Rating: A
Me Before You is a film based on the book written by JoJo Moyes and directed by Thea Sharrock. It follows Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) a local English woman who is unemployed and looking for a job to financially secure her family. In order to stabilise her family’s situation she takes a job offer as Will Traynor’s caretaker (Sam Claflin), a quadriplegic who can’t move anything from his chest area down. Throughout the film, you notice the extensive contrasts between both Lou and Will’s personalities. Lou is warm, vibrant and quirky, and Will is cynical, close-minded and bitter. Lou one day overhears an argument between Will’s parents and realises Will is contemplating suicide. After an insightful discussion with her sister Trina (Jenna Coleman) she decides that it is her duty to show Will, with the time that he has, how to live life boldly. So she puts a lot of energy into spending time and booking events with Will to improve his view on life.
The casting was the main reason why Me Before You was high on my list of movies to pay to see. I mean, it’s a movie featuring the “Mother of Dragons”, Emilia Clarke and British heartthrob, Sam Claflin. I loved watching Emilia in a comedic role, which was a change to her usual serious roles.
This movie gave caused dinner debates amongst my friends on the topic of disabled people and Euthanasia. The underlying problem was the question “Where are the lines drawn for a person’s right to death?” However, I found this movie beautifully tragic—not only in the choice of Lou’s clothes—but in respect of the love story between Lou and Will. I chose to appreciate the account of Lou Clark as one story about an individual person’s life and choice rather than a poor representation of disabled people or of our society.
I thought the movie was rather moving and heart wrenching and I would definitely advise sobbing unashamedly during the film or the overwhelming feeling of sadness could indirectly affect other areas of your life.