Never Let Me Go (2010)

Never Let Me Go is a haunting and heartbreaking movie that left me numb with helplessness. I wanted to reach into the screen, grab hold of the characters and shake them from their stupor of acceptance. Then again, their acceptance is the burden we carry.

Directed by Mark Romanek, the movie is based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go (2005). It leaves you thinking about two things: What it means to have a soul, and how far society would go to survive. It is the story of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley), who have been ‘created’ in laboratories as ready-made organ donors.

The movie opens into a seemingly idyllic world, in which children seem to thrive at Hailsham, an isolated English boarding school. From the start, though, there is a sense of unease and an eerie atmosphere, fostered through regimental behaviour, odd role playing and tyrannical authority. Rumours circulate about the cruel fates of those who dared to oppose the system, and a teacher is suspended when, in a moment of painful clarity, she reveals their fate – the point at which we, and the children, learn the true purpose of Hailsham.

Society has clearly washed its hands off the children; at least till they are old enough to start donating organs. Good health and physical wellbeing are important, but love and affection seem non-existent. The glee with which they embrace a delivery of broken and tattered toys is truly painful to watch. It is no surprise, and is actually a welcome sign, to see them lean on each other for comfort and support.

(L-R) Mulligan, Knightley and Garfield

There is a strong bond between the three central characters, born of love, jealousy and the fear of loneliness. Herein lies the true window to their souls, but no one around them is capable of admitting this. Instead they rely on art as a medium of expression, in an attempt to unravel the existence of a soul in these laboratory-born individuals. It becomes the window through which society tries to gage these individuals and their inner thoughts, to put them to a psychiatric test, as if they were lab rats.

A process of gradual internalisation enables the children to accept who they are and what their purpose in life is. As youth approaches this acceptance is complete, or is it? They are strangers in society, outcast till a need arises, and no amount of playacting in a classroom will prepare them for life in the real world. They are on the outside, looking in and waiting for ‘completion’ – a gruesome term for death caused by the constant removal of internal organs.

Outside... looking in...

The central character Kathy, through whose narrative and observations the movie unfolds, has a passive acceptance of her circumstances and ultimate fate. You are never quite sure if she’s being completely honest with herself or whether it’s her way of dealing with things; either way I like that ambivalence. It is she who tells us that some don’t make it beyond one or two donations. It is she who shows us the isolation in which these individuals perish. It is she who reveals that they too feel love, fear and loss. It is through her eyes that we learn what happens to the childhood friends.

The most moving quality in Never Let Me Go is the characters’ dignity in the face of continued injustice. It is as if the more they accept their circumstances, the more we, as an audience, as a society, sink into depravity. The grace and gentleness with which they treat each other, and the love, friendship and redemption that help them get through everything are truly poignant. They focus on the positives, the here and the now; they value their time together, and seem to have a grasp on the things that matter in life. There’s a message in that for each of us.

Holding strong...

Overwhelming is the comment about a society that has accepted this system of organ donation in the hope of long life. It is said that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” and the silence and the acquiescence of everyone around Kathy, Tommy and Ruth is a sign of society’s acquiescence and guilt towards this ghastly practise. The very absence of strong, opposing voices reveals just how internalised the practise has become.

Mulligan, Garfield and Knightley are simply wonderful to watch, and they challenge the audience to some serious moral searching. Never Let Me Go is a provocative movie, and there’s no denying its bleakness. More importantly, though, this bleakness is triumphed by love that is giving and forgiving, love from which you draw strength and hope, and love that lets you survive for another day.

Here's a short feature, where the adult and child actors talk about working together:

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