Wtf did you just do, Me Before You???? What are you actually doing?? This film is a hot mess. There is not one minute of it that’s not completely contrived, shallow and ridiculous. Saying that, I enjoyed it wholeheartedly. My sister put this on a few nights ago and I was immediately hooked. She wasn’t too happy with me by the end due to my incessant quipping, but it was just too silly to leave alone.

I’d first like to say that Emilia Clarke is, of course, adorable. I always enjoy her, and she was lovely in her role here as manic pixie dream girl Lou. Unfortunately, Emilia didn’t get a chance to show any range at all because this film is a fluffy, saccharine shit show. She gets angry well, but when it comes to tears she’s not very convincing, and when even the characters can’t bring themselves to genuine emotion at the admittedly sad-but-badly executed story line, there’s not much hope for the audience (with the exception of my sister who started crying before the saddest bit even happened). Back to Lou, I’m not sure she has much more going on than just being quirky, which is a shame because Emilia seems to be typecast nowadays as characters of varying levels of manic pixie. Can we give her something decent to work with, please?

Sam Claflin is also good here, but as a testament to how woke we have all become, my first comment upon seeing him was “why didn’t they cast a quadriplegic actor?” and the question still stands. We need more representation for people with disabilities!!! This is one of those things I struggle to unsee nowadays. Aside from this, Will is fine as a character and Claflin and Clarke are cute enough together. The main problem I had with the film was the lack of development of any of the relationships we are meant to care about. Will goes from despising Lou and her perky personality to being pretty f****** chummy with her after they watch a film together on a rainy day. Before we know it, she’s sitting on his knee while he spins around the dance floor in his wheelchair. I just didn’t believe it, so I couldn’t take it seriously. There’s no real basis to their bond – they’re just around each other a lot and for this reason we’re expected to believe they’re head over heels in love? Then, Lou’s supposedly close relationship with her family. They want to show us a super tight-knit, quirky family and again I just didn’t believe it, especially at the end when Lou made a decision she knew would upset them deeply and we never saw any of them again or found out what happened. It just made no sense at all and it was disappointing. So, she just sacked off her entire family for someone she’s known for a few months, not giving a shit about their feelings? Nah. Without spoiling anything, the ethics of what Will arguably did to Lou are also completely skated over. All I could think when he did his big reveal on their nice holiday was wow you’re kind of a dickhead??? Why let her get involved with you??? It just didn’t sit well with me. This is a very sensitive subject, and it wasn’t handled super well in my opinion.

A couple of quick notes – Lou’s outfits were adorable, but there was rather too much Ed Sheeran for my liking. Also, I know Patrick was kind of a dick but did anyone else feel sorry for him? Like what the f*** happened there??

There’s not much more to say about this film. It is highly entertaining and superbly cheesy and kind of cute in some parts. Usually I’m a sucker for a love story and it doesn’t take a lot to make me cry, but I was dry-eyed on this occasion. Maybe it’s because I wanted to be a girl watching a ridiculous film with somebody way more emotionally invested than I was, just a few minutes more.

*you can watch this on Netflix. I know this isn’t a rave review, but go and see it anyway. It’s a good way to piss away an evening.