Review of How I Live Now (2013) by Jiana W — 16 Apr 2014

Engaging, thrilling. It's almost like a "fall of Eden"-type movie, where you see innocence and freedom being destroyed by outside forces.

The place where they reside is beautiful, spacey, green, flowery, with gorgeous fresh water falls to play in and a generally carefree undertone. The romance with Daisy and Eddie also lends to this feeling, like everything is right and nothing can go wrong since they are so far away from the the conflict and violence taking place within the city. But this is all short-lived and interrupted. Soon, the once-selfish and rude Daisy and her younger, adorable cousin, Piper, are traveling through dangerous woods to get back home.

Saoirse Ronan is a terrific actress and I love watching her, particularly in roles like this (i.e. "Hanna"). I thought the relationship between her and Eddie was a little...weird. It was a bit off-putting to consider the fact that sex is going on between technical relatives, so I wasn't as engaged in their romance as I probably would have been. Also, I just didn't feel that they had particular chemistry as an on-screen couple, but I don't know if that had to do with my little ick factor.

Nevertheless, it is definitely worth seeing. Though the exact conflict is never really elaborated on, the movie is still believable and I think that's what makes it a bit frightening.