‘Never Let Me Go’ dares to be different

Director: Mark Romanek

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling

Cert: 15

No film delivers everything by way of thought-provoking drama, horror, emotion or romance, but director Romanek’s working of the best-selling Kazuo Ishiguro novel comes close.

It contains elements of mystery, death, romance and sci-fi and is completely enhanced by the playing of an excellent class. If there are faults they lie in the absence of any obvious villains – though possibly Big Government stands accused – and a rage against the cruel system by the characters.

The story is set in a parallel world that looks, but in subtle ways clearly isn’t, like the one we live in. At what appears to be an idyllic English boarding school, Hailsham, three young friends – Kathy (Mulligan), Ruth (Knightley) and Tommy (Garfield) – are actually cloned humans for the purpose of providing body parts to enable the world to continue. As they grow they must face the consequences of their emotional bonding.

Questions are set up but not always answered – if, for instance, they know what they are there for why don’t they protest or, as the characters did in the similar ‘Logan’s Run’, escape? – but it is a minor problem when set against the overall impact of a film that dares to be different.

Star Rating: 4/5