Never Let Me Go Makes it Hard to Let Go of the Emotional Struggle

Never Let Me Go (3 1/2 stars out of 5)

Directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and Written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later)
Starring: Carrie Mulligan, Andrew Garfield,  and Keira Knightley

Never Let Me Go is the story of three young children Kathy (Mulligan), Tommy (Garfield) and Ruth (Knightley) who attend Halisham boarding school.  While attending this school the children are raised kept away from the outside world in order to carry out a mission without their knowledge of the purpose of the mission.  Kathy narrates the story from her perspective in the present day and shows the viewer their world while they attend Hailsham then leave that when they get older and are sent to another place called The Cottages to further prepare them for their life's mission.

Mulligan's performance is so quiet and telling as she narrates her need to follow the rules set out by their headmistress (Charlotte Rampling).  Kathy believes in their mission and trust the process, but as she falls for Tommy at young age; she rarely questions the thought that there may be more to her life than Hailsham is allowing.  As Tommy realizes the truth behind  his love for Kathy you feel the his pain and Garfield is brilliant.  Yet Knightley's Ruth was the one who stole the film for me; she is hauting in her portrayal of Ruth someone who is so afraid of being alone that she isolates and creates a divide amongst her friends.

Mark Romanek's direction creates this beautiful portrait of their world, where we are able to feel every emotion, and understand that this mission has such a dark and twisted fate for our three main characters.  The cinematography conveys the elements of this dark and depressing tone.The flaws are the pacing there were moments where Romanek needed more life, to keep me hooked.   The characters are often cold and dispondant.  Dispondency may make for a lack of connection and the viewer could lose their connection to the characters and the film.  However the characters' worlds are filled with uncertainty  and the film never let's you that go.

My Reccomendation: Rent if you like British Period Pieces-If you don't, this may no be for you-this is currently out to rent and is no longer in the theatres.