Starring: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Jenna Coleman, Charles Dance, Matthew Lewis, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Janet McTeer, Brendan Coyle
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Romantic drama directed by Thea Sharrock. Me Before You follows Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke), a small town girl with no clear direction in her life she goes from one job to the next and Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker who became wheelchair bound in an accident two years prior, and whose whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye. After Lou is hired for six months to be his new caretaker, she becomes determined to show him that life is worth living. Embarking together on a series of adventures, both Lou and Will get more than they bargained for, and find their lives changing in ways neither one could have imagined.
Our Favorite Quote:
'You can't change who people are. You love them.' - Bernard Clark (Me Before You) Click To Tweet 'Live boldly. Push yourself. Don't settle.' - Will Traynor (Me Before You) Click To Tweet
Best Quotes
[walking in the city as it’s raining hard talking on the phone]
Will Traynor: Yeah, listen, I’m on it, and we can close it.
[he steps out onto the road]
Will Traynor: Taxi! Yeah, and we won’t. don’t worry.
[we see motorcycle on the road honking its horn and it suddenly hits Will]
Syed: [at the job center] We tried a chicken factory.
Lou Clark: I’m still having nightmares about those giblets.
Syed: We tried a beautician.
Lou Clark: Turns out a hot wax is not my friend.
Syed: I’m running out of options for you here, Lou.
Lou Clark: Please, I’ll take anything.
Syed: Well this is new. “Care and companionship for a disabled man.”
Camilla Traynor: Do you have any experience of caregiving?
Lou Clark: I’ve never done it. But I’m sure I could learn.
Camilla Traynor: Then let’s go and meet Will.
Camilla Traynor: Will, this is Lou Clark.
Camilla Traynor: [to Lou] Nathan will talk you through Will’s routine and equipment.
Will Traynor: You don’t have to talk across me, mother. My brain isn’t paralyzed. Yet.
Lou Clark: What am I hear for?
Nathan: To cheer him up I guess.
Lou Clark: So I thought we could go out this afternoon.
Will Traynor: My mother says you’re chatty.
Lou Clark: Yeah.
Will Traynor: Can we strike a deal whereby you are very unchatty around me.
Lou Clark: He hates me. Every time I speak he looks at me like I’m stupid.
Katrina Clark: To be fair, you are pretty stupid.
Lou Clark: Yeah, but he doesn’t know that yet.
Lou Clark: I just thought I’d see if I could fix some of these. Or, you know, I you wanted to get new ones I could go into town at lunch time, or we could both go if that sounds…
Will Traynor: Do you know what, Lou? Me smashing those photographs was not an accident.
Lou Clark: Sorry. I didn’t think.
Will Traynor: You thought you knew best. Well I don’t want those pictures staring at me every time I’m stuck in bed waiting for someone to bloody get me out again, okay?
Lou Clark: I wasn’t going to fix the one of, Alicia. Enough of that, that’s just stupid.
Will Traynor: Spare me the cod psychology, just go and rage your grandma’s wardrobe or whatever it is you do when you’re not making tea.
Lou Clark: You don’t have to be an a**! Your friend deserved it. I’m just trying to do my job as best I can. So it would be really nice if you didn’t try and make my life as miserable as you apparently make everyone else’s.
Will Traynor: And what if I said I didn’t want you hear?
Lou Clark: I’m not employed by you. I’m employed by your mother, who unless she says she doesn’t want me here anymore I’m staying, not because I care about you or particularly enjoy your company but because I need the money! I really need the money.
Will Traynor: [looks at her for a moment] Just put them in the drawer.
Lou Clark: Don’t smile at me like that.
Will Traynor: Why not?
Lou Clark: Because I don’t know what it means.
Will Traynor: Where did you pick up your exotic tastes?
Lou Clark: What do you mean by that?
Will Traynor: Well it can’t be from around here.
Lou Clark: Why not?
Will Traynor: Because this is the kind of place people come to when they got tired of actually living. People here think excitement is a new “Please Be Quiet” sign going up in the library. You should be out there claiming the world as your own! Showing your leprechaun shoes to dodgy men.
Lou Clark: I like my life.
Will Traynor: You like everything.
Lou Clark: I’m happy here.
Will Traynor: Well, you shouldn’t be.
Lou Clark: I was supposed to leave. I had a place at Manchester.
Will Traynor: What were you going to study?
Lou Clark: Fashion.
Will Traynor: Hm. So why didn’t you go? You know what I see when I look at you?
Lou Clark: Don’t say potential.
Will Traynor: Potential. You need to widen your horizons, Clark. You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.
Will Traynor: No, stay. Tell me something good. Tell me something.
Lou Clark: About what?
Will Traynor: Anything.
Lou Clark: well when I was little my mum got me a pair of glittery wellies and I refused to take them off. I wore them in bed, in the bath, all summer long. My favorite outfit was the glittery boots and my bumble bee tights.
Will Traynor: Bumble bee tights.
Lou Clark: Black and yellow stripes.
Will Traynor: Oh, dear God.
Lou Clark: I just, I really, really, really liked having stripy legs.
Will Traynor: So what happened to these gorgeous wellies and stripy tights?
Lou Clark: I outgrew them. It broke my heart, and they don’t make those tights anymore, not for grown women anyway.
Will Traynor: Strange that.
Lou Clark: Oh, you can mock. Didn’t you ever love anything that much?
Will Traynor: Yes. Yes, I did.
Will Traynor: [after she’s finished shaving his face] Please don’t tell me you shaved off my eyebrows.
Lou Clark: Only the one.
Patrick: Lou tells me you were an action man before.
Lou Clark: Pat.
Patrick: I bet if we got you on a really good fitness regime.
Lou Clark: Patrick.
Will Traynor: No, it’s fine. Truth is I thought I could crack this and then go back as if nothing had changed. I was wrong.
Will Traynor: When I was a kid this used to be my favorite place in the whole world.
Lou Clark: Oh, I think this would still be my favorite spot.
Will Traynor: That’s because you haven’t been anywhere.
Lou Clark: Oh. So where’s better than this then?
Will Traynor: Paris, Place Dauphine right by the Pont Neuf.
Lou Clark: So let’s go! We could get on the Eurostar right now!
Will Traynor: No.
Lou Clark: But you just said.
Will Traynor: You don’t get it, Clark. I want to in Paris as me. The old me, with pretty French girls giving me the eye.
Lou Clark: It could be something to look forward to.
Will Traynor: [referring to Paris] If I shut my eyes now I know exactly how it feels to be in that little square. I know every sensation. I don’t want those memories erased by the struggle to fit behind a table. The taxi drivers who refuse to take me and my wheelchair power pack that won’t charge in a French socket. I’ll tell you where we will go though.
Lou Clark: Where?
Will Traynor: Alicia’s wedding.
Lou Clark: Really?
Will Traynor: Will you come with me?
Lou Clark: If you want me to.
Will Traynor: [to Lou] Can I take you somewhere?
Camilla Traynor: Will’s barely left the house in two years, we have tried.
Steven Traynor: Yes, but haven’t succeeded. Will needs to be allowed to feel like a man.
Katrina Clark: [to Lou] Use the time he’s got left, show him how good his life can be.
Katrina Clark: [as Lou is trying on outfits for her date with Will] You are so going on a date with Will Traynor.
Lou Clark: It’s too booby.
Katrina Clark: Get the red dress out.
Will Traynor: [after the concert] So you’re not a classical music person then?
Lou Clark: I hated every minute.
Will Traynor: I could tell. Especially during the Oboe Solo.
Lou Clark: There was something in my eyes. I loved it, didn’t you?
Will Traynor: Yeah.
Lou Clark: Right. We’ll better get you in.
Will Traynor: Wait a minute, Clark.
Lou Clark: Are you okay?
Will Traynor: I don’t want to go in yet. I just want to be a man who’s been to a concert with a girl in a red dress, just a few minutes more.
Will Traynor: I promised my parents six months, and that’s what I’ve given them.
Lou Clark: But that was before me.
Nathan: I want him to live, but only if he wants to live.
Lou Clark: I can’t just let this happen.
Bernard Clark: You can’t change who people are.
Lou Clark: Then what can you do?
Bernard Clark: You love them.
Will’s Family Friend: [to Lou] You take care of him. He’s a good one.
Will Traynor: I don’t want you to miss all the things that someone else could give you.
Lou Clark: But I can make you happy.
Lou Clark: I have become a whole new person because of you.
Mary Rawlinson: Bride or groom?
Lou Clark: Neither. You?
Mary Rawlinson: Godmother to the bride, which makes morally responsible for her. Not one of my finer acts.
Lou Clark: Oh, you don’t think much of her then?
Mary Rawlinson: [referring to her drink] This is a bit depressing. Still one can’t do these things sober.
Lou Clark: Oh, no, wait. There’s alcohol in this stuff?
Mary Rawlinson: Absolutely, darling. And I firmly encourage you to get as drunk as possible. I hear rumors that the father of the bride is going to inflict another speech on us.
Lou Clark: Oh, no, no, no. But I’m supposed to be driving Will home.
Mary Rawlinson: Ah, yes. Young Will. He was her chance, you know. If only one of that lot was worth a damn. Terrible shame.
Lou Clark: Well he’s not dead.
Mary Rawlinson: No, I meant for her not him! No, Rupert’s an a**hole. You take care of him, he’s a good one. Take it from who knows, four marriages, and counting.
Will Traynor: [as Lou is sat on his lap] Move closer. You know, you never would have let those breasts so near to me if I wasn’t in a wheelchair.
Lou Clark: Oh, yeah. Well, you know you never would have even looking at these breasts if you hadn’t been in a wheelchair.
Will Traynor: What! Of course I would.
Lou Clark: No, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t. You would have been too busy looking at the leggy blonds, the ones you can smell an expense account at forty paces. And anyway, I would have been over there serving the drinks, one of the invisibles. Am I right?
Will Traynor: Yes, but in my defense I was an a**.
Lou Clark: Yep.
Will Traynor: Do you know something, Clark? You are pretty much the only thing that makes me want to get up in the morning.
Lou Clark: Then let’s go somewhere. Anywhere in the world, just you and me. What do you say? Say yes, Will. Go on.
Will Traynor: Okay.
Lou Clark: [going scuba diving] I can’t.
Will Traynor: You can. You can do anything.
Will Traynor: I have to tell you something.
Lou Clark: I know. I know about Switzerland, I have known for months. Listen, I know this is not how you would have chosen it, but I can make you happy.
Will Traynor: No.
Lou Clark: What?
Will Traynor: No, Clarke. This could be a good life, but it’s not my life, it’s not even close. You never saw be before. I loved my life. I really loved it. I can’t be the kind of man who just accepts this.
Lou Clark: You’re not giving it a chance. You’re not giving me a chance. I have become a whole new person these last six months because of you.
Will Traynor: I know, and thats why I can’t have you tied to me. I don’t want you to miss all the things that someone else can give you. And selfishly I don’t what you to look at me one day and feel event he tiniest bit of regret or pity.
Lou Clark: I would never think that!
Will Traynor: You don’t know that. I can’t watch you wondering around the annex in your crazy dresses. Or see you naked, and not be able to…
Will Traynor: Oh, Clarke. If you have any idea what I want to do to you right now. I can’t live like this.
Lou Clark: Please, Will! Please!
Will Traynor: Shh. Listen, this, tonight being with you is the most wonderful thing you could have ever done for me. But I need it to end here. No more pain and exhaustion and waking up every morning already wishing it was over. It’s not going to get better than this. The doctors know it and I know it. When we get back, I’m going to Switzerland so I’m asking you if you feel the things you say you feel. Come with me.
Lou Clark: I thought I was changing your mind!
Will Traynor: Nothing was ever going to change my mind. I promised my parents six months and thats why I have given them.
Lou Clark: No! Don’t say another word. You’re so selfish. I tore my heart out in front of you and all you can say is no. And now you want me to come and watch the worst thing you could possibly imagine. Do you have any idea what you’re asking? I wish I had never taken this stupid job. I wish I had never met you.
Lou Clark: [to Will] I know we can do this. I know it’s not how you would have chosen it, but I know I can make you happy. And all I can say in that you make me, you make me into someone I couldn’t even imagine. You make me happy, even when you’re awful. I would rather be with you, even the you that you seem to think is diminished, than with anyone else in the world.
Will Traynor: Clark, a few weeks should have passed by the time you read this. If you follow the instructions, you’ll be in Paris on one of those chairs that never sit quite level on a pavement. I hope it’s still sunny. Across the bridge to your right, you’ll see L’artisan Parfumeur. You should try the scent called Papiomextrem. I always did think it would smell great on you. There are few things I wanted to say and couldn’t because you would’ve gotten emotional and you wouldn’t have let me finish. So, here it is. When you get back home, Michael Lawler will give you access to a bank account that contains enough to give you a new beginning. Don’t start panicking. It’s not enough for you to sit around for the rest of your life but it should buy you your freedom, at least from that little town we both call home. Live boldly, Clark. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Wear those stripy legs with pride. Knowing you still have possibilities is a luxury, knowing I might have given them to you. This eased something for me. So, this is it. You are scored on my heart, Clark. You have been the first day you walked in with your sweet smile, and your ridiculous clothes, and your bad jokes, and your complete inability to ever hide a single thing you felt. Don’t think of me too often. I don’t want you getting sad. Just live well. Just live. I’ll be walking beside you every step of the way. Love, Will.
Trailer:
Maybe it’s the fact that I am getting older. Maybe it’s the fact that I am just more comfortable with myself that I have allowed myself to open up to these kinds of films. I am a romantic at heart.
Me Before You is a beautiful love story about a man, Will Traynor, who had everything going for him when tragedy strikes. Literally. After being in an accident that involved him getting struck by a motorcycle, his life takes a complete turn for the worse. That is until he meets the very boisterous young lady Lou Clark who has a very colorful fashion sense. She is hired by his parents as a nanny of sorts. Or that is what she is led to believe. Will’s life has been nothing but pain and despair since his accident. And he has set his heart to assisted suicide to end his suffering. He has given his parents 6 months. His parents hoping in that time that he will change his mind. This is where the role of Lou comes in. Wills mother hires her in hopes that Will, will change his mind and will want to live. They end up falling for each other. But nothing will change his mind. Lou learns of this and tries everything she can to convince him otherwise. But alas, his mind is set.
Not wanting Lou to be tied down by a quadriplegic, he tells her that he will move forward with his original plans. Heartbroken with this decision, Lou is torn between leaving him or being by his side till the very end. In the end, she chooses to be by his side. This is a very heartwarming film that sucks you in. And you actually feel the emotions of both the main characters in this film. Love will pop up when you least expect it. This film is more of a celebration of life. showing that you should live it the fullest. Because you never now what the next day may bring. I would highly recommend this film for those hopeless romantics out there. But beware, have a box of tissues at arms reach as you will for sure need some.
Rating: 5/5
“Emilia Clarke” Nailed it. She fully immersed in the character and stealth your heart. Mind Blowing!
Thanks!
He gets hit by a motorbike, HILARIIOOUS!!
Me Before You was absolutely wonderful! All of the romantic comedy and feel-good aspects aside, the film on its own really shined and was extremely likable. The woman who directed it did a fabulous job directing the actors and Jojo Moyes had a screenplay worth its weight in tears. Emilia Clarke takes your breath away and steals your heart as the quirky and lovable leading lady. So much humanity was put into this film and you left with a renewed sense of life and what it means to live! I strongly recommend seeing it! I give it a 10!
Watching a movie you know nothing about is a different experience. Your judgement and expectations stem from the title – which suggested something about relationships and selfishness. Given that background, and excellent cooperation by my daughter for not spilling the beans, this was perhaps one of my better movie experiences in a while. While the British accent and the Irish landscape soften you up, the art direction, the cinematography and the background score uplift you. While Clark’s character was a trifle predictable, it was a bold move by the Director to keep her plain Jane looks throughout the movie. But it’s the mother’s acting and the way her character is handled that stands out. I don’t want to play spoiler by commenting on the end. On the whole, it’s a beautiful movie I could easily watch again just for the journey of emotions.