Is ‘Find Me Falling’ Based on a True Story? How Australian “Angel” Don Ritchie Inspired the Netflix Movie

Find Me Falling , which began streaming on Netflix today, stars Harry Connick Jr. as a misanthropic rock star named John Allman who moves to the island nation of Cyprus in order to get away from all the pressure and fame. Unfortunately, John failed to do his research. As he quickly learns—after he yells at a trespasser to get off his property, only for said trespasser to leap to his death off the side of a high cliff—his new home overlooks a “suicide hotspot.”

Because of this plot line, Find Me Falling is a little deeper and a lot more emotional than your average Netflix romantic comedy. Yes, John does find love in a gorgeous, seaside location. But he also learns to let people back into his life, by realizing that one kind gesture can save a life.

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Find Me Falling’ on Netflix, a Tin-Eared Rom-Com About Music, Lost Love and, Uh, Suicide

In fact, John Allman’s situation was inspired by a real-life Australian man known for talking down people about to commit suicide near his home. Read on to learn more about Don Ritchie and the Find Me Falling true story.

Find Me Falling was partially inspired by the true story of Don Ritchie, an Australian man who was known for talking people out of taking their own life at a cliffside near his home. Ritchie, who died in 2012 at the age of 86, was nicknamed “The Angel of The Gap,” because he would intervene when he spotted suicide attempts near his home in Sydney, Australia, which overlooked “The Gap,” a notorious ocean side cliff that faces the Tasman Sea. The spot was popular both with tourists, and with people seeking to take their own life.

Where Was ‘Find Me Falling’ Filmed? Discover the Cyprus Filming Locations for the Harry Connick Jr. Netflix Movie

According to his obituary in The Independent , when Ritchie would spot someone nearing the cliff alone, he would approach them with a smile and ask, “Can I help you in some way?”

“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,” Ritchie’s obituary reads. After he talked them off the ledge, Ritchie would invite these strangers into his home for a cup of tea. One of those people he saved later gifted Ritchie a painting of an angel, with text that read: “An angel who walks amongst us.”

CLICK HERE TO GET EMAILS FROM DECIDER

“You can’t just sit there and watch them,” Ritchie once told an AP reporter in 2010 , who estimated that Ritchie had saved at least 160 people by that point. “You gotta try and save them. It’s pretty simple.” In 2006, the Australian government awarded Ritchie with a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to society.

Find Me Falling does not tell the story of the real Don Ritchie, but it does apply Ritchie’s real-life circumstances to the fictional character of John Allman, a cranky, aging rock star who is horrified to learn that his newly-purchased home in Cyprus overlooks a “suicide hotspot.”

In a statement written for the Find Me Falling press notes, writer/director Stelana Kliris said, “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.”

All this said, none of the characters in Find Me Falling are real people. The love story between John Allman and his former lover, played by Agni Scott, is entirely made up. The movie does not tell the true story of Don Ritchie. The true story was simply the jumping-off point for a fictional movie. Maybe someday Ritchie will get his own biopic, but for now, Find Me Falling will have to do.

For more entertainment news and streaming recommendations, visit decider.com