Set in the UK, the film is shot in various historic locations around the country, including Pembroke Castle in Wales, and Chenies Manor House in Buckinghamshire, England. The film was released on June 3, 2016, in the US, received mixed reviews on Metacritic and grossed $207 million worldwide.
Plot
26-year-old Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) is a happy, outgoing woman who lives with and supports her working-class family. After losing her job at a local cafe, she is hired as the caregiver of Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a former successful banker and once active young man who became paralyzed after being involved in a motorcycle accident two years prior. Louisa has no experience but Will's mother believes her cheery personality will help lift his spirits. Will only spends time with Nathan, his nurse, who assists with his care, exercise and movement and knows that he will never regain use of his body due to the damage to his spinal cord.Cynical and depressed because he can no longer live an active life, he initially reacts coldly to Louisa's upbeat demeanor and treats her with contempt. After two weeks, Will has a visit from his former best friend Rupert and ex-girlfriend Alicia who reveal that they are engaged. Will manages to smash all the photographs on his dresser in anger and indignation, which Louisa tries to repair the next day, leading to a verbal altercation during which Louisa chastises him for being an arse. The next day, Will asks Louisa to watch a film with subtitles with him, and she accepts. The two begin to bond and eventually become close friends. Louisa and Will continue to talk daily; she learns that he is cultured and worldly, having traveled extensively. In contrast, her life so far has been simple, without many interests or hobbies or travel away from home. Her long-term boyfriend, Patrick (Matthew Lewis), is training to take part in a Viking triathlon in Norway, a hobby that he often chooses over spending time with her. Will urges Louisa to broaden her horizons and tells her that it's her responsibility to live life as fully as possible.
While taking care of him during one of his occasional illnesses, Louisa notices Will's scarred wrists from a previous suicide attempt. While at work one day, Louisa overhears an argument of Will's parents and she learns that Will has given his parents six months before checking in to Dignitas in Switzerland for assisted suicide. Will refuses to accept life with a disability that entails dependency, pain and suffering without any hope for recovery of his old self. Louisa then takes it upon herself to change his mind. She organizes various trips and adventures to show Will that life is worth living, despite his disability. Will gradually becomes more communicative and open to her plans. The pair attends the horse-racing, with disastrous consequences and a few days afterwards, goes to a Mozart concert. Will then decides to attend Alicia's wedding and asks Louisa to accompany him. At the wedding, Louisa and Will enjoy offending the straight-laced guests. Louisa learns from the bride's godmother that she considers Will to be Alicia's 'one that got away'.
Will joins Louisa's family for dinner on her birthday, where they learn that Louisa's father had lost his job in a leveraged buyout that happened to have been organized by a younger associate of Will. Shortly thereafter Louisa's father is offered the head of maintenance job at Stortfold Castle which belongs to Will's family and Louisa realizes that Will is trying to help her secure her freedom from her family. Gradually they develop strong feelings for one another, which makes Patrick jealous and causes problems in Louisa's long-standing relationship, leading to their break-up.
During a luxurious trip to the island of Mauritius together, undertaken after another bout with pneumonia and with help from Will's male nurse, Will informs Louisa that he still intends to follow through with the euthanasia. He wants her to live a full life instead of "half a life" with him. He says their time together has been special, but he cannot bear to live in a wheelchair. He asks her to accompany him to Switzerland to be with him through his last moments. Heartbroken, she informs Will's parents upon arrival in London that she is quitting immediately and travels back to her home by bus. She does not speak to Will for the days that follow. However, at home, Louisa's father convinces her to go to Will in Switzerland. She finds out that he has already left for Switzerland, and decides to go to Switzerland herself to be with Will in his final moments.
A few weeks after Will's death, sitting in his favorite cafe in Paris, she rereads the letter Will left for her. In it he encourages her to seek out a specific perfume shop and ends off the letter with 'just live', which she can afford to do because he has left her enough money to follow her dreams.
Plot Summary
SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. This one-page guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.English author and journalist Jojo Moyes published the romance novel Me Before You (2012) after caring for her two relatives who were quadriplegics. The novel, which became a blockbuster film in 2016, follows a young Englishwoman caring for and eventually falling in love with a paralyzed man who has chosen to end his life soon.
Themes in Me Before You include bravery in facing death, the power of love to expand one’s introspective abilities, and the strictures of physical and social limits.
Set in the beginning of 2009, twenty-six-year-old Louisa “Lou” Clark is a working-class woman who, after the café she works at closes, and unable to stand the factory jobs available to her, takes a job as a “care assistant” to the son of a wealthy English family. Louisa is affable, but sort of a quack: she wears odd clothes, tells corny jokes, and rarely can conceal her emotions.
Louisa is to care for Will Traynor, who, at thirty-five, has been paralyzed from the neck down for two years after a motorcycle hit him. Will, who had led an action-packed life thanks to his intelligence and wealth, is angry at the world and wants nothing more than to die. Before the accident, Will climbed rocks at Yosemite, swam in Iceland’s volcanic hot springs, and had his pick of any gorgeous model out there. But now, he is incapable of moving, feeding himself, or having sex.
His mother, Camilla, employs Louisa to rekindle his joy for life; another full-time nurse, Nathan, already sees to his medical requirements. Camilla is married to Steven, a friendly businessman; their marriage is on the rocks and further stressed by Will’s situation.
Louisa is not the most adventurous of heroines. After a rude interaction with a mob of men at twenty, Louisa fears to venture out of the confines of her own small town. She still lives with her mother. The family’s youngest, Katrina, also lives with their mother. Katrina, “Treena,” is a single mother, and Louisa chooses to sleep in a closet so that Katrina and her daughter can have the larger room. Though Treena is unemployed, Louisa often feels overshadowed by Treena because her younger sister is so outgoing and garrulous.
Will is an emotionally combative man whom Louisa does not want to work for, but her family’s impoverished situation encourages her to take the job anyway. A resentful Will often makes snippy comments to Louisa, whom he curtly calls, “Clark.” He becomes especially caustic after his former girlfriend, Alicia, becomes engaged to his best friend, Rupert.
Despite their rocky start, Louisa and Will start to bond over the stories they share. One day, Louisa overhears Camilla and Will’s sister talking about Will’s suicide attempt. He attempted to cut himself and bleed to death after Camilla refused to hire an end-of-life company, Dignitias, to assist with his suicide. Camilla, in agony over his wish to die, agrees to honor his wish, but only if he lives for six more months. Louisa pretends not to know about Camilla’s plan. She does tell Treena about it, and the two brainstorm ways that they can show Will that life, even in his current state, is worth living.
Louisa takes Will out on more outings, and the two grow closer. Over time, Will encourages Louisa to lead the kind of adventurous life he is unable to lead anymore. She demands that he tell her precisely how to be adventurous, a subtle way for Louisa to show him that life is still worth living.
Meanwhile, Louisa has problems at home. Her father loses his job, but fortunately, Mr. Traynor quickly offers him a position at one of his companies. Louisa’s boyfriend, Patrick, aware of the growing intimacy she has with Will, breaks up with her.
At Alicia and Rupert’s wedding, the two dance and flirt in front of everyone. Will says to Louisa that she is the only reason he wakes up in the morning.
Will draws Louisa out of her shell enough to join the local library, which she has been avoiding because of several awful memories. With the computer, she joins messaging boards for care assistants and quadriplegics. From these emails, Louisa realizes that they are not alone in their struggles, and she is filled with a stronger urge to connect with the rest of the world.
They plan to go on several vacations, but Will contracts a terrible case of pneumonia and remains at the hospital. At the hospital, Louisa contemplates his calluses that tell of a life of adventure. The unusual situation has forced this unambitious young woman to consider topics she normally never would: love, mortality, and making the most of life.
When he recovers, Louisa decides to tone down their plans to travel the world and to go to Mauritius, a beautiful island off the east coast of Africa. Louisa says she loves Will. He does not say anything. She confesses she is aware of his plans to die through Dignitias. Will says he loves her, but he cannot live in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Louisa is hurt and angered by this. She storms off, refusing to speak to him for the rest of the trip.
When they return to England, Louisa resigns. Will’s parents, while initially delighted to see he is in better physical shape from the vacation, are crestfallen at Louisa’s resignation; they know she was their last hope for Will’s survival.
Louisa visits Will the day before he is to fly to Switzerland to end his life. They agree the past six months have been the happiest of their lives.
After his death, Louisa receives a large sum of money from Will to continue her education and live life to the fullest. The novel ends a few weeks later with Louisa in the Paris café that was Will’s favorite. In the letter, he tells her to buy a specific perfume he always thought would go well with her, and exhorts her to not think of him too often and to “live well.”
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