15 Feel-Bad Movies That Make You Feel Like Sh*t
9. Never Let Me Go
To call Mark Romanek’s dystopian drama a bit of a downer would be
quite the understatement. Based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro and adapted for
the screen by fellow writer Alex Garland, Never Let Me Go is set in an
alternate history in which a medical breakthrough in the 1950s means that the
average human lifespan is now one hundred years.
Sounds good? Not so fast. It turns out living for a century is only possible because of the existence of human clones created solely as spare parts destined to give up their organs for their originals and die – or ‘complete’, as the movie puts it – by early adulthood.
The films focuses on three clones who form a friendship while at a boarding school-like facility where they learn of their fate and a ray of hope in the form of a ‘deferral’ – a rumour that clones who can prove they’re in love can be granted a temporary pardon from organ donation. Naturally, this turns to be a rumour built on false hope.
Admittedly, it’s a beautifully eerie film that poses big questions about morality and the nature of the soul, but still a major downer that slaps you in the face with a reminder that you – just like the clones – have an eventual expiration date too.