How I Live Now (2013)

Thought the story line was very good. I expected the film to be longer and thought it would go into more dept. The start to where they get taken I also thought was going to be longer thought we would get to see her adapt to her life more before they got taken away. Would have been good it we see what the girls life was like more when there where took. Thought we would have gotten to see what happened they boys and how Eddie made it home. I think the film would have been much better if we got to see these things and how they felt with life after they made it home if we saw more . Was very disappointed in the movie. Think these things would have made it so much better

To start with, I just want to let you know that this is my first review on IMDb. This movie made me feel and do something I hate doing, I just had to write a review for it. At first I was all about watching this movie. NEVER in my life have I stopped watching a movie, but when watching this movie, this I could just not do. I'm Serious when I say never. I've watched some really terrible movies, but I have always seen them through. I felt so uncomfortable on this one. I tried giving the movie a chance after a few minor touches and flirtatious acts. Then halfway through the movie I witnessed two cousins have sex with each other. Like I said, at first I was giving it a chance because nothing serious had happened between the two, but that changed.Bottom line... If you don't think incest is romantic, don't watch this one!Update: I didn't stop watching this movie because of the incest, it was the fact that they tried making it romantic! I've watched television with incest before and let me tell you that my favorite show ever even contains some incest. Think GoT (g. of thrones). GoT has incest and the whole thing is even worse there because it is brother on sister. Just thought I would clarify.

How I Live Now is a frank, depressing but beautiful to look at vision of the start of a global disaster and how it affects people. Saoirse Ronan, an actress who impresses me more and more every time I see her in increasingly interesting projects, is perfect in the lead role. She's Daisy, a timid, oddball American girl with some form of OCD, who travels to the remote English countryside to stay with her aunt, cousins and friends in a cottage. She's somewhat of a dysfunctional girl, and initially is antisocial and confrontational towards her cousins, until the quiet, adventurous Eddie (George Mckay) sort of breaks her out of her shell. The romance that eventually blossoms between them is organically acted and lovely to watch. But trouble is on the horizon, in the form of some sort of nuclear crisis, involving ruthless foreign invaders, mass water contamination and uprooting of British citizens from their homes. We don't get any idea of what exactly the matter is, just hushed whispers from overheard phone calls her aunt is making to government reps that she works for. When she leaves them, they are mired in the country with no clue what to do or where to turn. When invaders drive them on a cross country journey to escape persecution and strife, the film flips over from its naive, picturesque opening and thrums with a very real feeling of danger and incredibly realistic depictions of atrocities that children/teenagers of that age shouldn't have to witness. It almost mirrors the loss of innocence we all experience, sometimes at all too young an age. They eventually get separated and must find each other, and a way out of the danger, back to their home. The filmmakers respect the gravity of the situation they are telling a story about, and don't sugarcoat anything. This results in some really horrible stuff that our heroes run into along the way, with scenes that don't shy away from the R rated stuff, despite there being kids involved. This is a brave move, and makes us more invested in what's going on because of this stark unwillingness to censor anything. This ain't no Hunger Games, folks. The flipside to that though, is the gorgeous cinematography and uplifting, ethereal soundtrack. Despite being about human suffering, it's an all out work of art in the sights and sounds department, the stunning countryside and warm, cozy house juxtaposed with the barren, unfamiliar compounds, grey forests and bereft towns that come later on. It's always awesome to see life at it's worst and best, both done well in and film. Bravo. There's young love too, of course. Marred by this maelstrom they are thrust into, but strong enough and well written enough to be yet another realistic, believable facet of the piece.

Teenage American Daisy visits relatives in rural England while international tensions rise . Before long a nuclear device destroys London and the country is put under martial law and Daisy finds herself in a fight for survival !!!!! SPOILERS !!!!!! Yet another film featuring a teenager fighting to survive similar to THE HUNGER GAMES and THE MAZE RUNNER and like these films has a novel as a source . HOW I LIVE NOW does hint that it's going to be darker and bleaker than similar movies but then decides to blow everything with a scenario that is just too difficult to buy in to . It's trying to be more realistic than its peers but if you're going to be realistic then realism should be a prime concern and this is where everything falls downAs someone who grew up in the cold war era nuclear holocaust scared the heck out of me . Here it's used as a vague plot device . Nuclear bombs weren't a fun topic to research in the 1980s but watching stuff like THREADS did give a layman a rough idea of what happens when they explode . A nuclear device destroys London and yet TV cameras still work ? Wouldn't electro magnetic pulse ( EMP ) fry all the electronics in the surrounding area ? Ditto it would also destroy all the power supplies and yet the electricity stays on long enough to inform the characters and therefore the audience as to what's happening . Plot convenience while being contrived at the same time but many films use this so it's not unique to this one . However the story constantly keeps tripping itself up such as having a character state they're a long way from London and yet nuclear fall out instantly lands on them as they hear a nuclear explosion . In reality it would several hours and if fall out can reach them why didn't they experience the shockwave of a nuclear explosion ?It's rather clear the nuclear device spoken about wasn't sent to its target via a delivery system such as a missile but left hidden similar to a terrorist bombing . Again there's a myth that you explode via conventional means it'll go up in the infamous mushroom cloud way . It won't . In order for the warhead to work it has to be delivered via the way it's designed otherwise all you've got is a "dirty bomb" unable to yield kilotons or megatons of explosive energy This falls apart when it ties in with the rest of the scenario . Britain is being attacked by a "rebel / terrorist force" rather than a nation state but how likely is this ? A terrorist or rebel power doesn't have a nuclear delivery system and yet has the manpower and logistical support in order to invade an Island nation ? The last invaders to conquer the British Isles were the Normans and would be invaders like Napoleon and Hitler later found this impossible due to an accident of geography . A Island has borders that can be easily defended and difficult to breach and Britain also has a nuclear deterrent . If London had been nuked then surely that means the gloves have come off and any would be invader is going to get nuked in advance as they gather on the British shoreline ? I looked up Meg Rosoff's novel on Amazon and apparently it is similarly vague . THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy is vague as to its scenario but that film gripped me like a vice . With HOW I LIVE NOW everything falls apart when given the slightest bit of thought and is painfully contrived all the way up to its implausible happy ending This is all a great shame because there's almost a great film trying to escape from its screenplay . Saoirse Ronan as the mentally ill teenager Daisy gives a great performance as she starts off as selfish to the point of narcissistic troubled teen and turns in to a mature woman by the end . I can see the storyline is concentrating on character development and here it does succeed . Director Kevin Macdonald does show a lot of talent but like BLACK SEA he seems to be a victim that he has been hired to direct an underdeveloped screenplay full of plot holes and contrivance . Both its star and its director deserved more as did the audience