Me Before You (2016) – Review

Do you recognise this? That a specific element in a movie stands out so much that you can’t help but to keep focussing on it? That was the case for me with this romantic film, Me Before You. It might be best to first watch the movie yourself before reading the review, because else it might distract you too much. That specific element in this movie which stood out were Emilia Clarke’s eyebrows. It might be that her forehead works different from other people, but her eyebrows regularly made movements I haven’t seen other eyebrows make. But if you are able to ignore it (I couldn’t), is Me Before You the romantic film you’d expect?

Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke) is a young woman from a poor family who has to work hard to help provide for them. She dressed in a unique way, which makes her stand out. She also likes to talk non-stop. When she is fired she has to search for a new job. She is offered several, but quickly quits all of them. The next one she is offered is to take care of a disabled man, Will Traynor (Sam Claflin). Because of an accident both his arms and legs are paralysed and he has a nurse to take care of him. It’s up to Lou to make sure he isn’t alone. Their initial meetings are cold because Will is extremely negative about everything. Lou wants to change all of that and thinks of a plan to get this done.

 The film is based on a book with the same name, written by Jojo Moyes. And of course the story follows the typical romantic movie template, but adds a little of drama for good measure. Emilia Clarke (and her eyebrows) manages to give the movie a heart and breathes life into the character. Claflin is limited in what he is able to do, but does what is necessary for the role. It is a shame though that the first joke when they meet is the one you always see in these type of situations (The Fundamentals of Caring, which I saw the day before did the same), but I can forgive the film. Me Before You is the kind of romantic movie you’d expect and will certainly please fans of the genre.