BINGE’s first homegrown original production Love Me is a stunning portrayal of love through the ages. The six-part drama may seem unassuming at first, but the story that centres on three separate family members and the love they experience at different stages of their lives is one that should not be missed.
The Mathiesons include 30-something-year-old Clara, Glen who is in his 60s and Aaron who is navigating his youth in his 20s. Three different age groups, but they all have one thing in common: They find themselves at an emotional crossroad after an unexpected incident changes their lives forever.
The brilliant Bojana Novakovic (I, Tonya) plays quick-witted Clara, who uses self-depreciation to avoid thinking about how quickly her 40s are approaching. Hit with the realisation that her high-profile career may have hurt her family, the protagonist has plenty to ponder on.
What Love Me gets right is creating characters and experiences that viewers can relate to. After a string of bad dating app experiences, Clara is on the verge of giving up.
“I’m done,” Clara vents to her best friend Sascha (Celia Pacquola of Rosehaven, The Beautiful Lie). “I just want one. One grown up man.”
At some point in every woman’s life, they have the exact same conversation with the one they’re closest to, and the scene works as a reminder of exactly that.
The brilliant Hugo Weaving truly steals every shot he’s in, playing the role of Clara’s father Glen perfectly. But what the show does so well is that Weaving’s character isn’t just reduced to a parental figure who shows up whenever their child needs advice. Instead, he is also attempting to manoeuvre through his love life after his wife Christine, who had been chronically ill for years, passed away.
Very few shows and movies portray “senior” romance, let alone explicit sex scenes between two people who are in their 60s. Love Me does both, while also highlighting dysfunctional family dynamics.
Christine was shown to be bitter before her death, causing a lot of strain on her relationship with her daughter and husband. The youngest, Aaron on the other hand, was close with his mother, and with grief visiting the Mathieson’s in different ways, he doesn’t appreciate that others aren’t reacting to the loss the same way as him.
Love Me is a story of love across three generations, and with its thoughtful production design and beautiful cinematography, the series hits all the right boxes without being overbearing. Its character-driven writing and the phenomenal cast are set to land this show on the top of your must-watch list.
Love Me is now streaming only on BINGE.
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