Review of Never Let Me Go (2010) by Augustine H — 03 May 2014

Directed by Mark Romanek and written for the screen by Alex Garland, Never Let me Go is a decent adaptation of a very fine novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's a modest movie that nonetheless tackles great existential questions in a way that is both thoughtful and subtle. The movie centres around three characters (Kathy, Ruth and Tommy) and covers their early school-days and then later on when they are in their 20's, played by Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightly. Although these characters are presented as normal children, it soon comes to the fore that they are actually clones, created for the eventual purpose of donating their vital organs. These special test-tube donors are only expected to live very short lives, generally expiring around their third or fourth donation.

The premise is clever and might as easily have been the premise of a horror or sci-fi B-movie and there is a pervading sense of eeriness, particularly in the early stages of the movie as the children exchange freakish stories which creepily portend what the future holds in store for them. Viewers may have differing opinions on the love triangle at the core of the movie between Tommy, Ruth and Kathy. Ordinarily I would say a love triangle is a tired and annoying plot device, but here it is handled so delicately that I didn't mind it at all. Also, the story is interwoven with aspects of folklore and explores the way in which we as humans are capable of constructing romances and fantasies in order to distract ourselves from the inevitable end. Sorry to get gloomy but you should know that this movie is very gloomy indeed.

It's easy to read all this as a metaphor for our own mortality. Scenes where the characters are recovering from their donations evoke authentic terminal illness but also seems to mirror-even though the characters are very young- old age and general decay. In Ishiguro's novel the sense of tragic impendency was counterbalanced by the grace and lightness of his prose. In the movie, Romanek achieves a similar feat with his crisp and clear visual sense. The images of the sparse English countryside in particular are very well shot. The musical score by Rachel Portman is also exceptional; melancholic and violin-laden but never mawkish or overproduced.

Carey Mulligan is great as the good-natured Kathy H, who also serves as the reminiscing narrator of the tale. Andrew Garlield is a good choice for Tommy, a hot-tempered young boy who would became a docile and kind-hearted young man. Kiera Knightley is also solid as Ruth, who is probably the closest thing to a villain in the movie. Ruth is insecure and suffers jealous streak that at times makes her a very nasty character, but she is also quite vulnerable and therefore sympathetic. As with the novel, the movie succeeded in making me feel sorry for the characters and hating the injustice of what was happening to them. I don't think it lives up to the novel but overall it's a very worthy and poignant adaptation.