New to Netflix on July 19, 2024, Find Me Falling is a delightful romantic comedy that viewers may not realize is loosely based on a true story. The plot tracks washed-up musician John Allman (Harry Conick Jr.), who ventures to a Mediterranean paradise following a failed revival album. In Cyprus, John gets more than he bargained for when he learns his new beachside abode is a popular suicide destination.
If that wasn’t alarming enough, one of John’s former lovers shows up and complicates matters considerably. Despite garnering mixed reviews, Find Me Falling is partially based on an Australian man who became famous for preventing droves of potential suicide victims. The incredible true story may not be entirely faithfully adapted, yet it’s so inspiring and unbelievably astonishing that it deserves more attention.
What Is Find Me Falling About?
Written and directed by Stelana Kliris, Find Me Falling is a musical romantic comedy set on the modern-day Island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. The story concerns John Allman (Connick Jr.), a once prominent rock star whose recent comeback album bombed ingloriously. To clear his head and repair his crushed soul, John heads to Cyprus to enjoy a life of quiet solitude. Once John arrives at his picturesque villa along the cliffs, he spots a man shouting nearby and assumes it’s a nosy paparazzo. John is mortified when the man suddenly lunges off the cliff to his demise.
When the local police arrive, they explain to John that his new property is a famous attraction for suicidal people. Although John is told several people take their lives at the hotspot monthly, John is happy to stay due to the cheap rent and gorgeous scenery. If things become too intense, John is given the phone number of local Police Captain Manoli (Tony Demetriou). A day later, a local named Melina (Ali Fumiko Whitney) brings groceries to John’s house. Melina sings at a pub in town and when she invites John to join her, he runs into an old flame named Sia (Agni Scott).
As John and Sia rekindle their romance, the movie veers from the true story that inspired the international rom-com. The truthful influence returns when John spots a woman named Anna about to lunge off the cliff and talks her out of committing suicide. John learns the woman is pregnant and offers her a place to stay for the night. The next day, Anna reveals that Captain Manoli is the father of her child. The movie ends with John and Sia renewing their love for each other while Melina launches a music career. While the musical and romantic storylines are mostly fabricated, the suicide prevention efforts made by John are inspired by a good Samaritan from Australia named Don Ritchie.
Who Inspired Find Me Falling?
Find Me Falling takes real-life cues from Don Ritchie, an Australian native who became notorious for preventing people from taking their own lives by jumping into the sea from great heights. Known locally as “The Angel of the Gap,” Ritchie reportedly saved as many as 160 lives before his death at 86 in 2012. While John Allman saves at least two people from jumping off the cliffs in Cyprus in the film, Ritchie saved lives in Sydney, Australia, where a trench called “The Gap” facing the Tasman Sea claimed the lives of many.
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One of Ritchie’s successful approaches was calmly asking someone on the cliffs, “Can I help in some way” while offering a warmhearted smile (via The Independent). Ritchie’s obituary also details his suicide prevention methods, adding:
“More often than not the quiet approach worked, though on some occasions he risked his own life by physically restraining the more determined from making their final leap.”
Once Ritchie successfully talked a person off the ledge, he routinely invited them into his home and offered tea. One of the survivors that Ritchie helped painted an image of an angel and gave it to Ritchie with the inscription, “An Angel Who Walks Among Us.” In 2006, Ritchie earned a Medal of the Order of Australia from the government for his charitable services.
In 2010, two years before his demise, Ritchie spoke about his calling to stop suicidals from taking their lives, telling The Associated Press, “You can’t just sit there and watch them, You gotta try and save them. It’s pretty simple” (via Hope For Tomorrow). Per the report, Ritchie advocated for “Seven Proven Principles in Suicide Prevention” before he died in 2012. Without seeking the spotlight, Ritchie made a substantial difference in the lives of hundreds of people.
Stelana Kliris’ Thoughts on Don Ritchie
Although Don Ritchie is not mentioned by name in Find Me Falling, writer-director Stelana Kliris is well aware of his heroic story and incorporates his suicide prevention into the story. According to Kliris via the movie’s official press notes:
“A few years ago, I read an article about a kind man in Australia who lived near a notorious suicide spot. He ended up saving many, many lives by approaching strangers, and with a soft voice, simply offering them a cup of tea. I thought to myself,
what if a misanthrope lived in a place like that? And that’s how
Find Me Falling
was born
.”
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Don Ritchie’s life-saving heroism partially inspired the plot of Find Me Falling, but none of the characters in the Netflix Original Movie outside John are based on real people. The romantic plot between John and Sia has nothing to do with Don Ritchie’s story, neither do the supporting characters and the Cyprus location. The movie takes Don’s suicide prevention efforts and uses them to redeem a misanthropic loner who has fallen on hard times.
Find Me Falling is available to stream on Netflix.