Me Without You

"...best friends forever?"

2001 1h 47m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🍅

68%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 63🍅68%Rotten Tomatoes●67Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 4,890

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During a long, hot summer in seventies London, young neighbors Holly and Marina make a childhood pact to be friends forever. For Marina, troubled, fiercely independent, determined to try everything, Holly stays the only constant in a life of divorcing parents, experimental drugs and fashionable self-destruction. But for Holly, a friendship that has never been equal gradually starts to feel like a trap.

“...best friends forever?”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Anna Friel
Marina
Michelle Williams
Holly
Oliver Milburn
Nat
Trudie Styler
Linda
Marianne Denicourt
Isabel
Steve John Shepherd
Carl
Allan Corduner
Max
Nicky Henson
Ray

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sandra Goldbacher
Writers: Sandra Goldbacher, Laurence Coriat
Languages: English
Countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Sandra Goldbacher, shot by Denis Crossan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Adrian Johnston. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Ellis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anna Friel and Michelle Williams and Oliver Milburn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "...best friends forever?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0263725 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sandra Goldbacher directs. Denis Crossan behind the camera. Adrian Johnston scores. Michael Ellis cuts. Produced in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

125 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 4 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom.
3Directed by Sandra Goldbacher, shot by Denis Crossan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Adrian Johnston. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Michael Ellis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Anna Friel and Michelle Williams and Oliver Milburn carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "...best friends forever?".
8IMDB entry: tt0263725 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "friendship", "1970s", "female friendship", "romance".

The technical file

Cinematography: Denis Crossan
Original score: Adrian Johnston
Editing: Michael Ellis
Production design: Michael Carlin
Costume design: Rosie Hackett
Runtime: 107 min · 1h 47m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Me Without You (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes: 68% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 67/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 4,890 votes
MPAA: R
US box office: $304,909

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award3 nominations total

Also by

Sandra Goldbacher

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-06-04
★ 6/10
This is one of those films that is so riddled with stupid personal choices from the characters that I lost interest fairly quickly. We start in the early 1970s as "Marina" (Anna's Poppelwell then Friel) and best friend "Holly" (Ella Jones then Michelle Williams) grow up together. The former girl has an absentee (pilot) father and a mother who is great fun - so long as she can pop a valium or two. The latter girl is a bit more stable, and it's that stability that provides "Marina" with a rudder through her increasingly Bohemian life. Each time she messes up, "Holly" is there to the rescue. Gradually, though, the penny drops for "Holly" as she realises that her own life is being subsumed into that of her friend. They even end up sharing blokes, wittingly and otherwise. The challenge for "Holly" now is how to assert herself and live her own life without her mate doing her own version of the Hindenburg. It's quite wittily poignant at times, but the inherently repetitive nature of the frying pan to fire scenarios and the unlikable nature of both of these women didn't really do it many favours as it trundles along. In principle, it addresses the complexities of addiction - not just booze and pills, but for an affection not just related to sex. In practice, though, it's a messy and incomplete analysis of two uninteresting people surrounded by men who all seemed to deserve each other. There's also far too much dialogue and after a while it just starts to fade into a background of mediocrity with the rest of this. Not for me, sorry.

Production companies