How I Live Now is a 2013 romantic speculative drama film based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Meg Rosoff. It was directed by Kevin Macdonald, written by Tony Grisoni, Jeremy Brock and Penelope Skinner while starring Saoirse Ronan, George MacKay, Tom Holland, Harley Bird, Anna Chancellor and Corey Johnson. The film centres around American teenager, Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) and her British cousins, Eddie (George MacKay), Isaac (Tom Holland) and Piper (Harley Bird), as they try to reunite during an apocalyptic nuclear war.
The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival during the special presentation section. Upon release the film received mixed reviews, with some critics praising the romance between Ronan and MacKay and positively comparing the former's role as Daisy to Jennifer Lawrence's role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. The film was nominated for multiple awards across various categories including Ronan being nominated for a BIFA Award and a Saturn Award for Best Actress. MacKay and Ronan were both nominated for Best Young Actor at the London Film Critics' Circle. MacKay also went on to win the Breakthrough Award at the Richard Attenborough Film Awards.
Plot
Sometime in the future, Daisy, a maladjusted young American teenager is sent to the English countryside for the summer to stay with her Aunt Penn and her three children: Eddie, Isaac and Piper. Daisy arrives at Heathrow Airport to tightened security and reports of a bombing in Paris and is greeted by Isaac who drives her to their farm. Initially abrasive Daisy warms up to her cousins and their neighbour's son, Joe. Daisy also learns from her aunt that her late mother also used to stay at the farm frequently. Meanwhile, Daisy falls in love with her eldest cousin, Eddie. A few days after her arrival, Penn flies to Geneva to attend an emergency conference because she is an expert in terrorist extremist groups.
The children's summer fun ends when a terrorist coalition detonates a nuclear bomb in London that kills hundreds of thousands and in the aftermath, the electricity goes out, and they learn from an emergency radio broadcast that martial law has been imposed. Daisy is offered safe passage home back to America but decides to stay, set upon her love for Eddie. Later on, a group of soldiers enter their home and separate the boys and girls who are to be evacuated to separate parts of the country. Eddie tries to fight back but is pinned down by the soldiers. He instead calls for Daisy to return to their home whenever she can get the chance.
Daisy and Piper are fostered in the home of a military officer and his wife. Their neighbourhood is attacked by terrorists, and Joe, who was fostered in the same town, is killed. Daisy and Piper escape to the countryside and begin a six day walk back to the house. Daisy witnesses mistreatment of apparent captives at a labour camp and sometime thereafter a massacre near the camp where Isaac and Eddie were taken. Daisy finds that although Eddie is not among the dead, Isaac's body is. She mournfully takes his glasses and later buries them. As they leave, they are spotted by two armed men, who chase them through the woods. Daisy shoots them both and the two girls flee.
Later, the girls are on the verge of giving up until they see Eddie's pet hawk fly overhead. They follow it back home where they discover that the military garrison stationed there has been massacred and the house is empty. Only their dog remains. The next morning, Daisy follows the dog out into the woods, where she finds Eddie lying unconscious with scars and his eyes swollen shut.
In the aftermath of the war, Daisy nurses Eddie. A ceasefire is announced, electricity is returned, a new government forms, and the country begins to recover. Eddie now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is mute. Daisy promises to be there for him holding onto hope that he will recover.
Cast
Production
The film was produced by Cowboy Films (which has also produced Kevin Macdonald's The Last King of Scotland and Black Sea) and Passion Pictures, with support from Film4 and BFI. Filming began in June 2012 in England and Wales. Macdonald said of the film:
Release
How I Live Now premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released on 4 October 2013 in the United Kingdom and was set for release on 28 November 2013 in Australia. On 25 July 2013, Magnolia Pictures acquired the US rights to distribute the film.