lilly.

North American audiences won’t be familiar with the lead actor, but Christopher Lund Nissen is a famous singer in Denmark, where he’s known simply as “Christopher”. This is a good film role for the artist, who emotes believably on screen and belts out the songs. Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t groundbreaking music by any means, but if you like Ed Sheeran and singers of that ilk, this soundtrack is for you.

The story doesn’t stand out either. There are romantic interludes, yearning glances, swoony moments and some fairly soap opera-ish plot elements. But let’s be honest: people don’t watch romance movies for the plot. The lead actor is good-looking (and his chiseled abs get plenty of screen time) and the key relationship has plenty of chemistry. Most genre fans aren’t going to complain about the tropes on display here.

Where this film hits a sour note is in its language. The script contains over 100 swear words, including almost four dozen sexual expletives. Netflix has rated this movie as TV-MA but if it were in theaters, it couldn’t escape a Restricted rating. Other negative content is consistently in the PG-13 level with minor on-screen violence, implied sex, some kissing, and a few scenes of alcohol consumption.

A Beautiful Life falls flat in several spots, but the script tries to deliver messages about responsibility, honesty, forgiveness, family ties, and building relationships. As Elliott navigates his bewildering new world of celebrity, he has to decide what really matters – and that decision is something worth singing about.

About author

Kirsten hawkes, watch the trailer for a beautiful life.

A Beautiful Life Rating & Content Info

Why is A Beautiful Life rated TV-MA? A Beautiful Life is rated TV-MA by the MPAA for language

Violence: A man threatens another man with enough. Men have a fistfight. A woman slaps and shoves a man. There’s mention of a suicide in the past. Sexual Content:   A man is seen without a shirt on several occasions. A man and woman kiss: and remove clothing. Sex is implied but not seen and they are shown asleep together in the morning.  A naked woman’s back is seen as she sits up in bed.  There are frequent scenes of a man and woman kissing. There is minor sexual innuendo. There’s mention of a “threesome”.  An unmarried character gets pregnant. A boat is set on fire. Profanity: The script contains over 100 profanities, including 46 sexual expletives, 22 scatological curses, two dozen minor profanities, about a dozen crude anatomical terms, and a couple of terms of deity. Alcohol / Drug Use:   A nervous man drinks alcohol to steady his nerves. Adults drink alcohol in a nightclub. Other: : There is a rear shot of clothed men lined up in a row and urinating on to the grass.

Page last updated June 1, 2023

A Beautiful Life Parents' Guide

What problems confront Elliott when he becomes famous? Do you think celebrity would have been easier for him if fame had been his goal? What mistakes does he make? What consequences flow from those errors? How does he learn from those mistakes and try to remediate them?

Related home video titles:

Yesterday tells the tale of a musician who gains global celebrity – but at a price he’s not sure he can pay.

For real life musical biopics, you can watch Bohemian Rhapsody , Ray , Elvis , or Respect. In One Chance , a hopeful singer named Paul Potts gets a shot at musical fame when he wins Britain’s Got Talent.

Danish Singer Christopher Delivers an Enchanting Performance in ‘A Beautiful Life’ Trailer

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Netflix on Friday unveiled a minimalist teaser for its upcoming musical drama, A Beautiful Life . The Danish-language original film features singer Christopher in his first-ever leading role. In addition to starring as a young fisherman with “an extraordinary voice,” Christopher has also written original music for the movie. Netflix also unveiled the first single from the film’s soundtrack, titled “Hope This Song is For You,” in conjunction with the teaser release.

The two-minute teaser doesn’t reveal any plot details, nor does it make an attempt to attract viewers with glimpses of musical performances , which one might expect to see in marketing for a movie like this. Instead, it does what a teaser should. It focuses on just one scene, presumably the one in which Elliott, the protagonist, lets a handful of people hear his angelic voice for the first time. In A Beautiful Life , Elliott is discovered by a “high-profile music manager” named Suzanne, who sends him on a journey to becoming a star.

Suzanne pairs Elliott with her estranged daughter Lilly, which sets a love story in motion. But Elliott’s journey to stardom doesn’t come without its hurdles. To get to the top, he must first tackle past traumas . The teaser relies on Elliott’s voice, yes, but also on the effect it has on the small gathering before him. It’s one thing for the audience watching the teaser to agree that Elliott is wonderfully talented, but observing others react to his talent is what fully sells the experience. It also helps that the song Elliott sings is pre-packaged pop gold . Exactly what a music manager on the lookout for a bright new singer would respond to. But there’s zero evidence to suggest that Suzanne has anything but Elliott’s best interests at heart.

RELATED: 10 Best Supercouples In Movie-Musicals, Ranked

A Beautiful Life was first announced in December last year, alongside another Danish title, the recently released miniseries The Nurse . Earlier this year, the streamer also released Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn 's art-house series Copenhagen Cowboy .

Christopher Expressed Nervousness and Gratitude For the Project

A Beautiful Life , as the title suggests, appears to be a heartwarming rags-to-riches tale . In a statement, Christopher described playing Elliott as “the most challenging” thing he has ever done. In his own words:

“Being a part of making and shaping this movie has been one of the most amazing journeys and creative processes I’ve ever been a part of. Playing this character, Elliott, was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. The fact that this is my acting debut and coming out in 190 countries is pretty scary. But I am ultimately beyond excited and proud of this film, and I simply can’t wait to share it with everyone”

Directed by Mehdi Avaz and written by Stefan Jaworski , A Beautiful Life also stars Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Lilly and Christine Albeck Børge as Suzanne. The film will be released on Netflix on June 1. You can watch the teaser here, and read the official synopsis down below:

Elliott, a young fisherman with an extraordinary voice, gets the chance of a lifetime when he is discovered by the successful high-profile music manager, Suzanne. Suzanne soon pairs Elliott with her estranged daughter and music producer, Lilly. On his way to becoming a star, struggles from the past threaten not only his big breakthrough, but also the budding love with Lilly.

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A Beautiful Life movie review: Netflix’s new musical drama is clichéd, contrived, and terrified of dancing to its own tune

A beautiful life movie review: the new netflix film tells the rags-to-riches tale of a troubled fisherman who is sent on a journey to pop stardom after being 'discovered' by a powerful record producer..

A feel-good drama about the birth of a pop star, Netflix ’s A Beautiful Life is a lot like the genre of music itself — neatly packaged, accessible, and undemanding. Of course, the best pop artists hardly ever play it safe, but A Beautiful Life doesn’t have the spirit of Lorde’s Melodrama or pandemic era Taylor Swift. Instead, it has all the ingenuity of a musical act manufactured by Simon Cowell for shopping malls and the VMAs.

And this is unfortunate, because the Danish-language film actually wants to be taken seriously as a heartwarming rags-to-riches tale. The real-life singer Christopher makes his starring debut as the fisherman Elliott, who just happens to be spotted one evening by Suzanne, the widow of a legendary rockstar; her prickly daughter Lilly, and a record executive who works with them. It sets him off on a journey to pop stardom marked with such little resistance that he may as well have been AirDropped into the future, and you’d be none the wiser.

The first time that Elliott opens his mouth to sing is meant to be as impactful as that iconic scene in Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born, when Lady Gaga gets up on stage and pretty much brings everybody to their knees with her voice. It ranks as one of the greatest movie star-making moments of the last decade. But a similar dramatic moment is staged more intimately in A Beautiful Life, and despite Christopher’s admittedly angelic voice, it can’t help but feel contrived.

But that’s the problem with the entire film. The writing is rarely engaging , and the script seems more concerned with hitting all the familiar beats than dancing to its own tune. Before you know it, Elliott is shipped off to the countryside to scratch together a demo track ordered by Suzanne, he develops feelings for Lilly, and begins churning out bangers with the least amount of effort. All of this goes against the fundamental truth about crafting compelling drama; there’s no conflict — Elliott doesn’t think twice before agreeing to Suzanne’s proposal, he doesn’t experience any difficulty with the creative process, and the love story unfolds way more rapidly than it should.

Left with zero tension and a protagonist who seems too perfect, A Beautiful Life doesn’t waste a single second in sending him down the most cliched journey imaginable. Plotted like a Hindi serial, complete with an unexpected pregnancy and the sudden appearance of an old foe, A Beautiful Life is so desperate to appeal to everybody under the sun that it is left with no identity of its own, and ends up being too timid for fans of romance stories, too clean-cut for music lovers, and too straightforward for people who like a challenging movie.

For instance, even though the film hints at the difficult life Elliott led before being ‘discovered’ by Suzanne, we aren’t told anything about it. When did he realise he was talented? Why did he never pursue music? What were his struggles? We don’t know. And this, primarily, is why it’s so difficult to root for him. Similarly, it’s unclear why Suzanne is so determined to make him a star in the first place. She’s meant to be grieving the death of her husband and trying to mend fences with Lilly, with whom she doesn’t see eye to eye, and maybe that’s how the character was written. But Christine Albeck Børge’s performance makes Suzanne seem like a scheming record studio executive looking to exploit a village bumpkin.

Singing, unlike most other forms of artistic expression, is sort of undeniable. While you can look at a modernist painting and remain unmoved if you aren’t receptive to that sort of art, not a single person who’s heard Adele sing can dismiss the power of her voice. You might not like her music, but you cannot dispute the fact that she’s a great singer. And this is essentially what it’s like to watch A Beautiful Life; Christopher is so obviously talented, but the quality of music in this film is uniformly atrocious. In fact, I was convinced that one upbeat number Elliott knocks out midway through the movie was a parody, but it wasn’t. And when a music film doesn’t understand the difference between a good song and a bad one, we have a problem.

A Beautiful Life Director – Mehdi Avaz Cast – Christopher, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Christine Albeck Børge Rating – 1.5/5

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Rohan Naahar is an assistant editor at Indian Express online. He covers pop-culture across formats and mediums. He is a 'Rotten Tomatoes-approved' critic and a member of the Film Critics Guild of India. He previously worked with the Hindustan Times, where he wrote hundreds of film and television reviews, produced videos, and interviewed the biggest names in Indian and international cinema. At the Express, he writes a column titled Post Credits Scene, and has hosted a podcast called Movie Police. You can find him on X at @RohanNaahar, and write to him at [email protected]. He is also on LinkedIn and Instagram. ... Read More

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The Ending Of A Beautiful Life Explained

"A Beautiful Life" dropped on Netflix in June 2023. It's one in a long list of music movies delivered by the streamer following the likes of "Purple Hearts" and "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga." However, unlike most entries in this genre, the protagonist is not actively seeking fame and success from the start, or even a career in music like Cassie, or Lars and Sigrit. This drama, which is set in Denmark, follows a musically gifted young man called Elliott, who's content to work as a fisherman and write songs that other people sing. That all changes when he's discovered by Suzanne, a well-known manager, at a party. Suzanne introduces Elliott to her divorced daughter and music producer, Lilly, and Elliott catches feelings for her. Both these feelings and his rough past complicate his big break. 

In the starring role of Elliott is Christopher, an emerging music star in real life. He's joined by "The Last King" star Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Lilly, Christine Albeck Børge as Suzanne, Ardalan Esmaili as music producer Patrick, and Sebastian Jessen as Ollie, Elliott's best friend and collaborator. The film focuses on this small group of characters, who are each navigating major changes in their lives. While the concept of the film is simple, some moments are a bit confusing or subtle, including what actually happens between Elliott and Lilly at the end. For those wanting the full breakdown, this is the end of "A Beautiful Life" explained.

What you need to remember about the plot of A Beautiful Life

To really understand the ending of "A Beautiful Life" and appreciate how far the characters go  in the span of a few weeks, it's important to look at where they began. When we first meet Elliott, he's settled into a life of solitude, first as he separates himself from the other fishermen, and then as we get a glimpse into his life alone on his boat. There are only two people able to penetrate Elliott's bubble: his boss Jesper (Paw Henriksen) and his best friend Ollie. Although Ollie turns out to be a pretty terrible friend to Elliott, he does set the wheels of his new career in motion when he unintentionally gives him a shot to sing in front of Suzanne, a big-time music manager and the former wife of the late music legend Vince Taylor (no connection to the real-life musician of the same name).

After a not-so-gentle nudge (aka firing) from his boss, Elliott agrees to work on some music. Enter Suzanne's daughter Lilly. Her advice brings the fisherman out of his shell and makes the audience feel invested in the characters. A song is a relationship between two people, the one who sings and the one who listens, she tells him. Without that, a song can't exist. These words become an important touchstone for the movie and each song that Elliott sings, especially as he navigates the twists and turns of his relationship with Lilly.

Why does Suzanne want Lilly to work with Elliott?

After Elliott's late-night brawl, Suzanne gets him out of jail and asks that he "hang out" for a week as a thank you. It's obvious to viewers that she means to have him come round to discuss and work on music. But to Elliott, whom she's also paying 10,000 Danish Krone, it's apparently a bit of a surprise. Right off the bat, he makes it clear he doesn't have the desire to become a famous musician. Likewise, Lilly is just as disinterested, believing Elliott doesn't have the commitment it takes to make great music. So the question is, why did Suzanne push so hard for them to work together?

There were subtle looks on Lilly's face as she reacted to seeing Elliott at the bar, and from this she knew her daughter could be enticed into working with him. Suzanne selfishly wanted to get Lilly to stick close to home and not go back to London, with the hope that their proximity might begin to mend the rift between herself and her daughter. Though never stated, it also seems that Suzanne saw something of her late husband in the young musician, even using Vince's dormant Instagram account as a platform to launch Elliott's music from. Of course, it facilitates the story, too, paving the way for Elliott and Lilly to spend time together and ultimately fall in love, though Suzanne might not have predicted that.

What happens at the end of the movie?

"A Beautiful Life" reaches its climax close to the end of the movie . For weeks, Elliott, Lilly, Suzanne, and Patrick have been working tirelessly to bring the fisherman's music to the world. With constant interruptions from Ollie, who thinks he deserves a piece of the pie, Elliott's relationships with each of them become strained. Even after Suzanne sends Ollie packing, things don't return to normal.

Knowing that his friendship with Ollie is all but destroyed starts to tip Elliott over the edge as he's unable to cope with the loss of the only constant in his life since his parents died. Then Lilly shocks him with the news that she is pregnant. Elliott has a choice to make and, feeling overwhelmed, it seems like he is going to choose his career over Lilly and the baby. He leaves her, only to be hit with another devastating blow: his boat has been destroyed in a fire.

Cut to Elliott's first live performance and Lilly's not there. As a result, Elliott gets emotional and breaks down midway through his debut song, "Hope This Song Is For You," which he wrote for Lilly. As the audience sings his own words back to him at a time when he can't, it's clear Elliott's thinking about her. This sets him on the path of writing the film's final song, which brings the movie to a close.

Why is Elliott in London?

After his first concert, inspiration strikes and we see a montage of clips showing Elliott writing all night. But before viewers are given any more information, it's morning and a hungover Elliott is awoken by Patrick as his tour bus pulls up outside a TV studio in London. At this point, it's not too much of a stretch to think Elliott has raced across the continent to find Lilly, but his demeanor on the bus makes it clear he doesn't want to be there. The movie then cuts to a scene of Lilly talking with Suzanne where there is no mention of Elliott.

At this point, viewers don't know Elliott's written a new song that he plans to sing to Lilly, or if he's even going to get the chance to make things right with her, and for a moment it's quite ambiguous why he's in London. When the movie cuts back to Elliott, we see him inside a studio for a TV talk show, which seems a bit odd. However, an easily missed conversation between Suzanne and Patrick earlier in the film explains that this is one of the stops on the promotional campaign they've organized for him.

And, unsurprisingly, this ends up being the perfect final location for the film, as Lilly just happens to show up just as Elliott is about to sing his chart-topping hit "Hope This Song Is For You." However, when he sees her he switches things up at the last minute and we get to hear the song he spent all night writing.

Elliott's last song illustrates what the future holds for him and Lilly

The last few minutes of "A Beautiful Life" are arguably the film's most confusing, as what happens at the end of the movie is not clarified. Instead, it uses Elliott's song, which is actually called "A Beautiful Life," to illustrate what could happen, and allows viewers to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps. All the while, Elliott is singing straight to Lilly.

His song begins by acknowledging his reaction to the pregnancy, explaining all the reasons he was afraid to try. It serves as an apology to Lilly, as it goes on to paint a picture of what their life together could look like with a baby. In it, he imagines them raising a daughter together. Several lines repeat in the chorus, but one word noticeably changes. At the beginning we hear Elliott sing: "And I'm gonna miss the times when / It was just the two of us." And later the word "two" is replaced with "three" to illustrate his happiness with their growing family. When it's over, Lilly smiles through her tears, while Elliott subtly nods, signaling that they are reuniting and choosing to have this life together with their baby.

Elliott and Lilly's pasts were holding them back

While it's a cliche romantic trope for screen couples to say that their life began when they met each other, Elliott and Lilly do fall into this category. They both have childhood trauma they haven't dealt with, but they start to address it when they get together. It's not explicit and we don't see them overcome with emotion in a therapy session, but they start to work through things in subtle ways, and by unburdening themselves, they mark a new chapter in their lives where they're able to create great music together.

In the past, Elliott spent a lot of time saying he has no interest in a music career. He tells himself he's only working with Suzanne and Lilly for the money. Eventually, this changes. Elliott realizes that he's really just been too scared to try and fail before. When he acknowledges that has people in his life on whom he can fall back, and someone to sing to, it becomes a far easier chance for him to take. As a result, he starts to shed the weight he's been carrying and lets his creativity loose.

For years, Lilly also carried with her a complex relationship to music. While it's a huge part of her life and a connection to her dad, it's also the thing that constantly kept him away from her as a child. As the movie progresses, the weight of this slowly lessens and we see her find true joy in her work as a producer independent of her father.

Elliott confronts his anger

After seeing Elliott get in a fight at the start of the movie and being arrested, viewers learn that this is pretty characteristic of the fisherman. It's perhaps not surprising that he feels the need to swoop in and be the one to defend someone in a fight, as he could do the same for his parents. The anger, grief, and loss seem overwhelming at times, especially after he loses his boat and his last link to them. His screaming "They're in there," as he watches his boat go up in flames, shows just how tightly he's been holding onto the picture and piano, the last remaining possessions of theirs he had.

The loss of the boat, which he planned to fix up and sail around the world in their honor, marks the climax of the film. Now also estranged from Lilly, it seems like Elliott is going to let his fury overwhelm him, especially when he angrily screams into the mirror in his dressing room. Instead, he confronts his emotions and channels that energy into something positive. The result is "A Beautiful Life," his song for Lilly, and his commitment to becoming a good partner and father. Though devastated by the loss of his boat, his last remaining link to his parents, he doesn't become crippled by it, and Elliot learns that as long as he has a home with Lilly, Suzanne, and Patrick, he still has family around.

What happened to Ollie?

Sebastian Jessen's character Oliver, or "Ollie," is Elliott's longtime best friend. Although it's obvious from the get-go that their friendship is one-sided, Elliott refuses to let anything happen to Ollie and lets his friend take advantage. Beyond showing that Elliott deserves, and ultimately gets, better people in his life, Ollie's arc serves as a moral commentary on jealousy and greed and how it can get the best of you.

Oliver, though cared for by his wealthy father, should have wanted for nothing. Instead, he wanted everything his friend had. His jealousy cost Elliott his family memories because, in case you didn't already guess, he's the one to burn Elliott's boat. Ollie briefly appeared in the crowd wearing a black hoodie and a menacing facial expression that said, "This is what you deserve." He locked eyes with Elliott for a moment before disappearing into the night. 

Ollie does get what he deserves. Having quite literally burnt his final bridge with Elliott, been forcefully kicked off the album by Suzanne, and financially cut off by his father, Ollie is left alone in debt, with nothing but his jealousy to keep him company. Although a redemption arc wouldn't be out of the question if we ever saw him again, Ollie got a fitting end in his movie, with his story highlighting the central themes of family and loyalty being the most important thing.

Patrick found his family through music

Family and love of music are two prominent themes in "A Beautiful Life." Although the movie primarily focuses on Elliott and Lilly, Suzanne and Patrick are also integral supporting characters. For most of the movie, Patrick doesn't get an arc beyond supporting that central trio's careers, but in a pivotal moment where Elliott loses all hope, Patrick shares a part of his past with Elliott.

Although he was skeptical about Elliott at the beginning, in this moment he supports him in a way Ollie never did, and proves himself a true friend to the rising star musician. Patrick explains that he has the same affinity for music as Elliott, but not the same level of talent. Nevertheless, music still saved him. Orphaned at a young age like Elliott, Patrick was all alone until he found Suzanne, Lilly, and Vince. He infers that Suzanne, especially, found him at a time in his life when he really needed her—and a family—and they bonded through their love of music. As a result of this conversation, Patrick becomes a symbol of hope for Elliott, showing what he can have if he just admits to himself that he wants it.

What exactly happened to Vince Taylor?

One of the biggest mysteries in "A Beautiful Life" is the death of Lilly's dad and Suzanne's husband Vince Taylor. A globally celebrated musician, Vince toured all over the world before he died a few years before the events of the film. His death was clearly a sticking point between Lilly and Suzanne, who had a very strained relationship after a long separation at the beginning of the movie.

As the movie progresses, small details about his death are revealed. At the dinner table, Lilly reveals that he committed suicide by jumping off the balcony of his hotel room. She tries to talk to her mom about it, explaining that she knew Suzanne had been receiving calls from his hotel room the night he died, but that they went unanswered. Before she can explain how she has this information, they're interrupted, and a lot is left unsaid until the end of the film, when Suzanne seeks out her daughter in London to have the conversation that she's been putting off. Suzanne admits Vince's multiple affairs were the reason she didn't answer the phone, but Lilly reveals it was actually her calling after finding out her father was dead.

This conversation becomes a big turning point in their relationship. Lilly has always held her mom at arm's length, as she blamed her for not being there for her. Now, as an adult, she can empathize and understand why she didn't answer the phone. As there are no longer any secrets keeping them apart, they can move forward and heal their relationship.

The ending is a callback to a conversation at the start of the movie

The ending of "A Beautiful Life" is just that: beautiful. The film leaves viewers with an important message—that family and love are the most important things in this world—and celebrates it through music. Fame and success mean nothing if you can't share it with the people you care about. Happily, Elliott comes to realize this before it's too late. And, thanks to a conversation at the beginning of the film, we know that Elliott and Lilly are going to find the balance between family and music going forward, something Suzanne and Vince never did.

When first in the recording studio with Elliott, Suzanne emphasized that the fisherman should give his all to music, but Lilly shut her down, explaining that you don't have to choose love or music; it is possible to have both. ‌In his song "A Beautiful Life," Elliott proves to Lilly that he understands and believes this. There's a line that says "'Daddy, I can't sleep', she said/Can you leave the light on?/And please sing me my song." It's a reference to Lilly saying her dad never sang to her, let alone wrote her own song, but also a demonstration of Elliott's commitment to doing things differently with Lilly and not repeating the same pattern.