How I Live Now 2013

     This film is based on a novel by Meg Rosoff.  Elizabeth (Daisy) is an American living in the United Kingdom of the future.  She has been sent by her estranged father from New York to live with relatives in the English countryside.  Daisy barely knows the cousins Eddie, Isaac and Piper.  Joe is a neighbor friend who stays with them a lot.  Moving to another country for a teenager almost 20 is a difficult situation and she’s shy, withdrawn, uncooperative and feels out of her element in the beginning.  She's also a vegetarian and that doesn't fit in with their menus.  As she begins to enjoy the warmth and charm of her surroundings, she also begins a romance with Eddie.  They are young, she’s pretty, he’s handsome but news reports are coming out about a growing conflict in Europe.  The UK becomes a violent and chaotic military state.  Some kind of device has been exploded and the water is unfit to drink.  It becomes necessary to hide and fight in order to survive.

     There is a lot of tension in this film!!  There are reports that a nuclear explosion hit London and the water has been intentionally contaminated.  Daisy becomes a real part of her new family and she helps them with survival.  I thought this was good and different.  The characters draw you in and you want them all to be together again.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

101 min, Action directed by Kevin Macdonald with Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, George MacKay, Harley Bird, Danny McEvoy, Anna Chancellor, Jonathan Rugman, Corey Johnson, Darren Morfitt, Stella Gonet, Des McAleer, Sophie Stanton.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 68% critic 55% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 115 reviews, Metacritic 57 out of 100 with 29 critics 6.6 out of 10 with 34 reviews, The Guardian Mark Kermode 3* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Carmarthenshire, Cardiff, Sennybridge Training Area, Wales, UK.  The director, Kevin Macdonald originally planned for the cast to be all unknown actors.  He wanted an a girl about 16 years old to play Daisy since that is her age in the book.  He cast Saoirse Ronan and she was 18 years old.  Her audition reading left the listeners in tears!!  She wore fake piercings and a bleached blonde wig for her role.  Ronan was also Daisy in the film Violet & Daisy of 2013.  The personalities of Edmond and Isaac were switched from how they are in the book.  Since this is a low budget film, a Canon model EOS C300 was strapped to a drone for the aerial shots.