Three students at an English boarding school discover love, life, and the ultimate truth about their existence in the film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name. It's a seemingly innocent setting that leads into a bit of science fiction that deepens the story but doesn't overburden it. Fans of romance and science fiction will find themselves intrigued and seemingly meeting in the middle in this tale that echoes the feel of The Time Traveler's Wife or Gattaca, while doing the subject matter more justice than The Island, blending futuristic elements of fiction in a world that isn't too foreign to our own.

The three students are depicted in their elementary years, and again in their teen and young adult years. The narrator is Kathy (Carey Mulligan, An Education), a sometimes naive, always overshadowed, young woman who watches what happens at the Hailsham school and recognizes that her choices are limited. She's not-so-secretly in love with Tommy (Andrew Garfield, The Social Network) who is rather wrapped up in Ruth (Keira Knightley, Pirates of the Caribbean), a more mischievous and even malicious young woman, who flaunts her knowledge of Kathy's love for Ruth. In a very basic way, this is a love story, a love triangle with very sharp points.

But on the other hand, and not much of a secret given that it's on the box, this is a story about a group of clones, including our three main characters, who are bred from an early age to be donors. Of their organs. These young people are used up to three times to make the lives of "real people" better, people they'll never know. Of course, it's usually only three donations because the organs removed are necessary, and the donations ultimately lead to the death of the donor. Hailsham is actually one of the more "humane" options out of all of them, because it allows its donors to develop into young adulthood, rather than merely using them up as children. (You can decide if that's more humane or not).

The movie explores some pretty intense ideas (and ideals). How do we determine who we are? The clones are modeled after real people, which gives them some idea of their "worth." How do we determine who we are supposed to be? The government controls that in the course of Never Let Me Go, and for most donors the situation seems to become an accepted reality. How do we determine who we love, or is that even within our control? Ruth sees love as currency, while Kathy sees it as romantic and friendship based. How do we prioritize our time? The society expects the clones to live in bliss until they've reached the extent of their worth, but Kathy tries to live and love with all of her might, even as a "carer." How do we see our deaths? The world of these clones is such that they see it as inevitable (true of us as well) but without purpose and quite final.

Ishiguro's story is quite provocative, and it demands an approach that people of faith would consider in light of their own belief system. For me, human life is sacred, created by God with purpose, on purpose, and for a purpose. In fact, when everything goes crazy, it's that origination that provides stability and meaning in a world that sometimes seems to spin out of control. No matter who you are, you were made in God's image, and God meant for you to live and enjoy and experience life to its fullest. It won't always be easy or good (I'll leave the fall of humankind for another day) but it does allow for you to grow and to love. I'm not sure where Ishiguro is coming from, but we seem to share that commonality: life isn't to be traded, stolen, or bartered, but to be lived... in love.

The Blu-ray edition also includes some of the normal behind-the-scenes stuff but also tidbits like "Tommy's Art" and information about the "National Donor Programme," as well as the graphics from the "Hailsham Campaign."