Never Let Me Go

Clad in grey clothes and with golden complexions, Hailsham students are special creatures. Raised to fulfil a very specific biological purpose, they are empty vessels propelled from school, through adolescence, and directly into respite centres where they care for, or become, donors.

Cathy (Carey Mulligan), a fragile-looking student, carries questions and insecurities in her wan frame, quietly searching for the answers behind their strange existence. Her best friend and crush Tommy is poignantly played by an adorably naive Andrew Garfield. Their inept fondness carries a sincerity as hapless as it is heartbreaking. Sharing a way of speaking that's at once innocent and world-weary, their words reveal the cramped egos of children denied love and nurturing.

Stunning locations and beautiful set design combine with a subtly piercing palette, melding real English countryside and old town beauty with a world that's not quite our own. Though initially piecemeal, Romanek's vision transforms Ishiguro's ethereal novel of questions into a well-crafted story of tragic love. [Nicola Balkind]