NEVER LET ME GO

Year: 2010
Director: Mark Romanek
Screenwriter: Alex Garland

Main Cast:

Carey Mulligan – Kathy H
Andrew Garfield – Tommy D
Keira Knightley – Ruth
Charlotte Rampling – Miss Emily
Sally Hawkins – Miss Lucy
Nathalie Richard – Madame

Please, do me a favor and watch “Never let me go” before reading this review. Or don’t, because this movie is not for the weak of heart. I’m making a point of telling you to watch the film first, because, though it’s always a good idea to see the films and read my reviews later, this time it’s essential to be surprised in order to fully appreciate this one.

When I woke up at 5:30 this morning, I realized this was a horror film, without the scares and the thrills. It haunted me; I couldn’t go back to sleep. There is a beautifully moving love story in it, its narrative style, its pace, the quality of its acting, everything points to classical drama, but make no mistake: we’re talking about the Horror.

The movie is set in England, its timeline spans from the 70s to the 90s, but it’s an alternate reality. In this reality, humanity found the cure to all diseases through organ donation and cloning. Our three main characters live in a boarding school, from which grounds they can never go beyond. They don’t seem to have a family of their own; they never talk about parents or brothers and sisters. Their health is very well taken care of – their diet is strict and they play sports on a daily basis. This is so, because they are clones. Their only purpose in life is to grow up healthy and donate their organs until they “complete” (die). The school is nothing more than a farm, where they graze like cattle. They are not people, they are “Donors”.

We only find about that in the middle of the movie, which is quite a shock. Up until then, they are portrayed as completely normal kids. They fight, they make art, fall in love, just like everybody else. It’s one of the movie strengths. When the entire scheme is revealed, we are not ready for it. Very disturbing stuff and the worst is still coming.

The fact that clones are very human is exemplified by Kathy, Tommy and Ruth. Kathy and Tommy fall in love when they are around 10 years old. Ruth, Kathy’s best friend, senses that very clearly and envisions a long happy relationship for them. She can’t stand that. Before Kathy and Tommy have a chance to get together, Ruth intervenes and “seduces” him (I don’t know if you can apply this term to a 10-year-old girl). They stay together for years. When they reach the age of 18, they are sent to the “Cottages” (perhaps a word game with “College”). There, Kathy is still very much in love with Tommy, but he is being tightly kept by Ruth through the diligent use of sex. There are no more classes or teachers or sports; they just wait. Eventually, frustrated by the possibility of never being able to fulfill her dreams, Kathy decides to apply for a “Carer” position. She leaves the Cottages to travel around England and take care of the Donors. Of course, after she goes, Ruth breaks up with Tommy.

In short, before the film starts showing the donors’ daily routine in hospitals and health care facilities, it’s made clear that the characters go through the most human emotions like jealousy, envy, competitiveness, frustration, unfulfilled longings, uncontrollable sexual drive and, most importantly, love. Tommy and Kathy have loved each other since childhood and will always do.

It made me wonder: what a grim perspective of humankind. We are dealing with the idea that, since we don’t want to get sick ever again, we are raising clones – who are exactly like us – just like we raise cows for nourishment. Could this notion ever become reality? As an indefatigable optimist, I don’t believe so. On the other hand, if it was me, would I prefer to count on doctors, medicine and myself, and fight diseases the hard way? Would I take another life and live more than a hundred years? I honestly couldn't say for sure. Maybe I would after having seen the scenes in which the characters undergo the actual surgeries. They are quite powerful and disconcerting. The patients are treated like animals in a slaughterhouse.

Furthermore, one thing about this film really bothered me. Why do the clones accept their fate so easily? Why don’t they run away? There are a few elements in the movie that suggest possible explanations. Firstly, all the clones have to wear armbands all the time, which lead us to think they are monitored 24 hours a day by an invisible “Big Brother”. Secondly and most relevantly, in several scenes most clones show tremendous difficulty in doing things simply because they want to. It seems that they don’t understand the concept of free will, apparently because of the way they were raised. A question follows: Does one have to learn the idea of free will in order to use it? Isn’t the search for individual liberty something natural, instinctive, even if you’ve learned to resign and accept what’s given to you your whole life? What about fighting for your survival?

Again, I'm uncertain. I’m just glad we don’t live in a world like that and hope we never will.

Grade: A

Link at imdb.