What does it means to be a human being?

Welcome to Hailsham, an idyllic English boarding school in the peaceful countryside. Students of Hailsham are special and the headmistress Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling) emphasises that the students’ well-being is of paramount importance. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary for this seemingly prestigious school but these young and naïve students have no idea what awful future awaits them. Indeed, the students of Hailsham are special. They have been created artificially to be used as donors of vital organs for people in the outside world. Essentially, the school is a forever functioning genetic factory.

Based on the best-selling book by Kazuo Ishiguro, the adaptation of Never Let Me Go follows Kathy, Ruth and Tommy (Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield); three young “students” of Hailsham who are caught up in this disturbing drama. Even from a young age, they are bound by a love triangle that develops into an awkward relationship as they grow up. As a rumour spreads that a couple truly in love will be given a “deferral,” a few years’ extension on their short lives, this is brought to a crunch. Hope runs high, but not everything can resolve itself in a neat and painless way. Mulligan and Garfield both have chances to show off in the story’s climax, and they embrace their dramatic moments, with Garfield’s intense performance marking the film’s most highlighted scene with utmost confidence.

Mulligan also plays a central role which, though not an obviously showy part, is deeply moving in its subdued and warm delivery. Anyone who’s seen Mulligan in An Education knows just how much potential and talent the young English actress possesses. With Never Let Me Go we are firmly reminded that all praise was justified and she holds a great deal of promise. But the true revelation of the film is the new rising star Garfield. Looking worryingly thin and pale, his shy, soft-spoken character is in stark contrast to his confident, slick performance in The Social Network. As he struggles to fully voice what’s going on in his head, the often clueless nature of his character is captured with fine precision by the young actor.

Another feature of the film which plays well is the lack of mystery around the fact that these clones were created for the purpose of becoming donor. There is absolutely no action/thriller component in the film and director Mark Romanek wisely chooses to steer away from a overly twist-filled and puzzling tone. There are many hints throughout and the revelation comes at a very early stage, in a depressing monologue delivered as warmly as possible by Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins). Instead, Romanek is interested in the consequences our characters face and the lack of free will all human beings should be entitled to. Donating your organs is a selfless act, but being forced into this – manufactured for it – when you’re barely thirty is horrifying.

A couple of undeveloped ideas do make us question the validity of the film’s ending. Some of its elements seem too forced for the sake of the melancholy mood. Because it spends too much time zooming in on the characters’ expressions and love triangle, it hardly tackles the important issues which are instead rather hastily wrapped up in a clumsy voiceover. Although leaving the viewers to do much thinking is not bad in its entirety, the film’s focus appears to shift somewhere along the way.

What it means to be a human being, how our souls and bodies function are important issues to address in this time of much technological advancement. To an extent Never Let Me Go gets you started in that thought process. Whether you are moved enough to think deeper about the subject matters is entirely up to you, but for me, this was an unquestionably depressing and touching film.