Is Cheers to Life Based on a True Story?

Originally titled ‘Viva a Vida,’ Netflix’s ‘Cheers to Life‘ follows Jessica, a young woman working as a salesgirl at an antique shop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After discovering a mysterious medallion that resembles the one around her neck gifted by her late mother, Jessica realizes that there is more to her missing family past than she previously imagined. As she investigates the connection, Jessica teams up with Gabriel, a distant relative, who helps her find out more about her heritage. Eventually, her findings lead her to Israel, where she and Gabriel embark on a journey brimming with self-discovery, romance, spirituality, and identity, making her reevaluate her stances in life. Under the direction of Cris D’Amato, the comedy-drama movie tries to showcase familial bonds in all their complexities while also tying them together with a message of love, forgiveness, and healing.

Cheers to Life Delves Into Life’s Ups and Downs Through a Road Trip Story

Written by Natalia Klein, ‘Cheers to Life’ is a heartfelt narrative about searching for one’s place in life that is not based on any specific real-life incident per se. The story is mostly fictional in conception, drawing from an inner desire within people who seek a new direction and purpose in their lives. This is personified through the protagonist, Jessica, who feels like she is heading nowhere fast in her life. As she struggles to make a mark in her job, it soon dawns on her that the root cause behind her aimlessness could be a personal battle she has yet to address, namely the mystery behind her mother’s family. The more she digs into this unknown part of her life, the more she realizes new things about herself while also coming to terms with her desire for connection in an otherwise lonely existence.

One of the central aspects of ‘Cheers to Life’ is how the main thrust of the emotions is largely dictated through a road trip across the entire country of Israel. As one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, the nation offers an added layer of history, culture, tradition, and spirituality that augments Jessica’s deep dive into her past. The movie is also pervaded by a comical sensibility, serving as a reminder that topics of family can be both intense and humorous in equal measure. In particular, Jessica utilizes a morbid sense of humor or sarcasm to mask whatever might be lurking under the surface. To that end, this unique blend of a foreign country road trip and comedy-drama parallels Jesse Eisenberg’s 2024 movie ‘A Real Pain,’ which centers on two mismatched cousins who discover essential things in their relationship while touring around Poland.

Cheers to Life Offers Hope to Those Seeking Connection

At its heart, ‘Cheers to Life’ is a story exploring the power of connectivity in a human being’s life and how it can be the first line of defense against feelings of apathy, aimlessness, and a general disregard for emotional attachment. While the second approach may be common in those who have faced adversity in one form or another, which is particularly the case with Jessica, the movie tries to plead a case for positivity, adventure, escapism, and learning to enjoy life without fearing failure. In the story, the protagonist expresses her innermost belief that people, in general, are always one step away from letting their loved ones down when matters come to a head. This mindset reflects Jessica’s growth as a person and the events that have shaped her into the adult she is today. However, she starts to feel differently as she goes through her journey.

As professed by the movie’s characters, loneliness, and self-reliance have their uses in everyone’s life, but when these feelings grow untethered and become the central viewpoint through which one sees the world, it can lead to a downward spiral of negativity. Instead, building a sense of cautious optimism is a far stronger worldview that holds ground in most settings, offering a sense of hope for those who have been blinkered by harsh experiences in their past. While it may be exaggerated and dramatized for greater resonance, ‘Cheers to Life’ tries to impart the value of preserving with a constructive view of connection, friendship, and companionship. It leads to stronger familial ties, ultimately serving as the basis for the movie’s narration, even though it is largely fictional.