Never Let Me Go: Blu Ray Review
Never Let Me Go
Rating: M
Released by 20th Century Fox
From the 2005 book by Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go has been
adapted for the screen by Alex Garland.
It starts with an announcement that in 1952, a medical breakthrough
means the average life expectancy now extends past 100 years
old.
Then we fade into an idyllic English boarding school where we meet
Carey Mulligan's narrator Kathy H as a school kid - she's been best
friends with Ruth since forever. And their lives are completed by
the friendship Kathy forms with Tommy (Andrew Garfield).
Gradually the bonds grow stronger between the trio - as their
confined existence grows.
The children there are essentially clones, being nurtured as organ
donors for those outside in the real world. In a climate of
oppression, they're told never to leave the grounds, have limited
social interaction with the outside world (they're taught in
classes how to order tea in cafes) and are encouraged to paint for
inclusion in an exclusive gallery.
But it's not good for the trio - Kathy's lost Tommy to a
relationship with Keira Knightley's Ruth.
Years pass - and the three of them find their lives permanently
intertwined as their inevitable path plays out.
Never Let Me Go is haunting, harrowing, depressing and yet
incredibly powerfully compelling viewing.
It begins with an air of mystery and intrigue as you know there's
something different about these children but the reality of what it
is evades you initially.
Once the truth comes out (via a great interruption by Sally
Hawkins' disruptive school teacher who's honest with the kids), it
suddenly adds a level of poignancy to this forlorn trio
Essentially a three hander, this film is wonderfully acted by all
three - Mulligan is hypnotic and shines as a detached forlorn
Kathy, doomed to never be with her love; Knightley adds a subtlety
to the manipulative Ruth and there's real anguish in Garfield's
Tommy
Never Let Me Go will stay with you long after you've finished
watching.
Extras: Behind the scenes, photos - not a major bunch for a good
film.
Rating: 7/10
