Never Let Me Go

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Utterly heartbreaking, wonderfully acted and directed with the kind of subtlety that has become endangered in modern Hollywood, Never Let Me Go will devastate you if it sucks you in. Mark Romanek has created a film that never spells anything out; the naivety of the characters evokes floods of empathy thanks to succinct but invasive writing from Alex Garland, and some understated helming from Romanek. Watching this film made me want to go out and buy the book almost instantly - and how often can you say that a trip to the cinema made you do that?

Cathy (played as a teen and adult by Mulligan) is an intelligent and thoughtful young girl at Hailsham, a "boarding school" like no other. There, she and another student Tommy (The Social Network's Garfield) share a powerful connection although they never act on it. When Ruth (Knightley), another student becomes jealous of their friendship and pursues Tommy romantically, he and Cathy drift apart. But Hailsham isn't your average school, and the students are all there for a very specific reason. Their function is revealed not long into the film, when Sally Hawkins's rogue teacher breaks down the real purpose of their existence. We know then that the clock is ticking and tragedy is inevitable.

It's hard to know how much of Never Let Me Go to give away. The trailers vaguely hinted at something, but never spelt it out. You could almost describe it as a science fiction film, which is probably a red herring, but you should still know as little about it as possible going in. The fact that there is no huge twist, coupled with the film's pensive pace, places it firmly in the 'drama' category; but as it slowly unravels, you'll find yourself completely transfixed. The sci-fi element is almost subtext, and Romanek shoots it (albeit sumptuously) like a straight-up drama, which instinctively makes it feel fresh.

Carey Mulligan is an actress that was never really on my radar, but her performance here stayed with me long after the credits rolled. She plays Cathy with inherent sadness and regret, but with an admirably pragmatic core. It is a layered and sincere work from the young British actress, and she should really have been in contention for more gongs during awards season. Garfield is endearingly naive, while Knightley relishes her meatier moments as the film moves towards its conclusion.

The ambiguity of proceedings, and indeed the "why didn't they just..." questions will quite probably deter the multiplex masses who were brought in by the popular young cast - but they'll really be missing out. This is an aesthetically gorgeous, but also deeply beautiful film that transcends the notion of what genre should be, and instead works purely as an affecting, character-driven piece. The final shots of each character resonated with me more than any other cinema-going experience in recent memory.

Not perfect, but as engaging and thoughtful as modern mainstream cinema gets nowadays.