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Never Let Me Go Movie Review
Grade: A-
SPOILER: There is supposedly a “spoiler” that many are displeased when reading about. I do not know why because it’s revealed 15 minutes into the story. So this is the warning.
Creating a haunting yet provocative science fiction piece of art, director Mark Romenek creates a film that will consume its audience with heartbreak and despair. Never Let Me Go is a film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel that serves as a quasi-controversial protest on the concept of cloning and stem cell research, essentially conveying the value of any life. In Ishiguro’s alternate universe, medical breakthroughs have been made to increase the lifespan of individuals through harvesting the vital organs of clones. Never Let Me Go depicts the life of three young donors that are ever permeated by their fate, creating insight if mankind were to pursue such technology. Romenek’s film is one that will be emotionally embraced and will move its audiences in many directions, even if it is slightly flawed.
Never Let Me Go is best approached with little information of the sequential plot in Ishiguro’s novel. With that said, fans of the novel will still indeed find value in this adaptation but the emotions of the film, which rely on heavy emotional events, will surely be lost without the art of surprise and suspense. In trying to simplify the premise, the film follows the life of three students deriving from Hailshaim school. Kathy (intricately played by the talented Carey Mulligan), narrates the film and is essentially the main focus of the film. Carey Mulligan creates so much pathos in her character, it is safely to say that she is one of the best actresses that modern film can offer. She executes this film with so much poise; Even her subtle facial expressions create goosebumps. Along with Kathy, the film follows her relationship with her fellow classmates, Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield). Garfield, the next “Spiderman,” is one to watch for, he has definitely matured from his last role in last year’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
This film is a masterpiece. The cinematography in the film is memorizing; The natural shots and the exposure of the characters’ reactions add to the chilling manner of the film overall. Moreover, the emotions that are enabled by the casts’ performances are simply haunting and heart-crushing. I have never seen so many people cry in one movie theater, it is really a defining film in combining drama with science fiction. Technique-wise, Romenek’s film is the pinnacle of perfection; But many of its small flaws keep it from being an overall unblemished film. The film’s pace and plot movement is much too slow and it some times experiences a directionless path, where it seems that the film is heading towards nowhere. At times there was a lack of forwards which negatively influences the film’s effectiveness. In addition, while the film does create some great heartbreak, there is somewhat a distance between the characters and the audience. While the cast is not at fault, the plot and given details make the characters only somewhat relatable; In other words, it seems as if they derive too much from an alternate world to be one of our time. But in the end, Never Let Me Go is an emotion-provoking film that will strike the heart of its audience in a way that is devastating yet memorable. It does not quite reach perfection, but the beauty, heart, and thought of the film covers its small blemishes. Grade: A-
Never Let Me Go is playing at The Landmark in West Los Angeles and The Arclight on Sunset Boulevard.
