Never Let Me Go Review

Tommy, Kathy and Ruth are students at Hailsham boarding school. Hailsham is an unusual school because the students there are going to have their lives tragically cut short. They are not like every other child, they do not get to grow and become doctors lawyers or whatever they want to be. Their destinies are predetermined, they are clones of people somewhere out in the world and when they reach the age of 25-30 they will begin to donate their organs. Tommy, Kathy and Ruth are forced to make the best of what the have and live and hope that there is a possibility that true love can be the one thing that saves them.

Never Let Me Go is a very emotional and engaging film. With the plotline already established and the ending seemingly inevitable, what we witness is these young people who are their own individuals live what little life they have. We see them struggle as kids, and then watch them grow into fine young men and women. What Never Let Me Go does so well in terms of plot is show their entire lives, from the time they are eight or nine until the time they complete their final donation.

Much like the youth of the real world, they are drawn to try new things and strive to be all they can be. The become curious about life, about sex,about travelling and seeing who their originals are. Never Let Me Go is a journey, it and is so well told because of its fine young cast. Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield have such great chemistry and Keira Knightley fits well with them. These three actors show their raw talents, and give off some of the finest performances in a long time. Garfield and Mulligan’s Chemistry is severely underused for the first half of the film. The final act is one where these two really begin to show their acting abilities, as their worlds come crashing in around them.

This is a beautiful and enriching film. The cinematography and the beautiful landscapes help add to the inevitable heartbreaking ending that is waiting for these characters. With their travels and their struggles we see their ability to live as humans, and to be happy. The saddest thing about Never Let Me Go is that we know these wonderfully developed characters are never going to live full and happy lives. This story is an easy one to get attached too simply because it is simple story being told in such a unique and emotional way. We as the people watching this movie begin to hope that True Love is the one thing that can set them free, and very much like these characters we are forced to see that not even the notion of True Love is enough to get us through everything.

Never Let Me Go will forever be one of the films that has been hugely overlooked. It has powerful and real messages. These people were real and felt the same way we did, and it was shame that they had to be used as sacrificial lambs so to speak. This movie works so well with the times we live because we are on the verge of so many medical break through, but are they worth it? This film should be getting major attention; it is one of the better films in 2010 and proves that the art of character development is not dead. In fact it proves that creating real life like characters is still the best way to get a message across.

Kathy: It had never occurred to me that our lives, so closely interwoven, could unravel with such speed. If I'd known, maybe I'd have kept tighter hold of them

Never Let Me Go is a brilliantly shot and brilliantly executed film, one of the better from the past year. The acting is as good as it gets.


9/10