People forced to live lives in shadowy fog. Their curiosity gnawing at them but their indoctrination still catching hold: don’t ask too many questions. We will tell you all you need to know…in our own time. Till then, keep your fucking mouth shut.
They have gotten messages like that since they were young kids. That in itself makes it harder to disobey…especially when “disobey” covers so broad a spectrum. Three main characters: the narrator, Kathy H, Ruth and Tommy. More restless than out-and-out rebellious. Almost resigned to their fate. But unable to stop questioning their reality—so many unanswered questions.
Never let me Go takes its time to reveal…just some of the questions. II’s set in an alternate reality, but so much will feel familiar compared to our own..
Many diseases we fear (in our own reality) have been eliminated. Longevity has increased to well over 100. But the price of these medical breakthroughs is a steep one. Young people raised as a sort of sacrificial lamb—donors of organs needed for medical research. These donations will kill most of them before the age of 30.
Ironically, the people in charge have not lied to the young people raised as sacrificial lambs. The lambs are doing a good job. Disease numbers are way down, and likely to continue that way.
But Never let me Go does not deal with statistics. It wants to focus on the people whose lives are already mapped ou†. Paying the price for people who can now be cured from diseases which were once killer diseases.
This movie is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, writer of the superb The Remains of the Day. It’s not in the same league as that movie, but that is no condemnation—only a handful are.
Many people have Never let me Go listed as one of their all-time best horror movies. Does it belong there? Well it doesn’t have any scenes that make you jump, or pull back from blood being spilled. And yet things about it will keep gnawing at you…the fate of the main characters being the first. Yes, they have choices they can make. But virtually all of their choices lead to the same place in the maze—early death with no escape, no one to hear any appeal you can summon up.
It starts out like a sensitive-kids-coming-of-age story: vulnerable kids trapped in a quiet but deceptively doomed environment. A prison they gradually realize has numbed their spirits. Hailsham, the upscale school where the kids have grown up, does have some unexpected kindnesses. Sympathetic staff people who sometime listen to students’ concerns.
But major questions stay unanswered—who are we, what exactly are we doing here, what is our destination, regardless of whether we are carers or donors. Hailsham pupils are deliberately left in the dark.
I mentioned “sensitive kids coming of age story” because this is where the movie spends most of its time….getting to know Kathy, Ruth and Tommy. We see Kathy—generous to a fault, watching Tommy and Ruth bonding while Kathy stays painfully alone. We share Kathy and Tommy’s pain when they re-unite after a long separation. Only to learn they will only be allowed weeks together at most.
Gradually the theme of sensitive kids growing up is overshadowed by that of their inevitable fate. The future of the carers is not made as clear as that of the donors.
Gradually the donors start to understand—few of them will survive past thirty. They will miss out on a major part of average people’s lives. Years that so many of us take for granted, or complain about instead of stopping to appreciate them
Falling in love. Seeing their kids born. Watching them grow up. Experiencing our careers develop, grow. Many of us won’t appreciate those years—we are pre-occupied with buying more things and keeping up with credit card payments. But some of us —the fortunate ones, may grow old and eventually treasure those times.
Think of the many movies showing us how painful is the yearning to live through exactly those years. Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein. A surprisingly large number.of werewolf stories and even a few vampire tales—the pain of missing out on those times.
That makes the sting so much more painful. Kathy and Tommy believe they’ve discovered an escape clause; they can find the time to experience their newfound love.
They find out the hard truth. Kathy maintains her good manners and accepts her reality with grace. Tommy stands in an empty road and screams in agony. The movie has shown us just enough of their brief happiness together to feel what Tommy feels.