a real tear-jerker

not since Dobby died have I been so saddened by a movie!

Never Let Me Go is based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel of the same name and stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield in a parallel Britain where clones are created and raised for a morbidly nightmarish and shocking purpose: organ farms.

so sad...

Judging from the TV Guide summary, I had no idea that this movie was this sort of shocking dystopia. All I had to go on was a blurb akin to "three children in a seemingly idyllic boarding school are faced with a haunting reality." Naturally, I thought that the reality was growing up... unsurprisingly, I was knocked off my rocker! But after the initial shock when Miss Lucy discloses the children's fate - I missed the first five minutes of the movie which apparently is the first giveaway - I decided that this eerie twist added some gloom and goth to the familiar love triangle.

L to R: Carey Mulligan as Kathy, Keira Knightley as Ruth, and Andrew Garfield as Tommy

Also learned that Carey Mulligan did this project shortly after An Education... you can tell her stock just skyrocketed after these those two projects. For me, Keira and Andrew were good, just not nearly as brilliant as Carey.

What really amazes me is the casting choices for the first third of the movie, which documents the young childhood of the trio. Going only on looks, I feel like these girls were picked solely because they look so much like their adult counterparts. But these lasses have acting in their blood, too!

Ella Purnell (left) plays young Ruth while Isobel Meikle-Small nails the part of young Kathy

By the way, watching the first third of the movie is absolutely heartbreaking... watching these promising young children just accept their sad fate... all I feel is melancholy, and it only adds to the poignancy of this film.

Now I'll be thinking many sad thoughts at work...

Thanks to this movie, I am never going to volunteer to donate my DNA or eggs to anything, anyone, or any cause!