My mother and I made it to the 10:15 a.m. showing of “Me Before You” just in time. By the time she came rushing into her chair, popcorn and two drinks in hand, the first few minutes of the movie were already rolling, which begins with a sudden motorcycle impact to set the tone of a movie that certainly feels like a punch in the face all the way through.
We reclined our favorite chairs in our favorite movie theater and settled in to watch what we figured would be a romantic comedy following the Nicholas Sparks formula. The two lovers would hate each other at first but be inexplicably drawn to each other, a big secret would be revealed that hits the blooming relationship like a bus, there is a brief spell of hatred and ignoring one another, they soon realize they can’t live without each other, they kiss and the credits roll. Sure, there’s tons of crying from the audience in between, but everyone leaves feeling like the intense pain of the almost-broken relationship was worth the wait of seeing true love finally shining through.
The beginning of “Me Before You” certainly seemed to be getting along quite well with that formula that has made plenty of movies millions at the box office. Will Traynor is a quadriplegic that has lost full function in his legs, has little function in his arms, and is constantly open to new infections that threaten his life. Before a motorcycle that triggered his paralysis hit him, he was an active daredevil, who was successful in the banking business, wealthy and happy with his beautiful blonde girlfriend.
Enter Louisa Clark, better known as “Lou,” the eccentrically dressed, young, and whimsical woman who works hard to support her family, headed by an unemployed father, while her sister pursues going back to school. She takes on the job of caring for Will, which mainly consists of feeding him and attempting to provide him with good company, with the occasional tea break, since the story is set in London and the director obviously strived to keep it authentic.
Working to stick to the well-tested equation, Will hates Lou at first, although it is revealed by his family and physical trainer that he is this way to everyone in his life. After Lou has an outburst where she reveals she is there for the money and does not care if he wants her there or not, he seems to take a liking to her candor and a bond forms immediately between them.
About a quarter of the way into the movie, it is revealed that Will wants to go to Switzerland to participate in legal, assisted suicide. Upon hearing about this, Lou attempts to change his mind by taking him on a multitude of adventures, including a beautiful, Honeymoon-like (as Lou’s boyfriend of seven years, Patrick, points out) tropical vacation. The two, obviously, fall in love, but upon a magical kiss on the beach, Will breaks the spell.
He still wants to go to Switzerland. He still wants to end his life. But he wants Lou to come with him, and comfort him in those last few hours.
Here’s where the movie breaks clean from the many stereotypes that came before it. Spoiler alert: Yes, he goes through with it. Will chooses to end his life even though he has found the love of his life, because he can’t live it with her the way he would like to. Louisa ultimately does go to Switzerland and see him through to the end, and then takes a trip to his favorite city, Paris, to walk in his memory.
You could hear the sobs break out afresh in the audience, as everyone realized there was no happy ending to be had. Louisa had broken up with her longtime boyfriend to be with a man who was intent on leaving her for the world beyond. Will had found the one thing that makes him want to wake up in the morning, and then he leaves it behind. Two parents have to bury a son who lived through what could have been a terminal accident, only to decide he didn’t want to use the chance he had been given to live.
“Me Before You” goes well beyond the classic sappy romance filled with ballrooms, drunk one-night-stands that bloom into marriages and inside jokes that often open and close the film. The movie strives to hit something much harder to handle, hidden in between lots of kisses and funny looking dresses: did Will have the right to terminate his own existence?
The film presents both sides of the argument. There is Will, who is determined to exercise his right, supported by his father who sees him in pain. There is his mother, who does not want to lose her son, but ultimately agrees, much like the reluctant Louisa who lets her lover leave her behind. There is also Louisa’s mother, who compares the act as “no better than murder” and forbids her daughter to play any role in it.
Regardless of the side you take, this movie goes far beyond what anyone expected it to convey. You always walk into a romantic production ready for the waterworks, but to be presented with something so human, so filled with pain, something so beyond the pretty pictures of castles and happily-ever-afters, stirs the reminder that love is not always simple and black and white. Sometimes, a part of the pair has to put their own needs beyond that of their partner’s, “me before you,” and do something many would decide is unforgivable.
The story is less about romance, and more about people, which leaves room for the humanity to shine through. We are introduced to this young man who has lost the only world he has ever known, and decides he can't live in this new one. We face the human dilemma of mortality, and what it takes to face it, head-on. We get to watch a genre get turned on its head, and not for shock value, but to teach audiences a lesson about what it means to love someone unconditionally, a lesson so many of us forget.
