Never Let Me Go (2010 Film) Mark Romanek

Box office

In its opening weekend in the United Kingdom, between 11–13 February 2011, it took ninth place at the box office. Playing on 265 screens, it took in an estimated £625,000, which the British press considered disappointing.[52] In its second week its box-office revenue decreased by 45%, to £338,404.[53] Never Let Me Go has made a total of US$9.90 million worldwide.[1]

Never Let Me Go was released to four cinemas in its opening weekend in the United States, with an additional 163 theatres added to its theatrical run later on.[1] The film became the number-one screening at these four theatres on its opening day,[47] and grossed slightly over US$44,500 from those select screenings.[1] In its opening weekend, the film made over US$111,700, averaging US$30,250 per theatre, taking 42nd place at the box office.[1] In its succeeding week, revenues for Never Let Me Go saw a 117% increase, making about US$241,000, with an average of nearly US$9,500 per theatre. It was the 28th-highest-grossing film at the box office for that week.[1] By its third week of release, the film suffered a revenue decrease to around US$188,000, despite being screened at more theatres than the previous week.[1] After one month of release, it pulled in US$350,000, increasing nearly 90 per cent from its previous weekend.[1]

According to a news piece published by the Los Angeles Times on 21 October, by its fifth week of release the film was an "undeniable disappointment" commercially. The publication noted that when its release widened to over 200 theatres the previous weekend its per-theatre average was so low that its distributor decided to cut its screens in the succeeding weeks.[54] Based on answers from film experts and executives for Fox Searchlight, there were five factors to why the film commercially disappointed: its timing, airing too early in the year when lighter summer fare is still popular; a novel that is particularly difficult to adapt; mixed reviews from critics; its depressing tone; and its lack of appeal to male viewers.[54] In the following weeks Never Let Me Go began to gross under US$100,000 per weekend, going on to earn US$2.5 million in the U.S. by the second week of December.[1]

Critical response

Never Let Me Go received generally positive reviews from critics, with the cast's performances being praised. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 71% approval rating based on 186 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mark Romanek has delivered a graceful adaptation that captures the spirit of the Ishiguro novel—which will be precisely the problem for some viewers."[55] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generaly favourable reviews".[56]

David Gritten of The Daily Telegraph saluted the film, applauding the production and the performances of its supporting cast.[41] Saul Austerlitz of the Boston Globe felt that the film struck a "mournful note" and believed that certain images in the film, such as a tree in an empty field, "possess a haunting power directly lifted from the best of Romanek's video work", while respecting the themes in Ishiguro's novel.[57]

The Hollywood Reporter critic Jay A. Fernandez said that Never Let Me Go was an engaging film, but he thought that its overall impact was not as emotionally devastating as the book.[36] Cleveland Magazine's Clint O'Connor strongly approved the acting performance of Garfield,[58] and Eric Kohn from IndieWire praised Garland’s script and Kimmel’s photography.[59]

Chris Knight of the National Post wrote that the film was able to capture the wistfulness and the unpredictable tone of Ishiguro's novel, but added that it "spills the beans much sooner".[60] Mark Jenkins of NPR called Never Let Me Go a "remarkably successful adaptation" of Ishiguro's book, but acknowledged that Romanek and Garland "do make a few missteps", which were mostly the result of the limitations imposed by turning the novel's contents into a film.[61] Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman described the film as feeling like a "period piece" and rated it a C+.[62] Reuters's Stephen Farber called the film a disappointment, because although it was "expertly acted, impeccably photographed, intelligently written" and "even intermittently touching", Never Let Me Go is "too parched and ponderous to connect with a large audience"; he said the film should have laid out more completely the logic of its parallel universe, such as the cloning process, and he thought the film had a “theme” of “the dangers of medical experimentation”, which he found "rather tired".[19]

Slant writer Ed Gonzalez gave the film a two-out-of-four-star rating, saying the characters' actions do not feel "appropriately warped" while the interactions between the teachers and students is not "at all rife with the what-are-they-thinking-about-us mystery of the book".[63] Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com wrote that Romanek "does so many difficult things beautifully in this movie". He thought the film carried a reminder that life is short regardless of how long it lasts rather than a "lecture about the horrors of human history".[64] Tom Preston from The Guardian described Mulligan and Garfield's acting as solid, while commenting that Knightley's emotional performances are occasionally jarring. He said that although the film finely demonstrated subtlety, its screenplay could have been written with less compression in some parts.[65] Writing in Newsweek, Louisa Thomas praised the film for its beauty and its performances but declared that "there's something just missing here."[66]

Marshall Fine of The Huffington Post noted that like the novel, the film is difficult to embrace. He said that the film does work on a "suspense level", due to Romanek's creating a "quiet, leisurely pace that would not be out of place in a yoga class". He stated that he "no doubt was aiming for an eerie, Children of the Damned vibe, except that it's the children who are damned". The writer concluded that Never Let Me Go's final result is a "staid, lifeless tale that never talks about what it's about, or at least not enough to provoke deep thoughts on the subject."[67] Film critic Rex Roberts of Film Journal International thought the film was moderately surprising given Romanek and Garland's previous work, saying that they "show real affinity for the subtle shades of resignation and quiet desperation that characterize Isighuro's [sic] prose and, as would be expected, accentuate the unsettling eeriness that pervades Never Let Me Go". Roberts felt that Mulligan and Knightley were not convincing in portraying their ages until the last third of the movie.[23]

Christy Lemire stated that the film was a "gorgeous, provocative look at humanity" and observed that like its characters, the film "demands much of its audiences emotionally". She concluded that Never Let Me Go is worth the investment.[68] Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan thought that the film was "passionate about deliberation and restraint" and believed that the latter may not appeal to all audiences.[69] Scott Bowles, writing for USA Today, gave the film a negative review, declaring "never was a movie so bleak and empty". He claimed that Never Let Me Go did not "embrace the book's unrelentingly dark tones", but rather wallowed in them. He commented that not even the cast's performance, particularly Garfield's, were enough to redeem the film.[70] New York Times journalist Manohla Dargis said that the film presented "the aspect of a tasteful shocker" because its "cruelty is done so prettily and with such caution that the sting remains light".[71]

Accolades