15 Years Ago, Britain Gave Us The Most Brutally Honest Sci-Fi Movie Of The Century

"The genre is not known for its optimism, but in dystopian stories from the United Kingdom, the country's history of austerity, suppression of radicals, and rigid hierarchy feel especially pronounced and depressing, often without needing the outsized spectacle of Hollywood sci-fi. Traumatizing television films like Threads speculated on nuclear armageddon, while literary adaptations like A Clockwork Orange and 1984 revealed the desolation of paranoid authoritarians trying to "correct" their subjects."

"With Never Let Me Go, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel released 15 years ago, British sci-fi got as close as possible to replicating its punishing but mundane society with fidelity and honesty - especially in how it shows the dangerous but normalized ways Britain discriminates between the value of its citizens' lives. This supremely subdued cloning drama underlines a central, honest tenet of science fiction: technology is far more likely to worsen disparities between societal groups than repair them."

"Set in an alternate history of postwar Britain, Never Let Me Go charts the lives of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield), and Ruth (Keira Knightley) who spend a sheltered childhood inside the walls of Hailsham, a boarding school. They are "donors," cloned humans raised to provide healthy organs to sick Brits, and multiple donations will inevitably make them too sick to live."

British dystopian fiction often emphasizes austerity, suppression of radicals, and rigid social hierarchies, producing a pronounced and depressing tone without relying on Hollywood spectacle. Examples include chilling television films speculating on nuclear war, literary adaptations exposing paranoid authoritarian attempts at 'correction,' and visceral cinematic thrillers that sustain a smothering sense of dread while occasionally offering a fragile hope. Never Let Me Go portrays a subdued cloning drama set in postwar Britain where cloned 'donors' are raised to provide organs and face inevitable 'completion.' The story demonstrates how technology and institutions are likelier to deepen societal disparities than to remedy them.

Read at Inverse