Directed by Mark Romanek. Starring: Carey Muligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightly
What’s It About?
Based off the wildly popular novel of the same name, Never Let Me Go is a story about three children that grow up together and are all bound by the same unfortunate fate.
What We Thought:
Jess: The premise of this movie is very promising and intriguing, however in the end, for me, did not bring about the excitement possible. Perhaps it is because it is a faithful adaptation of the novel it is based on which would give it some credit on that end, although for a broader audience I am not sure how well it will sit. I can take a dark, hopeless movie, but this one is just simply too bleak for me to really be invested. These characters passively live out their lives just as they were intended without giving the audience any clue as to why they wouldn’t resist. I feel that there is an underlying message about appreciating your life no matter how short it may be, and a sort of reflection on society’s willingness to exploit others, but neither idea is really emphasized enough to make the viewer think about it. The saving grace of this movie is that it is beautifully directed and perfectly acted by the three leads. Carey Mulligan is definitely a remarkable actress and Andrew Garfield continues to impress me the more that I see him. I didn’t hate this movie, but the plot did little to make me love it.
Lindsay: The plot behind NLMG is provocative. The lesson of the film is important and thought provoking. The problem is, I would not describe this movie with any of those adjectives. Quiet, restrained and frankly boring are all words I find more accurate. I felt really empty after seeing this movie, but considering the movie’s subject matter, that feeling was more than avoidable. Director Mark Romanek structures a beautiful film and the acting from all three leads is beyond words amazing. But the movie has no real conflict. The idea of conflict is present but nothing is done about it. I feel the message of not wasting your short life is a powerful one, but it was very laborious process to get there, so the impact is greatly diminished. I felt emotion for the characters largely because of the actors performances, which made me feel that these were real people I was seeing. But the story itself and the way the events unfolded did not help me to become invested.
Also the scene depicted in the poster(see below) never happens. Just saying.
