Review of Never Let Me Go (2010) by Prabhat R — 13 Apr 2013

A beautifully grim portrayal of the meaning of life, identity, purpose and more importantly, love. Explores the theme of playing God with lives and the repercussions it has on the lives being controlled.

It asks questions about how just is it to manipulate lives for an eventual cause without regard for hopes, aspirations and ambitions of the lives being manipulated. There's a scene in the movie that's very subtle, yet it holds immense significance.

In that span of frankly 4 seconds or so, the whole of "humanity" and what we really are capable of comes to fore with utter brutality. This is the scene where one of the personnel involved in the entire exercise of "cultivating" tells one of the primary characters how sorry she is for their helplessness.

And the recipient of the news can't do anything but accept the fate that's been set out for her and others like her. Of the actors, Carey Mulligan just takes my breath away. Her eyes, tender expressions of sadness, hope and love stirred me emotionally every single time.

Andrew Garfield as a little confused, harmless and impressionable lost soul was bang on with his role, too. Keira Knightley played her role with the right amount of zest and jealousy. One should really read the book first and then watch the movie.

The movie, as it has no other option, gives you the gist of what Mr. Ishiguro has elaborated over 250-odd pages in his book. But I enjoyed both, thoroughly. More or less, the movie sticks to the tone and natural progression of the book it is based on.

For some, this may not something they'd look forward to, but for me, these were some of the things that really mesmerized me.