The film begins in the 70's at Hailsham, a very special boarding school in Britain run by Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling), and a place where children receive an advanced education but one where the focus is on health and well being. 12-year-olds Ruth (Ella Purnell), Tommy (Charlie Rowe) and Kathy (Izzy Meikle-Small) are three inseparable friends who form a bit of a love triangle. Although Tommy deeply cares for the caring, quiet and introspective Kathy, he is wooed but the beautiful and daring Ruth, who kisses him and steals his heart. Naturally, Kathy is crushed but quietly and bravely bears her pain and remains friends with the pair. At this point in their lives, the children go about their daily activities, fairly oblivious to the fact that they are being bred as clones whose organs will eventually be donated, even when a new teacher tells them straight to their faces (and is quickly fired). However, things are not quite right at Hailsham and we see this as the children excitedly wait for a chance to cash in their tokens for goods at the "bumper crop" as it is called, which is basically a bunch of donated junk that they can choose from, like old music tapes and broken toys. It is here where we start to realize that the clone children's physical needs are well taken care of, but they are clearly at a lower status in society, no matter how hard their head mistress rallies for their cause and betterment.
Fast-forward to the point that the children are 18 years old and they are moved from Hailsham to The Cottages, essentially a halfway house where they exist on meager goods and simply wait around until they turn 28 and can begin their donations. Select few members can apply to be Carers, those who care for the clones going through their donations and help them on their journey and since this delays the inevitable by a few years, naturally everyone wants to be a Carer. A couple far more worldly than Kathy (Carey Mulligan, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), Ruth (Kiera Knightley, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield, The Social Network) ask them about a rumor from Hailsham that a couple truly in love could apply for a deferral and be allowed a few years with each other before beginning their donations, but of course, the trio has never heard of such a thing. Again, Kathy sits by and watches Tommy, her true love, with Ruth, going through the motions of being a real couple, but only mimicking what they've seen on TV that they've recently been exposed to for the first time.
Fast forward 10 more years and Kathy is a well-respected Carer and Tommy and Ruth have undergone their first donations. Some people die from the first donation and many live until their third, but Ruth is not recovering well from her first and wishes she had simply died, whereas Tommy is doing quite well. The trio has been separated for quite some time and hasn't seen each other for years, but their paths cross again and they happily visit one another. Ruth reveals that she always regretted stealing Tommy from Kathy and apologizes, wanting them to finally be together and to apply for a deferral. With hope in their hearts, Tommy and Kathy set out a plan to seek out the mysterious "Madame," a woman who would visit Hailsham on rare occasion and judge the children's art as to whether it was worthy of her Gallery, in the hopes that she can grant them a deferral. What they find is not necessarily what they were looking for.
Never Let Me Go is about hope and hopelessness, love and betrayal, and a childlike innocence that carries well into adulthood for this trio. The acting is simply amazing, from the young kids that play the group of friends as children, as well as the three young British actors who play the adult parts so perfectly. Andrew Garfield plays Tommy with such a wide-eyed innocence that your heart hurts for him, especially since he doesn't really seem to comprehend what is happening around him, whereas Carey Mulligan plays her part as the perfect old soul. She is incredible. Kiera Knightley plays Ruth as a girl who can't wait to grow up, only to realize all too quickly just what that means for her.
Special features were sparse, but well done. It was interesting to see how the film came together and to hear what the author had to say about the adaptation, plus looking at the graphics from the school and the National Donor Programme shed more light on the clones' life at Hailsham. Since Never Let Me Go is on Blu-ray, naturally the picture is extremely crisp and the high def aspect really added punch to the bleak color palette of the film. While this film can certainly be enjoyed on DVD, the scenes of the lovely English countryside certainly look more beautiful on Blu-ray.
While I'm not the biggest fan of dramas, Never Let Me Go's plot intrigued me and I am glad I saw it. While it's not a sunny and happy film, the acting is superb and the story is very well written.
