Never Let Me Go is a haunting film that leaves you thinking about it after you leave the theatre. It is a tragedy in the truest form. It is about friendships, relationships, love, and the loss of all of them. Director Mark Romanek does not show you or tell you everything you may want to know, but you will know enough to feel and understand who these characters are and what they will have to go through. They each have a purpose and know what they are here for.
Ruth (Keira Knightley), Kathy (Carey Mulligan), and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) are friends and have grown up together in this English boarding school. Kathy has a crush on Tommy when they are kids and that crush becomes much more once they get older. However, Tommy ends up falling for Ruth instead and Kathy is left watching from the sidelines.
We can tell there is something dark looming in this boarding school but the reason for it is unknown until a new teacher, Miss Lucy (played terrifically by Sallie Hawkins) lets the children know they will not live a full life. That is not their purpose. Some will be “Carers” and the rest will be “Donors.” These kids, who will become healthy adults one day, will be used for their organs and once they are done, they will have “completed” (their word for death).
Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy have been kept in this boarding school and shut out of the real world. They go through their teachings and training until they are old enough to be used. But eventually they do get to go live out in the real world while still being watched and tracked. In one scene, they do not even know how to order from a menu at a restaurant. Their journey is fibrous and their destination is unimaginable.
Romanek has made a beautiful film about being in love and living life even though they know how it will end. But Never Let Me Go is also a sci-fi film but not including spaceships, aliens, or creatures that we associate with this genre. But there is a key factor that makes this science-fiction and it may not even hit you until after the film has ended. That is what happened to me.
This film makes you imagine and think about living a life that has already been determined for you. How tough would that be? Could you come to terms with that? Romanek brings us a world that is horrifying and tragic. With every flash of hope comes the inevitable—being “completed.”
One thing that is not sad at all about this film are the performances by Knightley, Garfield and Mulligan. Knightley portrays the bitch of the group. Ruth knows she is pretty and uses it. And when she notices Tommy and Kathy paying attention to each other, she gets jealous and since she can get any man she wants, Tommy is no exception. As Ruth grows up, she knows her faults and tries to fix her mistakes, but it may be too late.
Knightley does a great job, but her role is not as rewarding as the other two. Andrew Garfield captured my full attention in The Social Network. So I was even more interested in seeing him in this and he is impressive as Tommy, a kid who never can get a grip on his feelings. Parts of him cannot comprehend what he is going to go through. He leans on the girls for support. Which leads him to fall for Ruth, but all of us know him and Kathy should be together. And who knows? Perhaps they finally will. Mulligan cannot do anything wrong. How can such a young actress be so great in every role she plays? The movie sometimes can’t live up to her performance but she personally always comes through. Kathy narrates the film and is the biggest piece to the puzzle.
She is the strongest one out of the three and becomes a “Carer”, which she is perfect for. She is supportive and forgiving and those two things are put to the test when Ruth steals Tommy away. Even when she is being accused of something she did not do, Kathy makes no argument and barely says a word. Mulligan keeps Kathy strong during tough times and compassionate when necessary. Mulligan’s performance is very similar to the film itself: stunning, eloquent, and moving. Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are all hurting and feeling the pain of the lives they live and the realization of the lies they have been told. But their friendship and love for each other cannot be denied no matter how it all ends up. Why not enjoy it while you still can?
Never Let Me Go is slow, but it hits harder than you would expect. It shows lives being lived for a purpose. May be we all have a purpose, but theirs is under different circumstances. Circumstances that no one should have to live under but they do not have that choice. They don’t have that luxury.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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