
‘Love Me' movie finds unconventional lovers on quest for meaning
LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (Reuters) - For 'Love Me' actor Kristen Stewart, the overall message of the film remains a mystery.
"I'm not sure what the movie's trying to say ultimately,' the "Twilight" actor said.
She believes, however, the film may be asserting that no one wants to be isolated and they often seek to be like one another. 'Of course, we want to be not so alone,' she added.
'Love Me' is a futuristic drama about an existential romance between a smart buoy, portrayed by Stewart, and a satellite, portrayed by 'Beef' actor Steven Yeun, as they try to become more human by delving into archives of modern-day social media long after humanity has died out.
The buoy and the satellite, who name themselves Me and Iam, mold their identities by emulating an influencer couple they discover called Deja and Liam, also played by Stewart and Yeun, whose lives appear perfect.
'Love Me,' distributed by Bleeker Street, arrives in theaters on Friday and is written and directed by wife and husband Sam and Andrew Zuchero, who are first-time feature film directors.
"They're not trying to be fake, they're trying to be real,' Yeun said, referring to Me and Iam's cheesy expressions of romance.
Me and Iam are thousands of miles away at the beginning of the film but eventually share space as avatars before evolving into something more human.
For Stewart and Yeun, it meant spending months in motion-capture suits playing their ever-evolving avatars from undeveloped renderings to realistic human beings.
Yeun was unaware that he would be doing any motion capture, so it was a bit of a shock to him.
"There was no way to get around it. You're like, 'Yeah, I'm wearing this weird bodysuit,' and that's just what it is," he said.
Sam Zuchero hopes the film will make people examine how social media has changed humanity.
"Prior to the internet, people saw you in different ways, in different spheres of your life. So, you could pull from those different spheres to create self. But now, self is like in one area and it's one thing," she said.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
David Beckham reaction to knighthood joke in front of King Charles says it all
David Beckham and his wife Victoria are reportedly set to be given knighthoods in King Charles' Birthday Honours List next week, with Sir Rod Stewart's brutal joke seemingly coming true Sir Rod Stewart's light-hearted prediction about David Beckham's getting a knighthood - made right in front of King Charles - looks to be coming true. Reports have emerged that Beckham is set to receive a knighthood in the King's upcoming Birthday Honours. The former England footballer had previously been considered for the merit several times, but was never included on the final list. In 2017, Beckham's apparent disappointment at being overlooked became public when a trove of contentious emails - allegedly from him - were leaked. Bearing that history in mind, Stewart, who was knighted in 2016 for his contributions to music and philanthropy, made a playful jab at Beckham during an event they attended alongside the British monarch. During the award presentation at a ceremony for 'The King's Foundation', Stewart quipped in front of the King: "I am also wonderfully honoured to be a knight, and David, yours is coming soon." Beckham, amused, was seen smiling and shaking his head, taking the joke in good spirits - even in the King's presence. Now, new reports indicate that Stewart's prediction was accurate. According to The Sun, Beckham will officially become a 'Sir' next week, while Victoria Beckham is expected to be styled as "Lady Beckham". The 50-year-old was named an ambassador to the King's Foundation last year, further solidifying his relationship with the royal family. Recent public moments suggest a friendly rapport between Beckham and the King. At the Chelsea Flower Show last month, the King asked Beckham: "You got it, didn't you?" referring to a birthday gift. Beckham responded: "It was incredible, thank you. It was very kind." Beyond his footballing achievements in England - 115 caps for the Three Lions, plus various trophy-laden stints at Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain - Beckham has made a mark as a football executive, co-founding Inter Miami in MLS, home to Lionel Messi. He has also championed numerous charitable causes, particularly through UNICEF, and was awarded an OBE in 2003. However, it has taken over two decades for that to be elevated to knighthood. His prospects took a hit in 2017 following the publication of controversial emails allegedly written by him. One message reportedly said he "didn't care about being knighted," and another read: "It's a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would of [sic] got something like this 10 years ago." Beckham later claimed some of the messages had been tampered with. A friend told the Mirror at the time: "To be honest, he does feel that he has given so much to his country... you don't really mean it. "While he was frustrated in those emails, he was over it the moment he sent them. Getting the knighthood is not what his work is about. He doesn't care if he gets a knighthood or not." Typically, honours recipients are notified weeks in advance, so Beckham and his wife may already know of the honour. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.


Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Billionaire owner's brutal put-down of racing sheikh in ongoing public feud
Mike Repole shared a video of Sheikh Fahad Al Thani falling off a horse in a charity race at Newmarket after he stuck up for rival owner John Stewart A billionaire racehorse owner has brutally put down a racing sheikh after he intervened in an ongoing public feud with another rival. Mike Repole is one of the most successful owners in US horse racing. The New Yorker, who sold his drinks manufacturing businesses to Coca Cola for nearly £8 billion, poured his fortune into establishing a racing stable which has produced star names such as Uncle Mo and Breeders' Cup winners Fierceness and Forte. In the last 12 months he has been engaged in increasingly spiky exchanges on social media with a relative newcomer to the sport, John Stewart. Former Toyota production line worker Stewart, who runs his own private equity business, has spent millions establishing his Resolute Racing racing and breeding operation since 2023. The vocal Repole has branded himself the 'commissioner' of horse racing in the US who is committed to unifying the factions in the sport but his banter with Stewart has become increasingly bitter. Last year, after Stewart described Repole as 'divisive', the New Yorker responded by calling his rival an 'arrogant, free spending new kid on the block' and a 'shallow rich guy'. Stewart, who last year added the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Goliath to his string, is sponsoring races this weekend at the Belmont Stakes fixture at Saratoga. He explained he had become involved for 'for the horseplayers and the fans. Without the horseplayers and the fans the sport doesn't exist in the US.' He added: 'There are enough 'look at me' people in the horse industry that are just in it for what they can get from it. 'I believe that in order to be a true participant in horse racing you have to support the broader industry. I am not a breed to sell operation and we don't stand stallions so some may argue that we shouldn't sponsor races. 'Resolute sponsors races for the same reason we participate in stallions shares and hold free promotional events for fans and industry participants. 'I want Resolute to promote the sport and to engage with others. Of course we like winning races and we do, but we like handing out trophies to others and celebrating others success.' Repole could not resist commenting on the post, and responded: 'I have to give credit where credit is due. In the 150 year history of Thoroughbred Racing, Little John is the ONLY owner to ever sponsor more races than he has won!!!!! This is an historic and epic feat that will never be duplicated!!!!! 'I am ashamed and embarrassed to admit that Repole Stable has won over 1000 career races, over 100 stake races, Classics, Breeders Cups, won the Travers 2x, Multiple Eclipse Awards etc, etc, and NEVER sponsored a race. 'I would like to 'sincerely' apologize to my family, friends, all of Gioia's stuffed animals and the Thoroughbred industry for any embarrassment I have caused you by consistently winning races. Will you forgive me?' Rallying to Stewart's side, Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, whose Qatar Racing is a partner in some of Stewart's horses and who through Qipco has been a major sponsor in Britain, remarked: 'At least someone gives back to the races. We all have to do our part not just take.' But Repole dug up a clip of Sheikh Fahad falling off his horse and crashing through the rail during the 2017 Newmarket Town Plate. The sheikh suffered minor cuts to his head and face. He said: 'Sheikh Fahad, I will take the high road on this disappointing post, because we both know this is untrue. I am just happy you and the horse were both OK after this incident.' He signed it :'Mike From Queens.'


Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Health Rounds: Roche's Tecentriq reduces recurrence, deaths for certain colon cancer patients
June 6 (Reuters) - (This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here.) Adding Roche's (ROG.S), opens new tab immunotherapy drug Tecentriq to chemotherapy after surgery in certain patients whose colon cancer had spread to the lymph nodes led to a 50% reduction in cancer recurrence and death compared to chemotherapy alone, according to trial data presented at recent medical meeting. Patients in the study had tumors with a genetic defect known as deficient DNA mismatch repair, or dMMR. About 15% of colon cancer patients have dMMR tumors, which do not respond well to chemotherapy. "The findings from our study represent a major advance in the adjuvant treatment of dMMR stage 3 colon cancer and will now change the treatment for this type of cancer," study leader Dr. Frank Sinicrope of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota said in a statement. The data, opens new tab were presented at the ASCO meeting that concluded earlier this week. The trial enrolled 712 patients with dMMR stage 3 colon cancer that had been surgically removed and who had cancer cells in their lymph nodes. Half of the study participants received chemotherapy along with Tecentriq, which activates the immune system to attack and kill cancer cells, for six months, followed by the immunotherapy alone for another six months. The other half of the patients received chemotherapy for 12 months. The benefit of Tecentriq was seen even in the oldest patients and those at particularly high-risk. "It's extremely rewarding to be able to offer our patients a new treatment regimen that can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve their chances of survival," Sinicrope said. As patients recover after a minimally invasive heart procedure, they might be better off continuing to take a certain type of blood-thinning drug to help prevent a heart attack or stroke, instead of continuing with the traditional aspirin, a new study suggests. Early after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) - a procedure to prop open blocked arteries either after a heart attack, or to prevent one - patients often receive dual anti-clotting therapy with both a P2Y12 inhibitor such as clopidogrel, the generic version of Plavix, or AstraZeneca's (AZN.L), opens new tab Brilinta (ticagrelor), and aspirin. After several months, patients are usually switched from dual therapy to lifelong daily aspirin use. But pooled data looking at patients who took part in five earlier clinical trials found that continuing to prescribe the P2Y12 inhibitors and stopping the aspirin was associated with lower rates of death, heart attack and stroke compared with continuing the aspirin, with no increased risk of major bleeding, researchers reported in The BMJ, opens new tab. Overall, the trials involved 16,117 patients who received either a P2Y12 inhibitor or aspirin after completing dual therapy following PCI. After an average follow-up period of around 4 years, P2Y12 inhibitor therapy was associated with a 23% lower risk of a composite of heart-related death, heart attack, or stroke, compared with aspirin, with no significant difference in major bleeding. That translates into one prevented cardiovascular death, heart attack, or stroke for every 46 patients taking a P2Y12 inhibitor instead of aspirin after dual therapy. Overall, the findings suggest that P2Y12 inhibitor drugs should be preferred over aspirin 'due to reductions in major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events without increasing major bleeding in the medium term,' according to an editorial published with the study. But the editorial said that since patients are advised to continue the post-PCI therapy for life, large trials directly comparing the different strategies with longer follow up are needed. Some diabetes and weight-loss drugs from the class known as GLP-1 agonists were linked with a small but elevated risk for an age-related eye disease in patients with diabetes, according to a study published on Thursday in JAMA Ophthalmology, opens new tab. In 139,000 patients with diabetes, including 46,334 who had been using the GLP-1 drugs semaglutide or lixisenatide, researchers identified 181 new cases of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, also known as wet AMD. Wet AMD is a degenerative eye disease marked by the abnormal growth of blood vessels under the retina that leak fluid or blood and can lead to blindness. The risk of developing AMD during up to three years of follow-up was low, at 0.2% in GLP-1 users versus 0.1% in non-users. Still, the researchers point out, after accounting for patients' individual risk factors, the odds of AMD were doubled with at least six months of GLP-1 use and tripled in patients with the longest duration of use. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the widely used Novo Nordisk ( opens new tab drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, while lixisenatide is the main ingredient in Sanofi's ( opens new tab discontinued Adlyxin. GLP-1 drugs have also been associated with higher risks for an eye condition known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION. Researchers did not have information about the dose, route of administration, or frequency of administration of the medications used in the study. Even with that information, the study could not have proved cause and effect. At least one earlier study with longer follow up reported that GLP-1 use was linked with a lower, rather than higher, risk for AMD. 'Our findings are not directly contradictory' with that earlier report, said study leader Dr. Reut Shor of the University of Toronto. 'Factors such as timing and duration of exposure, disease stage, and patient characteristics may all influence outcomes," Shor said. "Our results add another layer to the emerging understanding of this complex relationship and emphasize the need for further research to clarify these trends.' (To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here)