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Some movies fit neatly into a genre, while others seem to be genre mash-ups—like outrageous romantic comedies or horror comedies. But it’s definitely rare to find a sci-fi period romance, like director Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go.
Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go takes place in a parallel world, where ground-breaking scientific discoveries have forever changed people’s lives. But the story isn’t really about scientists or their experiments. It isn’t filled with beeping machines, and it doesn’t take place in space. Instead, it’s an elegant and oddly idyllic drama about three children who are brought up within the new, medically-advanced system.
The story begins at Hailsham House, an English boarding school for special children. Though the residents are often told how important they are, no one really explains why that is until their guilt-ridden teacher, Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins), breaks the silence, explaining that the children were created for the sole purpose of donating their vital organs to save the lives of others.
As the children grow up, Kathy H. (Carey Mulligan) tries to understand her feelings for her childhood friends, Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield), all the while knowing that their time together will be short.
Never Let Me Go is an unusual film, mixing a stereotypically male genre (science-fiction) with a stereotypically female genre (period piece). The result is an intriguing and beautiful—but surprisingly distant—drama.
The story has a decidedly sci-fi premise—a fascinating and ethically challenging story about clones and organ harvesting. But, unlike most science-fiction films, it explains very little. There aren’t any long, expository scenes explaining where the children come from or how the system works. Instead, the audience is left in the dark, never entirely sure of the details. Like the children, who never question their fate (even after Miss Lucy’s heartfelt speech), viewers are simply supposed to accept it and move on. In fact, it’s rarely even discussed. Unfortunately, though, for the thinking, questioning (non-clone) members of the audience, the lack of explanation leaves so many nagging unanswered questions that it often becomes a distraction.
But Never Let Me Go isn’t strictly sci-fi. It’s also (and more noticeably so) a period drama, following Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy through nearly two decades of their short lives. From the manor-like Hailsham House to the surrounding English countryside, the settings are gorgeous—just as you’d expect from a period piece. The story, too, touches on the usual period drama topics—things like young love, friendship, jealousy, and loss. And it all moves along at a relaxed pace—a pace so easy-going and relaxed that you might occasionally forget the story’s underlying urgency.
Still, while you might expect a period drama about young people coming to grips with their mortality to be absolutely gut-wrenching, the film takes an almost clinical sci-fi approach. The characters are kept at a distance—almost like test subjects. And although the film argues that the children are human—not just clones—they never really feel human. They’re bland and almost mechanical—and that emotional distance certainly doesn’t make for a moving drama.
Despite the unusual—and often captivating—premise, Never Let Me Go misses the mark with both of its genres. Like most science fiction, it’s clinical and emotionally distant—but it refrains from the usual exposition, leaving the audience with too many unanswered questions. Like a period romance, it’s beautiful but rather listless—yet it’s lacking the usual emotional connection. So although the story is interesting, the film won’t completely satisfy fans of either genre.
