Member review

I really didn't want to give this five stars. I really didn't. However, to give it any other score would be a crime against nature.

It is the story of a complex and manipulative love triangle circulating Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Kiera Knightley).

All three as children live in and are confined to an unusual boarding school called Hailsham which has an unnerving obsession with health.

In the midst of this, Kathy makes an unlikely friendship with Tommy, a kind-hearted boy with anger problems. Their friendship blossoms and on the brink of romance, Ruth steps in and steals him away.

Soon after, the school reveals a shocking revelation the children's origins and fate: all the children were cloned and will eventually be forced to give up their vital organs. This also means they will die or 'complete' in early adulthood. The children accept this fate and grow up to leave Hailsham and move to the country, though more or less still in captivity, where they await their first donations. Until the trio hears a rumour of a chance to delay the first donations by a few years for couples deeply in love.

This sets off a large trigger of hope as they attempt to untangle the the triangle they have been intertwined in since childhood.

It's the little things in the film which are most memorable.

A group of adults watching a sit-com, not quite understanding what their laughing at or when to laugh, but nevertheless laughing, albeit uncertainly.

Two young children sat together in the garden, not quite sure of their feelings yet, but with a definite unseen spark in between.

Or when Kathy comes in to visit Ruth in the hospital but all she finds are some children's toys because that is all Ruth has.

This is what makes it special. This is what makes it memorable. And there is so much more I could say. But I can't, because it may spoil the film.

Another impressive feature is the subtlety. They don't feel they have to explain every detail we might miss. In a way, this makes it more effective and moving. At first, we weren't sure what they meant by 'complete'. I think it was more upsetting to work it out than it would have been for them to tell us. The innocence is also a nice touch. The way that even as adults Kathy, Tommy and Ruth go along in a childlike fashion learning how to socially interact and behave in the outside world (they even had classes in the school on how to order a coffee in a cafe) as they were confined so long inside the gates of Hailsham. The cast do a golden job at that, as they do throughout the film. Carey Mulligan fits the role like a glove and I think she should receive an award.

To tell the truth, I couldn't bear the film (though not for the reason you would think). It was just too much to cope with. Too much depressing feeling, too many disturbing secrets and obsessions, too much heart-brake. I can't say I hated it, I can't even say I didn't like it. All I know is I could not bear it.

I really didn't want to give this five stars. I really didn't. However, to give it any other score would be a crime against nature.