Bleak and haunting — Never Let Me Go – film review

An austere and melancholy tale, Never Let Me Go takes place in a dystopian Britain.

Based on a novel of the same name written by Kazuo Ishiguro, and directed by Mark Romanek, the British-made film is set in the recent past (the mid sixties to mid eighties), but imagines a controlled world where life has been extended and catastrophic illness eliminated, thanks to an evolutionary advance.

The young ingenue star of An Education, as well as the upcoming Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Carey Mulligan co-stars alongside Pirates of the Caribbean star Keira Knightley and the next Spiderman, Andrew Garfield.

Kathy (Mulligan), Tommy (Garfield) and Ruth (Knightley) live in a world and a time that feel familiar to us, but are not quite like anything we know. They spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. When they leave the shelter of the school and the terrible truth of their fate is revealed to them, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.

The film is narrated by 28 year-old Kathy H. as she reminisces about her childhood at Hailsham, as well as her adult life after leaving the school.

Kazuo Ishiguro is a fine writer who uses an oblique and gentle style, hence the truth of the matter is made clear only gradually, using veiled but suggestive language and situations.

While the film may move at a snail’s pace, patient viewers will find enough rewards if they surrender to this achingly and meditation on the fragility of relationships, the brevity of life and the mysteries of death.

Never Let Me Go is the perfect movie for a gloomy, introspective day.

Review by Pauline Adamek