Love Me

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

With a really interesting concept, the movie offers some genuinely interesting concepts and ideas, yet, feels a little messy. The filmmakers clearly have a creative concept about the approach of love relationships and technology. To which the narrative, while does get a little unfocused on some of the themes and structures, does provide some interesting components to engage with. The performances from Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun are really good as Stewart and Yeun have really good chemistry between one another.

There are some good uses of computer effects, editing style and color presentations. There are uses of animation throughout and honestly, the animation looks fine but it does feel like something from a cheap mobile app design which was a little distracting. There are some good dialogue moments but some moments feeling a little too fake. Some of the editing choices were a little annoying.

For sure, the movie is definitely creative and while I wished the movie was a little more focused on some of the themes and certain aspects did feel too slow, I still was invested because of Stewart and Yeun's strong chemistry and the filmmakers being able to create something that is different.

After an apocalyptic event, a buoy designed to record water temperature (Kristen Stewart) and a communications satellite (Steven Yeun) are the only sentient beings left on earth. In the opening of "Love Me," they make contact through what remains of the internet. The two start out chatting, relying on their existing programming. Eventually, they create primitive avatars that interact in a world they've created. Both really want this relationship to work. They scan available data sources to discover what it takes to create and sustain a relationship. In a tragic development, Stewart's character, who imaginatively identifies herself as "Me," comes across a too-cute self-absorbed vlogger named Deja, whose relationship with boyfriend Liam is hardly a role model for anything constructive. Fortunately, Yeun's character, called "Iam" (see what they did there?!), isn't into over-sharing.

"Love Me" is the feature film debut for Co-Writers/Co-Directors Sam and Andrew Zuchero, a husband and wife team. For this film, they've obviously developed a bold, audacious and completely unique concept. I wish the ideas here were more fully developed.

It's more than a little ironic that "Love Me," a film so decidedly out-of-the-box, brings to mind so many other works. In its creation and execution, "Love Me" reminds me a little of "Wall-E." In its exploration of what it means to be human, it evokes "The Creator" and "After Yang." The "New York Times" points out that "Love Me" is superficially similar to another current show, the Broadway musical "Maybe Happy Ending." (Full disclosure: my nephew co-wrote the musical.) But while the musical is tightly focused on a couple of key themes - love, death, the risks/rewards of relationships - "Love Me" is all over the place.

This film has a dizzying array of ideas spinning around in its orbit. Perhaps it's just too much, because it fails to explore anything fully. That's too bad, because some of the ideas in "Love Me" show real promise. The film implies that looking to TikTok for relationship advice may not be the best option. Fair point. It clearly supports the notion that before developing a healthy bond with another, one must do the hard work of gaining self-respect and a sense of self-worth. Terrific. "Love Me" also does an excellent job depicting the palpable need for connection with others that occurs when these inanimate objects meet. Inspired. But the film does nothing to excavate these ideas in ways that offer greater depth or a new point of view. As a result, the final product is surprisingly soulless. While I was intrigued to see how this story unfolded, I had no emotional investment in what happened between these two characters.

There are, however, some funny moments. Apparently, the story takes place over six billion years (or 6000 years, if you're a Young Earth Creationist). At one point, Me and Iam become estranged because the buoy sinks and the signal is lost. The two have to wait a few eons for all the water on earth to evaporate so connection can be restored. As they work to rekindle the relationship, Iam observes that he's had several million years to reflect on what's gone wrong in the past and what he really needs in a relationship.

Ultimately, "Love Me" is a wonderful concept that's never fully realized. Although some elements of the film don't work, it's an exhilarating diversion from the steady diet of slasher films and superhero movies Hollywood is force-feeding us. More Zucheros, please!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ **Hauntingly Beautiful, Though Not As Tragic As It Could Be**

*Love Me*, starring the always captivating Kristen Stewart and the incredibly nuanced Steven Yeun, is a visually mesmerizing and emotionally intriguing film. The performances alone are worth the full five stars-both actors deliver deeply layered portrayals that linger long after the credits roll. Their chemistry is haunting and intimate, carrying the film even through its slower or more ambiguous moments.

That said, the story itself felt a bit mediocre. I found myself wishing it had leaned harder into tragedy-there were so many opportunities for deeper emotional devastation that the film seemed to pull back from. With a concept this bold and actors this talented, a more tragic arc could have elevated it from memorable to unforgettable.

Still, *Love Me* is an experience. It's strange, slow-burning, and laced with melancholy-just not quite as heart-wrenching as I hoped.

Love Me (2025) is a science fiction romance movie and it was very mediocre.

Positives for Love Me (2025): Steven Yuen and Kristen Stewart do have good chemistry with each other. There are some interesting things being explored in the movie. The movie has good pacing. And finally, I liked the futuristic look of certain scenes and they were interesting.

Negatives for Love Me (2025): There are things in the movie that I found to be weird. I failed to understand the whole point of the story. And finally, the timeline of the movie doesn't really make any sense.

Overall, Love Me (2025) is a mix bag of things I liked and things I disliked.

I can swear that the directors have watched melodysheep on YouTube.

The beginning showing the timeline of earth has a similar feel to their videos on YouTube not even mentioning the font used to show the years.

That's all. Just find it interesting.

Just started watching the movie, let's see how it goes!

I love both Kristen and Steven so this should be a good time. Just filling in the words now for word count. The robots look cute.

Is it decided that the theory of another planet (theia) colliding with earth been adopted as working theory? I don't know

With the asteriod coming in 2032, we will see how it goes.