Never Let Me Go Review

Never Let Me Go is a beautiful film based on the superb novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in a bleak dystopia it portrays the brief lives of three 'test tube babies' who exist solely to become organ donors in their twenties and stars Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightly. Whilst this seems like it would lend itself to a run of the mill sci-fy film with action and sparkling labs this film is unashamedly sentimental and focuses on the human elements of the tale.
The plot revolves around the three main characters and follows their development in a world where they are perceived as sub-human and indoctrinated into believing it; so much so that they don't even fight it for their love. You're shown how they try and understand their own existence as well as coming to terms with growing up and surviving the minefield of friendship, love and lust.
It's so fantastically acted that you completely lose yourself in the disturbing world where human rights are overlooked in order to prolong life yet are not completely distracted by this concept but instead focus on the main characters and their personal story. This helps the viewer to fully understand the horror of using people to harvest their organs as it explores how humans can look the other way and it is only when we are shown personal stories that we allow ourselves to feel.

As well as this this film explores our relationship to mortality and what we do with our allotted time alive which ultimately comes down to the people we love and that one of the worst thing we could possibly do is put off acknowledging that love and live in fear of it. This idea is heart wrenchingly portrayed through the bitter sweet plot where two of the characters only admit their love when they're nearing the inevitable donations. The loss of this love and knowledge that it could have been so much more had they only acted on it earlier coupled with the horrific yet sterile and business like death makes this film incredibly powerful and will undoubtedly leave you weeping.
 Of all the films I've seen this is one of the most touching and thought provoking and I would recommend anyone who appreciates films that make you think to both read the book and watch the heart breaking film.