Me Before You (2016) | Film Review

Adapted for the screen from her own novel, Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You takes us on a journey of selfless love. Starring Emilia Clarke as Louisa “Lou” Clark and Sam Claflin as Will Traynor, we submerse ourselves into all of the emotions of the kind of love which takes us by surprise and takes us where we never expected to go.

Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) was an adventurous, fun-loving man who came from a very wealthy family. He was with the woman that made him happy, had great friends to share his time being exploratory with, had a successful career, and was admired for all that he was. Of course this means tragedy must strike; turning this confident man into a beaten down handicap who gave up on happiness the moment he was struck as a pedestrian. Being a paraplegic, Traynor is a 31 year-old man who doesn’t laugh, doesn’t smile, and doesn’t experience life any longer. That is, until Miss Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) stumbles her way into his life and heart as his caretaker.

Miss Clark is a happy, chatty, and delightful woman with a wild fashion sense, who is content with living in a small place in England helping her loving family get by. She is simple, sweet, a bit off, and definitely not in the same athletic wheelhouse as her not-so-compatible boyfriend, Patrick. When the need for a new job arises, fate sets her up with an opportunity that will change her life, without even realizing it. A very clumsy and silly Lou manages to land the position offered by Will’s mother, which certainly pays well.  His mother warns her that Will has his good and his bad days, but that doesn’t stop Lou, even when the bad days make her want to quit.

Immediately, you can tell Will is depressed with his life and is ready to end it. He lost his body, his means of getting by, and the woman he was in love with; along with his pride and dignity. The two get off to a rocky start because of Will’s discontent and Louisa’s highly vibrant personality, but it all changes as she is the first person to speak her mind to him. She actively and naturally expresses every emotion to him, never holding back. The spark Will believed to be dead within him is proved to be a live flame as Louisa tries to burn it as bright as she can. She’s the first person to make him laugh in longer than can be remembered, the first person to get him out of the house in two years, and he notices all of the unlived potential she has. His entrance in her life opens her eyes to all the possibilities that are out there and she opens his eyes to realizing he’s not as dead inside as once believed. The chemistry between them is unmatched. This love story is the kind no one sees coming, the kind no one sees a way out of, and the kind that changes your life.

Each love story has its catch though, right? Often times it’s a dramatic love triangle or some sort of barrier keeping the two apart and away from each other. Me Before You has its own catch but not of the cliché variety. Will has given up. He has given his family a six month notice before he ends his life and it becomes a race against time for Lou to try and change his mind.

This goes from being a job to something that consumes her mind, her heart, and her life. She introduces him to her family, she explores with him, she opens up to him, and she loves him. This is about two people who enter each other’s lives and – without realizing it until they’re in too deep – do everything imaginable to make the other happy. Lou and Will are the very definition of loving selflessly, doing everything in your power to make the person you love happy.

You can’t help but root for Will and Louisa the entire time, and this is one of the many reasons I adore this film. It’s unique, yet relatable, and I love the simplicity of it. Most movies revolving around the heart have the backstory of infidelity, which is one of my biggest movie pet peeves. This one is exactly what love should be. Selfless and all in.

Emilia Clarke makes for an impressively strange, funny, and adorable small village woman. Her charm and lack-of-grace illustrate just how broad this young actress can stretch herself from her obvious Game of Thrones ties. Sam Claflin has an incredible shift from the depressed, sarcastic ass to the madly in love selfless Will who finds himself opening up to a new woman- something he wouldn’t have expected to ever happen again. All he wants now is to be a man who’s been to a concert with a beautiful woman in a red dress. The two together make for the kind of bright movie magic we long for in a world full of cynics.

This misty eyed film is full of moments that will make you laugh, moments that will make you cry, and moments to make you admire this sort of inevitable love that reaches within each person’s core. Me Before You is one of the most refreshing romance movies to hit the big screen in a long while. Bring your tissues, your +1, and your bumblebee tights because you won’t regret it.

Just remember these words:

“You can’t change who people are. Then what can you do?”

“You love them.”