Film review: Never Let Me Go

Cast Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield
Director Mark Romanek
Rating 18+

They say everyone is born for some special purpose. Perhaps not in the Boogie Nights sense of the term, but clearly a wide swath of humanity seems to be believe that we're here for a reason. This film examines a literal and chillingly practical take on being created for a very specific reason, and for that reason alone.

Although the movie never explains if they're born per se, the main characters are thrust into a very calculated existence, and the film follows them as they first confront, and then come to terms with their sadly finite and dutiful existence.

I'm sorry if that seems unduly vague, but I'm a firm believer in letting plot develop exactly as the film makers intended. And really, this is exactly how one should approach a carefully crafted film like Never Let Me Go, in which the omission of certain themes portends nearly as much as the inclusion of others. The film spans a couple of decades, first exposing the dark underside of the main characters' seemingly sunny childhoods spent in a sprawling boarding school in the sepia-tinted English countryside, and moving into their somewhat aimless early adulthood as they await their fate.

Keira Knightley is darkly unlikable as the manipulative and selfish Ruth, whose politicking drives a wedge between Carey Mulligan's watchful and nurturing Kathy, and the gregarious but slightly befuddled Tommy, played with devastating sensitivity by rising Brit star Andrew Garfield.

Director Mark Romanek keeps the story moving at an even pace that may be a tad ploddy for less attentive viewers. If you're already a fan of Reel Cinema's Picture House, which screens largely independent films not widely available in the region, then this is well worth a look. If you struggle with your attention span, better to let this one go.