Film review: Thought-provoking romantic drama Me Before You tug at your heartstrings

Emilia Clarke, left, and Sam Claflin star in the romantic drama Me Before You. Alex Bailey / Warner Bros. Pictures

Me Before You

Director: Thea Sharrock

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Charles Dance

Three stars

British cinema is well-known for its romantic comedies. Most often, they feature writer-­director Richard Curtis and/or star Hugh Grant. However, the old-­fashioned romantic tear-jerker is a rarity these days.

Based on the best-selling novel by Jojo Moyes, Me Before You sets out to fill that gap. It's the sort of film where, as the credits roll and the lights come up, you will hear quiet sniffling all round the cinema – even from the men.

Emilia Clarke, the British actress best known as self-assured "khaleesi" Daenerys Targaryen on HBO's fantasy hit Game of Thrones, swaps her flaxen locks from that role for her natural brunette hair, a sweet smile and a kooky wardrobe to play Lou.

When she loses her job as a waitress, she finds gainful employment from a well-to-do ­couple (played by Janet McTeer and Clarke's former Game of Thrones co-star Charles Dance) who hire her to help look after their grown-up son, Will (Sam Claflin).

Fiercely intelligent, Will is also embittered and cynical after a road accident left him paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.

In an early scene he meets his ex-fiancée (Vanessa Kirby), who tells him she is marrying his best friend. Your sympathy automatically is with Will – but then you quickly discover his ex spent months after his accident trying to support and console him, to no avail.

At first Will gives Lou a hard time, like every other carer who has crossed his path. But this eternally optimistic small-town girl refuses to give up. It doesn’t take a genius to predict that feelings will gradually grow between this mismatched pair, as Lou even takes Will to meet her family.

But there’s a twist: unable to live this way, and despite his feelings for Lou, Will is determined to end his life at Dignitas, the real-life Swiss facility for assisted suicide.

Adapted from her own book by Moyes, it's heartening to see that Me Before You doesn't compromise on this more hard-hitting element of the story. What might irk some viewers are the film's more chocolate-box elements: Will's parents are impossibly wealthy (castles, private jets and paradise holidays all feature) – it might have been easier to empathise with his awful plight if he and his family did not have every financial advantage available.

Directed by first-time director Thea Sharrock (who has a distinguished career in the theatre), Me Before You concentrates on drawing strong performances out of its leads.

Best known for his turn as Finnick in The Hunger Games movies, Claflin is highly credible as Will – deftly walking a tightrope between winning our hearts and breaking them.

Clarke is also charming, although frequent close-ups on her face, as her eyebrows wriggle, do her few favours.

There is fine support too: from former Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman as Lou's sister, Katrina, and Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis as her athletic boyfriend (yes, she has a partner, adding to the romantic intrigue), who adds a much-needed element of comic relief.

Airily shot and edited, it's a guilty-pleasure of a movie – one that aims to be a modern-day Love Story or Beaches but perhaps falls a little short of realising such lofty aspirations.

For all its flaws, though, it does tug furiously at those ­heartstrings.