Reflections on Never Let Me Go

The screen adaption of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go is released in the UK in a few days time. But I’ve heard so much about the movie I thought it had already come and gone. It was only some of the advance publicity, which focused on interviews with the author over the last few days that alerted me the film had yet to hit British cinemas.
Perhaps budget restraints have meant the necessity for the movie’s slow roll out. The novel was published in 2005; shooting started in April 2009; the film was shown at festivals last summer; and released in the US in the autumn.
Its stars Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley – and director Mark Romanek – have banged the drum for the film repeatedly over the best part of nine months.
There can be few people in the UK who see the movie not already aware of the twist (which I won't reveal here). Clearly those that have read the book will not be deterred but the element of surprise would have been welcomed by those such as me who haven’t read it.
I understand although set in a dystopian England, the movie isn’t an out-and-out Logan’s Run for our time but rather a melancholic celebration of love and humanity. But it would have been nice to have come to the film with an open mind rather than have the thought floating around in my head that some reviewers have asked – why don’t our heroes resist their fate?