Find Me Falling is a 2024 romantic comedy film written and directed by Stelana Kliris. It stars Harry Connick Jr. as an American rock star who takes a break from his career to live in a remote house near a cliff in Cyprus, which he discovers is a suicide hotspot. The cast also includes Agni Scott, Ali Fumiko Whitney, and Clarence Smith.

Find Me Falling
Release poster
Directed byStelana Kliris
Written byStelana Kliris
Produced by
  • Steven Shapiro
  • Keith Arnold
  • Stelana Kliris
Starring
CinematographyStephan Metzner
Edited byEmilios Avraam
Music byCarlos José Alvarez
Production
companies
  • Jupiter Peak Productions
  • Meraki Films
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • July 19, 2024 (2024-07-19)
Running time
94 minutes
Countries
  • Cyprus
  • United States
LanguagesEnglish
Greek (Cypriot)

The film was released by Netflix on July 19, 2024.[1] It received mixed reviews.

Plot

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After his latest album is poorly received, American rock star John Allman spontaneously decides to take a break, buying a remote house near a cliff in Cyprus. A few days later, he yells at a man standing in front of his house at the edge of the cliff, believing him to be a trespassing paparazzo; he is shocked when the man jumps to his death.

Local police captain Manoli comes to the scene and explains that the cliff is a well-known suicide hotspot, leading John to realize why the house was so cheap to buy. John is warned that the suicide rate can be very high, reaching several a month, and is given Manoli's phone number to report future instances.

John goes into town for food and asks for a home delivery, surprising the shop owner when he tells her which house he lives in. The next day, Melina delivers John's food. She recognizes him upon entering the house and seeing his things, and he explains that he has moved to Cyprus to escape his life. He later calls his manager Jimmy to reveal where he is, his mind to rest as John disappeared with no explanation.

When the mother of the man who jumped comes to the cliff, John calls Manoli. The woman is helped and Manoli invites him to meet at the tavern in town, where they hear Melina sing. John is then introduced to a table of locals, including Sia, a woman he'd met in Cyprus many years ago. The others recognize him and mention his most famous song, which is about falling in love on the beach; although the song was about Sia, he insists it was not inspired by a real person and leaves.

Sia follows John out and he confronts her about pretending not to know him. She asks him why he's back in Cyprus, but he doesn't know how to answer, and they suddenly share a passionate kiss. Sia spends the night at John's house, sneaking to town in the morning.

Sia later goes to church where her sister Koulas, the shop owner, soon discovers she has just come from John's. John later convinces her to come to dinner in the evening. Melina delivers aftersun to his house and he convinces her to cook dinner. Sia arrives early and finds John dressing. When her daughter comes out from the kitchen, then Manoli's sister arrives unexpectedly, Sia believes he's cheating on her with two women and storms out.

It is revealed that John and Sia wanted to be together, but she was scared off by his groupies when she followed him to New York City to tell him about her pregnancy. She instead tells Melina that her father was a passing tourist when it was in fact John, who did not know. Melina asks her grandmother who her father is, but she does not say.

At the tavern that night, Melina invites John to sing his song with her. Halfway through, he improvises and says Sia had raised her without telling either of them the truth. The upset Melina lashes out at Sia for keeping the secret, but her grandmother forces Sia and Melina to sit down and talk.

John shares a new song he has written with Jimmy, who insists he can mount a comeback with it. He sees a woman named Anna near the cliff edge, convinces her not to jump, and discovers she is pregnant. He allows her to stay on his sofa that night. In the morning, he takes Anna to tell her parents about the pregnancy, revealing that Manoli is her father. He becomes so upset that his wife tells him to leave until he calms down.

Manoli and John stay all day at John's house until Anna goes into labour. At the hospital, upon seeing John with flowers and a balloon, Sia erroneously believes they are for her. Once she finishes telling him off, he explains they are for the new baby and that his departure from Cyprus is imminent.

Melina coaches John on the lyrics of a popular serenade that he and many locals sing to Sia. Although she is moved, Sia cannot open the door to him. John gives the new song he wrote to Melina, which she shows to Sia, who promptly finds him and forgives him.

Some time later, Melina successfully launches her musical career with Jimmy as her manager, while John is happily living with Sia in his cliffside home and spending time with the locals he has befriended.

Cast

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  • Harry Connick Jr. as John[2]
  • Agni Scott as Sia
  • Ali Fumiko Whitney as Melina
  • Tony Demetriou as Captain Manoli
  • Angeliki Philippidou as Marikou
  • Lea Maleni as Koula
  • Athina Roditou as Anna
  • Clarence Smith as Jimmy

Production

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The film had the working title of The Islander. Filming ran in Cyprus from May to November 2022,[3][4] taking place in Pegeia and Nicosia.[5]

Release

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Find Me Falling was released on Netflix on July 19, 2024.[6]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 33% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10.[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Find Me Falling (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 28, 2022). "Harry Connick Jr., Mira Sorvino & Newcomer Ali Fumiko Whitney Board Rom-Com 'The Islander'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  3. ^ FNE Staff (May 4, 2022). "PRODUCTION: Harry Connick Jr. and Mira Sorvino Shoot US/Cypriot RomCom The Islander". Filmneweurope.com. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ FNE Staff (November 21, 2022). "Production: Cyprus/USA Coproduction The Islander Enters Final Stage of Production in Cyprus". Film New Europe Association. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  5. ^ ""The Islander" filmed in Cyprus enters last stage of production". Cyprus Weekly. November 17, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  6. ^ De La Paz, Maggie (March 6, 2024). "Find Me Falling Photos Set Release Date for Netflix Rom-Com". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  7. ^ "Find Me Falling". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  8. ^ "Find Me Falling". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
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