Movie Review: Me
Before You (2016)
Thea Sharrock’s film adaptation of Jojo Moyes’s Me Before You is a beautifully filmed,
whirlwinded romance that will leave you weeping uncontrollably. It does,
however, lack some detail that viewers would be demanding.
Louisa Clarke (Emilia Clarke) is a quirky, naïve 26-year-old women
who befriends and eventually falls for quadriplegic Will Traynor (Sam Claflin).
Being Will's carer, Lou does everything in her power to make sure he is
comfortable, and prove to him that his life is worth living.
Now before viewing this movie, I had read the book. So coming into
it, I had expected the movie to be a little different. To my surprise it
followed the book quite well. Yet, it felt a little rushed.
Within the first 5 minutes we met her family, Lou lost her job,
she went to the job centre, she got an interview, then she met Will. The
viewers had no real backstory to Lou or her situation. Then there was Lou’s
boyfriend. The audience would have had no idea who Patrick was at the beginning.
I had only known this information because I had read the book. But first-time
viewers would have been lost within parts of the film. It felt like they had
tried to fit too many components from the book into a 90-minute movie.
On the other hand, the cinematography was beautiful. Emilia Clarke
and Sam Claflin both did an amazing job bringing their characters to life. The
chemistry between the two was obvious and fascinating to watch.
This movie is for those who loved reading the book. For those who
haven’t I suggest reading it if you want to understand some of the basic
aspects of the movie.
3/5
*This movie review was for a student edge competition.



