Starring: Saoirse Ronan, George MacKay, Harley Bird
Daisy (Ronan) arrives in England to spend time with her cousins amidst rising problems with terror attacks. Sour about the countryside and her family, Daisy also nurses a crush on her cousin, Edmond (MacKay) but has to find away to band her family together when they're evacuated and separated after a nuclear attack.
Meg Rosoff's 2004 novel is given the film treatment here and whilst there are certainly enjoyable aspects to the film, How I Live Now also has some major stumbling points. A British film about the effects of a nuclear weapons attack, How I Live Now lends certain comparisons to When The Wind Blows (1986) and Threads (1984), in particular the latter. However while those two antecedents are remarkably grim and all the better for it (personally, I've seen few films as brilliantly bleak and terrifying as Threads), How I Live Now takes a slightly softer approach. There are moments that are still grim and gripping, but not quite as sobering or depressing; which is a merit or a flaw depending on the individual viewer. Saoirse Ronan provides an expectantly watchable lead, even if she does grapple a bit with the American accent overcoming her natural Irish brogue, particularly noticeable with words like "here".
Also, with an adolescent lead the film's values seem rather adolescent in themselves. The romantic subplot is brought together with all the melodrama of a first major relationship, with very little buildup making it seem (perhaps intentionally) irrational but also irritating at times, whilst the occasional dream sequences with a shirtless George MacKay make it clear we're definitely within the headspace of a teenage girl. However, her flashes of neuroses, her mind babbling a myriad of near-indecipherable mantras is an interesting touch, even if it never fully explains itself. The supporting cast are likeable, if a little under-explored and the film has a great grip on the tension and pacing. How I Live Now seems a little unsure of itself ad what it wants to say and do, but there's enough there to show that if it had picked a direction it would've worked well. As it is, it's unmemorable but, on occasion, impressive.
Next time, James McAvoy plays a Scottish cop living his own world of drugs and debauchery in Filth.
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