Tommy(Andrew Garfield), Ruth(Keira Knightley), and Claire(Carey Mulligan) are students at a seemingly upper class British academy called Hailsham.The headmistress, Miss Emily(Charlotte Rampling) raises her young charges in a stifling, dreadful atmosphere similar to M. Night Shyamalan's The Village
. The kids are taught to fear the outside world and the people who roam it. Those who remain in the Hailsham's care are deemed special. They are raised to practice art, and maintain a prime level of physical condition. Claire has always had a crush on Tommy, an isolated boy with serious anger issues. Ruth is beautiful, but insecure. Her relationship with Claire is friendly, but icy. When Ruth notices Tommy and Claire beginning a relationship, she jealously steals him away from her. As the three grow older, they remain friends even though Claire is secretly waiting for the two to break up.It's not long before they find out exactly what Hailsham House's true secret is, thanks to a young, idealistic teacher(Sally Hawkins) unable to hold her tongue any longer. The students aren't being raised to be contributing members of society, at least not in the way most are. The kids at Hailsham are actually clones with the sole purpose of their lives to provide organs for "original" humans. They are to find meaning in "completion", when the process of donating finally kills them. Some take years and multiple donations before completing. Some considerably less.
A horrific situation, one that any of us would fight with every fiber of our being to prevent. We're trained to expect, especially in movies, that the heroes will grow tired and angry with their pre-determine fate and do everything in their power to achieve happiness and freedom. Remember that expectation you have as you watch these three friends drift apart in adulthood, never once even contemplating the idea of escape. Claire becomes a caregiver of sorts to donors, treating them with respect and tending to their needs until completion. When they do complete, her reactions are muted, perhaps recognizing that the same fate will befall her at some point. The story is seen mostly through her eyes via Mulligan's silky narration.
Screenwriter Alex Garland keeps the horror of this dystopian world at a distance, which only adds to the creepiness. The sterile efficiency of the donating process and the ghastly results on the living are treated with a disguieting normalcy. Mark Romanek, who's last film was 2002's One Hour Photo
, mines some of the similar themes of loneliness and despair here.He shoots the film gorgeously, like your constantly waking up from a daytime sleep terror. I just wish there was a bit more passion and energy. Everything seems to be operating on auto-pilot. Carey Mulligan is having one heck of a week. Not only is she one of the best things about Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, but she is just as commanding here in a role that couldn't be more different. Andrew Garfield, himself a rising star, doesn't have much to do but holds up pretty well. The surprise for me was Keira Knightley, shedding her good looks and dirtied up to tremendous effect. She has the most heart wrenching(literally) scene of the entire film.
There are so many potential stories buried deep in the heart of Never Let Me Go that it's a crime to focus just on this one idle love triangle. Fundamentally it's a story about the value of all life. How we're all sacred in some way. While the performances are brilliant and the story haunting, I wish these characters had fought to prove just how valuable their lives really are.
