The Sundance  Film Festival has had a lot of filmmakers and films break out from the festival over its long existence. Love Me is the latest film with an interesting premise from two filmmakers who started out doing shorts for the festival and owe their careers to the festival. Andrew and Sam Zuchero are the writers/directors of this film and it’s not the type of movie you’d see every day.

During a post-apocalyptic time period the planet is in recovery when an environment buoy named me regains its sentience. While passing over the planet a satellite named Iam comes in contact with the buoy. They strike up a friendship as Iam passes over Me each day. They get to talking and come to realize they like each other. Me uses a couple on social media Deja and Liam as the model for their relationship but it doesn’t take very long to start having issues.

The writer/directors use a few different methods to tell the story of these two beings. The first is the normal situation of the buoy and satellite far apart from one another. One In space and the other floating in water on earth. Another way they communicate and have intimacy is through computer animation. The animation is a bit mundane but it suffices for what the directors are going for. The third is the social media influencer the characters are modeled after. This gives a threefold way for viewers to understand where these characters are coming from regarding their relationship. 

Even though there are three different ways we see these beings, the story brings out their story very nicely.  The film shows various sides of the two. Tender, sad, angry, and happy are all emotions these two process even though they aren’t real beings by our normal standards of what we call real life. Having been around a lot of couples in my day I can honestly say the writing was spot on regarding how these two characters interacted. They came across like anybody I would have known in my everyday life. They argue and makeup and everything in between. 

Kristen Stewart has come a long way since her days as Bella Thorn in the Twilight Franchise. She has chosen her roles very well. They aren’t the most obvious kinds of roles you’d think she’d pick but that was on purpose. She wanted to distance herself from that worldwide phenomenon as much as she could. Roles in The Runaways as Joan Jett, Personal Shopper Maureen Cartwright, and Diana Spencer in Spencer have proven she’s a great actress. Her role in Love Me is another brilliant choice on her part.

Steven Yeun came on the scene as Glenn the guy hiding under the tank in The Walking Dead but he’s done some great things since then, including winning an Emmy for his role in the Netflix miniseries Beef. He, like Stewart, was trying to distance himself from such an IP as The Walking Dead. Roles in Minari, as a Korean father who moved his family to rural Arkansas, Burning, as Ben who has a perchance for setting things on fire and a theme park owner in Nope. All of these roles show diversity in his choice of characters. The same goes for his character in this movie. It’s completely different than anything he’s ever done before.

Love Me isn’t going to be for everybody. It has an interesting premise that most people may not be able to get behind. If you give it a chance like I did you’ll find it has a sweet love story at its core. Stewart and Yuen as a buoy and a satellite give two great performances. The writers/directors use unorthodox methods to tell their story and bring it to life, but the final product shows they have a lot of potential as filmmakers. This movie is so different from anything I’ve ever seen before but it hit me in the feels like I never expected. I can’t say enough how much enjoyment I got out of this little film. Love comes in all shapes and sizes and this little love story shows how that is possible. Love triumphs over everything. 

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen