Review of How I Live Now (2013) by Blake P — 25 Apr 2014

World War III seems to be a joke today whenever mentioned. "If you don't come home before 11:30 tonight, missy, it's going to be World War III!" a mother might say to her daughter. "You buy another boat, mark my words, it's gonna be World War III!" a wife could proclaim to her doting husband. Having another gigantic war never truly seems like a reality. We live in a time where it seems almost every inch of the world is covered by a surveillance camera, every conversation we have is monitored by the government. It might feel a bit trapped sometimes, but we feel safe. World War III is a topic that rolls off our backs. What makes "How I Live Now" so successful is its believability. By using teenagers as its main characters, it shows that even Instagram and Twitter can't protect them, just proving how harsh the dire situation is in full. Saoirse Ronan portrays Daisy, a punkish American girl who is sent to the U.K. to live with her cousins after the U.S. proves too unsafe to live in. Crawling with terrorists and explosions at every foot, much of the world has been destroyed. Daisy, with her '70s rocker style and badly dyed platinum hair, looks and acts like a bat out of hell, but in truth she's deeply vulnerable - she and her father don't have a good relationship and she feels lonely beyond belief. While staying with her newfound family, she falls for her eldest cousin Eddie (George McKay), who is soft-spoken but seems to understand Daisy underneath her heavy makeup. But just as their relationship begins to grow, the area in which they're staying is forced to evacuate the premises - and in turn the girls are sent to one camp and the boys are sent to another, splitting them up. Before they are separated however, Eddie tells Daisy that she and Piper (one of the younger cousins) must escape, and if they do, he'll be waiting for them at the house. Of course, Daisy, smitten beyond belief, follows his declaration, but rather than it be a romanticized journey, it turns into a fight for survival. The film begins like a rollicking art film, with opening credits that feature banging rock music and bold headlines. It continues with a sort of post-punk, slightly kooky tone, but it slowly unfolds into something much more profound. As soon as it is announced that the evacuation is in effect, "How I Live Now" turns from earthy teen romance to an apocalyptic thriller with the snap of a finger. The shift easily could throw us off, but it instead gives us a dose of reality that comes just as much of a shock to us as the people living it. This change in attitude could only be done by Kevin Macdonald, a director who gives the film an even mix of heartfelt romance and grittiness that avoids the clichés expected by the filmmaking for the YA crowd. It's nostalgic and still effortlessly believable, giving the goods to the teens who watch the film in order to have their hearts swing around in a circle, and providing thought-provoking questions to intelligent adults. The biggest breath of relief in the film stems from the return to form by Saoirse Ronan, who almost threw away her career last year due to the godawful "The Host", a Stephanie Meyer adaptation that stunk from start to finish. But Ronan, who is much too good to be ignored, proves in "How I Live Now" why she is one of the youngest Oscar-nominees of all-time. Whether or not she's playing Daisy in her devil-may-care state or her in-love one, she subtly provides her with a longing aura that makes her romance seem important rather than throwaway.

"How I Live Now" didn't fully grasp the attention of audiences back when it was released in November, but it's an indie gem that delivers an idea that could have been highly talked about had it hit the mainstream.