Britflix: Never Let Me Go

2010’s Never Let Me Go was an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel of the same name. The adaptation was able to attract some amazing talent in front of and behind the camera.

In 1952 there has been a medical breakthrough that allows people to live up to 100 years old. But this health revolution came at a cost, an underclass of clones who are used as living organ donors. Three of these clones are Kathy H (Carey Mulligan), Ruth C (Keira Knightley), and Tommy D (Andrew Garfield) and the film chronicles their lives from their school days to adulthood.

Never Let Me Go was a novel that earned a lot of praise when it was published. It won Arthur C. Clarke Award, the National Book Critic Circle Award, and publications like The Guardian and Time Magazine have placed it on lists as one of the best recent novels. The film adaptation became an attractive prospect for many people. Carey Mulligan was a fan of the novel so she jumped at the chance to star in the adaptation.

Never Let Me Go had an astounding amount of talent. Mulligan had been nominated for an Oscar for her role in An Education, Knightley was already a big star, and Garfield’s star was growing thanks to The Social Network. The supporting cast was filled with then emerging talent like Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough, and respected actresses (Sally Hawkins and Charlotte Rampling). Even the child actors have gone on to have successful careers, especially Ella Purnell who went on to appear in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Army of the Dead, and Yellowjackets.

The film was directed by Mark Romanek who was known for making the excellent One Hour Photo and many music videos. Alex Garland, who was known for writing the novel The Beach and the screenplay for 28 Days Later wrote the adaptation and he has gone on to be a successful genre filmmaker.

Ishiguro was known for literary-style novels, and Never Let Me Go was a reflective novel that happen to have a sci-fi twist. Both the book and the film’s style were more like Ian McEwan than a hard sci-fi story like Brave New World or Nineteen Eighty-Four. If someone went into the novel or film blind it would have been a surprise to find out it was a sci-fi story. There were only small hints until the big reveal from Miss Lucy (Hawkins) that the children were clones.

Never Let Me Go’s premise was a lot like Parts: The Clonus Horror and The Island. All focused on clones who were bred to be living organ donors. Yet all take a different approach because The Clonus Horror was a ‘70s B-Movie, The Island was a Michael Bay blockbuster, whilst Never Let Me Go‘s style was more of an understated drama.

The central focus of the film was on the trio and their love triangle. This love story, along with the narrative that took place over three time periods, was like Atonement. Kathy loved Tommy from a young age but he ended up in a relationship with Ruth despite Ruth’s mockery. It fuels the trio’s relationship. Ruth was a lot crueller in the film than she was in the novel: she taunted Kathy about her relationship with Tommy. It added to her redemptive arc in the third act.

As a dystopian story Never Let Me Go had a unique feature: it was set in an alternative past. The story took place from 1978 to 1994, so it had retro look to it. The televisions, cars, technology, and clothing were from that period and sci-fi elements were downplayed. If someone watched Never Let Me Go without the sound they would properly think it was just a British drama. The only clue that Never Let Me Go was a sci-fi was the wristbands the characters wore, which were used to monitor their movements.

What made Never Let Me Go a tragedy was the indoctrination the characters experienced. The clones were raised in isolation from the rest of society, and they are made a part of the system of control. The Clones were taught from a young age of their tragic fate, they were kept away from society and lived amongst themselves, whether it was at school, The Cottages, or the care facilities, and The Clones were made to be carers of the ‘Donors.’ The book was even better at explaining how the system of control worked because it was able to go into more detail. None of the Clones even attempted to run away. The most they did was try and get a deferment from their donations so they can have a few extra years of life.

An area where the film beat the book was showing the discomfort regular people experienced when they were around the Clones. Madame (Nathalie Richard) was clearly uncomfortable when a group of students surrounded her, the delivery drivers spoke with a tint of sadness when speaking to the students, and at the café in Norfolk, the patrons looked away from the party of Clones. This all showed that people would rather live a lie and not think of the Clones as people. It could be seen as a commentary on today’s society with issues of cheap labour in developing countries making luxuries for wealthy nations or the potential cruelty of the meat industry.

The students at Hailsham had an occasional market so they could buy items. But the items they got were junk like broken toys, loose marbles, and old cassettes. And the Hailsham students were considered the lucky ones. They got more humane treatment. Other Clones saw the Hailsham students as special, and Tommy mentioned that Hailsham was shut down and the new facilities were nothing more than battery farms.

Never Let Me Go has become a popular book for GCSE English and the film did stick closely to the novel’s plot. But it’s no substitute for the book because some plot elements were changed, like who saw Kathy holding a pillow, the sexual awakening many of the students experienced, and what Kathy and Tommy did when they visited Norfolk. It was more of a companion piece for people studying the book, like Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

Never Let Me Go was one of the most tragic stories from the dystopia subgenre because of its sad tone and hopeless situation. The society in the story felt all too real.