Never Let Me Go (2010)

Mark Romanek is not exactly what you would call a prolific director, starting with music videos his only other film to date is 2002's One Hour Photo, an effectively creepy thriller with a great turn from Robin Williams. With Never Let Me Go his understated style returns, but this time in service of a much warmer and deeper story, the result of which is a touching and quietly affecting film of real power and which makes me hope it isn't another eight years until his next film.
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Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguru the film tells the story of an alternate reality, in which cloning was invented in the 1950's and used to cure disease, but at a cost. The film centres around three main characters, and traces them from childhood where they lived together in a boarding school to adulthood, where the true nature of their lives is revealed. It's not exactly a spoiler to discuss elements of this, but I will attempt to refrain as the fresher the experience the better. What is remarkable about the film is that it manages to deal with big life questions, on a very small, intimate scale. The film is technically a science fiction film, but is set in the past and it's a unique take on a genre that has always worked best when belaying parables about our lives through a filter..

Carey Mulligan, Kiera Knightly and Andrew Garfield play the characters in their adult lives, and the combination of the three makes for interesting dynamics. Mulligan who was so impressive in 20087's An Education again shines here, her Kathy is shy and sensitive, she bonds with Garfield's awkward Tommy at school, only to have her best friend (Knightly) steal him from under her. The film chooses to spent a lot of time with the young versions of the characters, and it pays off. The child actors are all remarkable (Izzy Meikle-Smith is the spitting image of Mulligan) and really ground the characters from the start. It's a bold move to hold your main cast for the first third of a film such as this, but it pays off.
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Both Garfield and Knightly impress as well, I'm not always the biggest fan of Keira but she brings a flinty selfishness and vulnerability to Ruth, especially as the film progresses. Andrew Garfield continues his great work from The Social Network here, his Tommy is repressed and full of heart and his inherent likeability lends real emotional heft to the film's climax.
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As well as being wonderfully acted and photographed what is refreshing about the film is the restrained and mature way it deals with the issues raised, which can be as large as what it means to be human, and the way we deal with death and suffering. Romanek and writer Alex Garland avoid many of the genre cliché's and negate your expectations throughout, there is a resigned inevitability to the way events play out that may not make for the most cheerful viewing, but lend the film a bittersweet tone that is echoed in it's palette of golds and browns. Never Let Me Go is a slow burn of a film, but one that seeps into your heart and stays with you in its own, quiet, way.