There is something irresistibly fresh in the tragic beauty of "Never Let Me Go". It is not often you see a film blend seemingly contradictory genres together and yet this film succeeds admirably. Science fiction and drama are mixed with period detail to create a wonderful and hauntingly subdued film. Possibly not to everyones taste as evidenced by its poor box office in America, it is nonetheless a very worthy cinematic experience. The film paints an alternate dystopian history, and yet for all its subtle sci-fi musings, the film is primarily concerned with romance. Kathy H (a heartbreaking Carey Mulligan) grows up in a boarding school with life long friends Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightly). Throughout the years she finds her feelings for Tommy grow while the seemingly jealous and calculating Ruth becomes romantically involved with him first. As the young adults progress we see how their restrictive fate mixed with Kathys eternal unrequited love for Tommy affects their lives. There is a strong sense of tragedy running through the film. The films chief existential questions weigh heavy on our heroine. What does it mean to love? What does it mean to have a soul? The film is not a cheery watch, and yet if you work for for it, its low key charms will soon reveal themselves and linger inside long after the credits have rolled. Director Romanek, known more for his flashy music videos, here uses an effective and simple technique, filtering his rain drenched England through a system of grey and blue hues. Make no mistake, that while the film may sound uneventful and dull, it offers plenty of tantalising questions for the audience to answer. The cast are all uniformly brilliant handling the trio of characters superbly. While some of their actions, especially the initially nefarious Ruth, may seem hard to condone, they are nonetheless understandable. Of course sci-fi as a genre is based on asking big questions and this is no exception. With writer Alex Garland (working from the original novel by Kazuo Ishiguro) it is no surprise that the results are as thought provoking as they are. And yet the film has so much heart running throughout, making its weepy third act all the more effective. The film earns your emotional attachment to it. This is grand intelligent film making on an emotional and engaging level. It's poor showing in the states hopefully might not be the same over here, but it is a very tough and strange film to market. Not many people may initially think they want to see a film like this, but it is more than worth it. Films like this rarely come along and must be treasured when they do, otherwise Hollywood runs the risk of making every science fiction film stuffed with explosions and over sized robots. In a genre chocked full of predictable and stupid trappings, this breathes fresh life into it.
Verdict: 8/10
A haunting and frequently devastating oddity. It blends several genres together, to create an original yet understated thought provoking experience. This deserves to be mentioned with some of the greats come the years end, and its ignoring this awards season is criminal. A very special film.
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