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How I Live Now 15 rating

Teenager Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) leaves America for a summer in Wales with her cousins. Her personal problems are eclipsed by a nuclear explosion on British soil, triggering martial law and a struggle for survival.

Drama 2013 101 mins

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Overview

Teenager Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) leaves America for a summer in Wales with her cousins. Her personal problems are eclipsed by a nuclear explosion on British soil, triggering martial law and a struggle for survival.

Conceived long before Katniss Everdeen, this apocalyptic story shares ground with The Hunger Games, its gutsy heroine and the aftermath of the mushroom cloud. Older audiences may also link its strongest moments to Threads, the 1984 TV drama of domestic nuclear disaster that stung long and wide. Kevin McDonald's focus is narrow and effective, as we see war, collapse and panic through naive eyes. Ronan's remarkable skill ensures the film sidesteps the Young Adult genre clichés. She has help from Tom Holland who, after The Impossible (2014), has become the go-to guy for mature and affecting dependence in the face of epic disaster.