Me Without You

Me Without You is a fascinating lament about toxic female friendships. This story starts out with the main characters, Marina (played by Anna Friel) and Holly (played by Michelle Philips) as grade school BFFS in England in the mid seventies. They spend all of their time together and even dub themselves Harina; merging their names into one. As the years move along we see our girls as precocious teens, full of brooding and in love with punk. Marina is dubbed as the pretty, outgoing one who will always get whatever she wants either by charm or by her looks. Holly is the shy, bookish one who follows Marina’s lead in most situations; wishing she could be more like her. Marina has a cool older brother, Nat; that of course Holly is secretly in love with. Marina overhears about a party her brother will be attending and that members of the Clash are supposed to be at as well. The two girls dawn their best garbage bag outfits and spiked hair to crash this incredible party; that turns out only to be a bunch of her brother’s friends, doing drugs and playing records quite loudly. Desperate to seem cool, Marina tries heroin for the first time. While Marina is in her dream, Holly allows herself to be used by her love interest Nat for drunken sex. Marina stumbles upon the scene and becomes enraged at her friend. Nat does have a conscience afterall and gives Marina a note to pass to Holly about his feelings. Naturally Marina rips it up and never tells Holly, allowing her to believe she was used.

Skip forward to college, the girls are at the same school in the 80’s and still besties. Holly crushes her literature professor Daniel (played by Kyle McLaughlin) and tries to impress him with her intellectual prowess. He is impressed by her absolutely, however out of jealousy Marina seduces Daniel into bed with her behind her BFF’s back. Eventually Holly begins a secret affair with Daniel as well, and the rub is that neither girl knows the other is sleeping with the professor. As things would have it Marina’s older brother Nat shows up, distraught over a relationship with a narcissistic French actress that won’t love him back. Next we know Holly and Nat have picked up where they left off, and Nat is begging Holly to be with him. She explains that she is seeing someone, but Nat is her one true love so she will break it off with the professor. She goes to the professors house only to find Marina leaving his flat and passionately kissing him on the stairs. Holly is beside herself with heartbreak that her best friend would do this to her. So much so that she discards Nat’s love in the process; sending him sprinting back into the arms of the French actress. The years play on, and the two are constantly intertwined in one sick mind bending toxic relationship after the other; until Holly can’t take it anymore and decides to move to the states to start over. When Marina finds this out she goes into thermonuclear melt down mode and begins begging with all of her might not to be left behind. You’ll have to watch and see what happens to the two friends when one stands against the other finally. Blazing HOT soundtrack is worth it. Excellently written.