Film Review: Me Before You

A sweeping romance, Me Before You is sure to provide some swoony endorphins for easily entertained audiences. But does it fall short of its potential to be truly powerful?
Emilia Clarke (Game Of Thrones, Terminator Genysis) plays Lou, an adorkable working-class English lass desperately in need of a job to help support her family. She lands a gig acting as a carer/companion to the wealthy and handsome Will Traynor (Sam Claflin, The Hunger Games), a former party-boy and adrenalin-junkie who was left paraplegic after a random traffic accident. Though Lou initially thinks her greatest hurdle will be getting the withering Will to warm to her relentlessly sunny demeanour and obnoxiously bright outfits, her role is in fact to pull Will out of a deep depression – a task that becomes all the more important as she begins to fall for him.
The two leads prove quite charming, as Clarke’s endlessly expressive face nicely complements Claflin’s portrayal of a very proud man desperately trying to control something in his life – even if it is just his emotions. However, Jojo Moyes’ screenplay adaption of her novel fails to develop the characters fully. Lou’s sunny outlook can sometimes read as simply stupid, and her lack of sophistication, experience and education is often played for laughs. Meanwhile, the harsh realities of Will’s condition are glossed over all too neatly, which makes his belief that life may not be worth living feel quite patronising towards people with disabilities.
Too often, Me Before You dodges the dark complexity of its premise. Director Thea Sharrock does find moments of real beauty and emotional resonance, but even these can be undermined by a pop music soundtrack that reduces the universal nature of love to something that’s easily dated. 

Rating: 3/5