Review of Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek

If you’re new here and found this blog through the mysterious powers of the Internet, welcome! My name is Ashley, and I’m a dedicated reader and movie watcher who thought to turn this website into a little digital archive of sorts.

I was watching and reading so much that I wanted to keep track of it all, so I began blogging as a way to keep these books as memories somewhat forever.

That said, I recently fell into a period of unemployment, and this blog was a solace for me. Not only was it a way to make a little bit of money when there was nothing else coming my way really, but I found, after getting my finances in order, that I enjoyed sitting down to write blog posts when I had nothing else to do in my day.

For a while, I worked as a film critic professionally at an online outlet. While it was fun to go out to the film festivals and interview people that I never would have met in real life otherwise, I got a bit tired of staying on top of the new releases and decided to start my own thing: aka this blog.

It also freed up time to work and watch the movies I wanted to see more. I have had a massive backlog of movies to watch throughout the years, and I didn’t have the time to get through them because I was kind of getting burned out from watching movies all the time.

When I quit my job, and then unexpectedly lost another job opportunity, I decided to sit back and spend some time for myself. I was in the right financial situation, so it made sense to take a break before I move onto my next big thing. I returned to Never Let Me Go during this time, even though I had already seen it years prior.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much.

Three best friends discover that life is not what it seems, especially at their boarding school.

This movie takes place in the 1970s, but in this world, there are so many more technological innovations than the actual reality we live in. Humans are now capable of living past a hundred years old, and this is what is a shadow over our three main characters: Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy.

Together they attend a boarding school in England called Halisham, and they find themselves in what looks to be a supportive environment. The school is focused on their health, allows them to creatively express themselves, and life seems to be good. However, they are not allowed to interact with the outside world.

When a woman named Miss Lucy is brought in as a potential new guardian for them, she tells them that they are not actually destined for great lives. Instead, they are going to die and become organ donors for those outside the walls of the school. This unsettles the kids, and she is fired not long after she does this.

Kathy is falling in love with Tom at the same time, but Ruth wants to date him, too, and ends up with him. The years continue to go by, and seven years pass. They are now teenagers and young adults, and they are sent to a place called The Cottages, which is on a farm.

They aren’t allowed to interact with others outside of the community, though, and they learn they actually had such a good experience at Halisham compared those at other schools. It’s on the farm they learn each and every one of them is a clone, and that there’s a chance to live if the clones fall in love.

The group starts researching if this is true, and Tommy, who remembers how in Halisham there was a competition for those with the best artwork, thinks the competition is a way to show that they have souls and might not end up having their organs harvested. Ruth then mocks Kathy about how she is dating Tommy, and Kathy goes off and becomes a carer for clones.

Even more time passes: nine years, if we’re going to be specific. Kathy watches fellow clones die as their organs are slowly removed one by one, and eventually she comes across Ruth. She’s only done two rounds of donations, but doesn’t seem to be doing well. Together, they decide to find Tommy by the sea.

Ruth then admits she dated Tommy because she did not want to be alone, and she hopes Tommy and Kathy can get a deferral. She gives the two of them an address for the Madame, then dies not long after while doing another donation. Kathy and Tommy start dating, she becomes his carer, and she learns he kept making art after all of these years out of hope for a deferral.

He brings the art to Madame, who acts cold, and with Miss Emily, they tell them the deferrals are a myth. The art competition and gallery was instead made to show that the clones had souls, and Halisham was one of the only places that allowed the clones to be free.

Tommy is devastated by this, and throws a fit on the way back home. He dies not long after this, during his fourth round of donations, and Kathy begins to donate her organs. She reflects on her childhood, now alone, as she realizes she will never have a normal life.

Overall Thoughts

I was coming back to this movie over the years because of the book, which I finally got around to reading after so long. I think for me, the book holds a special place in my heart, even though when I first watched the movie it didn’t stick with me.

This isn’t the standard Hollywood movie in the sense that you’re going to want to see for the action and tension. This is a movie where you’re going to want to dwell on the details of how we got to the end, ruminating on the themes and how we, ourselves approached the content of it.

I love movies like these, and I think Never Let Me Go is a solid addition to thought provoking movie lists. The actors do a really decent job, and it was surprising to see a young Andrew Garfield in this—it was one of the movies he appeared in before he blew up bigger. It showed he had talent from the beginning, that’s for sure.

All of this is to say is that if you haven’t watched the movie yet, you should give it a chance. It’s a bit slow at times, but I think it’s a necessary slowness in today’s busy world.

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