Never Let Me Go is a 2010 British dystopian drama film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay written by Alex Garland. It stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. Never Let Me Go centers on Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, played respectively by Mulligan, Knightley, and Garfield, who become entangled in a love triangle and are scientific specimens, created in a laboratory and raised in order to provide their organs to severely ill patients. Principal photography began in April 2009, lasting a few weeks, and filmed at various locations, including Andrew Melville Hall. Made on a $15 million budget, Never Let Me Go was produced by DNA Films and Film4.
Plot:
The film begins with onscreen captions explaining that a medical breakthrough in 1952 has permitted the human lifespan to be extended beyond 100 years. Subsequently, the film is narrated by 28-year-old Kathy H. as she reminisces about her childhood at Hailsham, as well as her adult life after leaving the school.
The first section of the film depicts the young Kathy, along with her friends Tommy and Ruth, spending their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. Gradually, it is revealed that the children are imprisoned on the school grounds. At one point, one of the teachers is fired after telling the pupils of their fate: they are destined to provide donor organs for transplants, and will die before they can fulfill their potential. Tommy is emotionally fragile, and Kathy falls in love with him, but Ruth then steals him from her, and she and Tommy begin a relationship. They stay together throughout the rest of their time at Hailsham.
In the second section of the film, the three friends, now teenagers, are rehoused in cottages on a rural farm. They are permitted to leave the grounds if they wish, but are resigned to their eventual fate, apparently seeing it as inevitable. At the farm, they meet former pupils of similar schools to theirs. It is revealed that Kathy and the others are all clones, and are fascinated by the idea of finding the original people that they were "modelled on". From the others at the cottages, Kathy and her friends hear rumours of the possibility of "deferral" - a temporary reprieve from organ donation for clones who are in love and can prove it. Tommy becomes convinced that the The Gallery at Hailsham, where the children's art and poetry was kept, was intended to look into their souls. He believes that artwork sent to The Gallery will verify true love. The relationship between Tommy and Ruth becomes sexual, and jealousy causes Kathy and Ruth to break their friendship. The lonely Kathy applies to become a "carer" - a clone who is given a temporary reprieve from donation as a reward for supporting and comforting donors as they are made to give up their organs. She has become a carer by the time she hears that Tommy and Ruth have split up.
In the third and final section of the film, Kathy is working as a carer 10 years later. She has watched many clones gradually die as their organs are donated; their deaths are referred to as "completion". Kathy hasn't seen Ruth or Tommy since the Cottages, and finds Ruth, who is frail after two donations, while working as a carer. They find Tommy, who is also weakened by his donations, and drive to the sea. There, Ruth admits that she did not love Tommy, and only seduced him because she was afraid to be alone. She is consumed with guilt, and has been searching for a way to help Tommy and Kathy. She believes that the rumours of "deferral" for couples are true, and has found the address of the gallery owner, Madame from Hailsham, whom she thinks may grant couples in love deferals. Ruth dies on the operating table shortly afterward. Tommy explains to Kathy that he has been creating art in the hope that it will aid deferral. He and Kathy drive to visit Madame, who, it transpires, lives with the headmistress of Hailsham. The two teachers tell them that there is no such thing as deferral, and that Tommy's artworks will not help him. They also explain that the purpose of The Gallery was to see if clones have souls, and to challenge the ethics of the creation of donors.
The film ends with Tommy dying on the operating table, and Kathy left alone, knowing that her donations will begin in one month. Contemplating the ruins of her childhood, she asks in voice-over whether her fate is really any different from the people who will receive her organs: after all, "we all complete".
Cast:
* Carey Mulligan (Isobel Meikle-Small, young) as Kathy
* Keira Knightley (Ella Purnell, young) as Ruth
* Andrew Garfield (Charlie Rowe, young) as Tommy
* Sally Hawkins as Miss Lucy
* Charlotte Rampling as Miss Emily
* Nathalie Richard as Madame
* Domhnall Gleeson as Rodney
* Andrea Riseborough as Chrissie
Trailer:
“Never Let Me Go” opens March 2 exclusively in Ayala Cinemas from 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros.
