Never Let Me Go - A hard watch, but worth it

I've just watched 'Never Let Me Go' for the second time and it's been a good few years since viewings.  The reason being was because I was never sure whether I enjoyed the film on my original watch.  I have to say that it left quite a mark on me and made me ask questions and picture what the world would be like for the characters in the story's situation.  So, I guess it's certainly memorable, however to say it's 'enjoyable' implies that it's an uplifting and easy-going piece of popcorn-fluff.  It's not.

It begins in a 'fictional' 1960s where the opening text informs us that the society of the time has evolved enough to make certain leaps in technology, namely cloning.  Then we join the students of a private school in Britain as they attend their classes.  However, these children are all deliberately engineered for one thing: they're, one day, going to be used as 'spare parts' for those in need of organ transplants.  Nice.

Skip forward a few years when the kids are now late teen-ish and we see how they deal with their lot in life and how they go about their lives knowing what is to become of them.  The first time I watched this I got quite frustrated with the characters.  I felt they accepted their fate a little too lightly.  If someone was going to chop me up for my eyeballs on my 21st birthday, I'd be taking the first flight to the location farthest away from the surgeon's scalpel.  These kids just trot around the place, awaiting their fate with a slightly furrowed brow.  I ever posted a few of these views on various Internet message boards and was given a fair few reasons for this which I won't go into.  But, I think it's fair to say that I probably 'lost' that argument!

It's set primarily in the 60s-70s and therefore the period detail of the time is excellent (if you can forgive the overall sci-fi premise, technically, not fitting in with the era).  Plus you have good performances from the central trio of Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and, of course, Keira Knightley.  You will certainly want what's best for them and their - seemingly - hopeless situation against fulfilling their 'purpose' in life.

Like I say, it's not a 'feel-good' film and you need to be in the mood for something dark, deep and heavy.  Tissues on standby and... enjoy (if possible).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that