Fox Searchlight has released the first poster for Never Let Me Go. The film stars Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan - two of the hottest British actresses around - plus Hollywood’s brand-spanking new Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield. I feel obliged to mention this right off the top because it would be kind of hard to tell otherwise. The names of all three actors are indeed printed at the top of the poster (along with the obligatory “Academy Award Nominee” nod to the ladies) but the closest you’ll get to actually seeing any of the film’s ultra-marketable stars is a shot of Garfield and Mulligan’s backsides… or maybe that’s Garfield and Knightley? I really couldn’t say.  Judge for yourself after the jump.

As with the Never Let Me Go trailer, the poster emphasizes that director Mark Romanek’s film is adapted from “The Best Novel of the Decade.” I can’t confirm that particular fact, but I do know that Never Let Me Go is based on an award-winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro; the author whose book The Remains of the Day was itself adapted into the Oscar-nominated film by Merchant Ivory.

Here’s the official synopsis:

In his highly acclaimed novel NEVER LET ME GO, Kazuo Ishiguro (THE REMAINS OF THE DAY) created a remarkable story of love, loss and hidden truths. In it he posed the fundamental question: What makes us human? Now director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO), writer Alex Garland and DNA Films bring Ishiguro’s hauntingly poignant and emotional story to the screen. Kathy (Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION), Tommy (Andrew Garfield, BOY A, RED RIDING) and Ruth (Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, ATONEMENT) live in a world and a time that feel familiar to us, but are not quite like anything we know. They spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. When they leave the shelter of the school and the terrible truth of their fate is revealed to them, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.

Fox Searchlight is clearly hoping the same Oscar blessings will be bestowed on Never Let Me Go. Of course, there’s no knowing whether a dystopian coming-of-age story from the man who gave us the darkly engrossing One Hour Photo will appeal to the Academy as much as Remains did back in 1994. Watching Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson repress any hint of sexual desire is gonna be hard to top… even for Spider-Man.

Never Let Me Go hits US theatres in limited release on September 15th.