Max Just Nabbed Saoirse Ronan’s Engrossing, Intelligent Speculative 2013 Sci-Fi Thriller

It’s fairly astounding that, even though Saoirse Ronan is largely regarded as one of the best actresses working today, she is still relatively young. With four Academy Award nominations to her name and collaborations with some of the industry's greatest directors, Ronan has surpassed every expectation generally given to child stars. Ronan has consistently chosen interesting projects, and avoided the more obvious coverage that would come with appearing in a superhero movie, for instance. Her track record thus far may not be spotless, but Ronan gave one of her most underrated performances in the speculative science fiction thriller How I Live Now .

How I Live Now is based on a popular novel that focused on young protagonists, but it is certainly not a “YA adaptation” in the vein of Harry Potter or The Hunger Games. Rather, How I Live Now is a pointed analysis of how easily society could fall if nuclear conflicts escalated to the point of war. Given that the film was released in 2013 at the height of American tensions in the Middle East, Kevin MacDonald’s outlook on the future looked particularly grim. Although it’s a film that wrestles with weighty themes, Ronan’s performance perfectly encapsulates what coming of age during a critical period in history looks like.

What Is ‘How I Live Now’ About?

How I Live Now is set at an undetermined point in the future where the United Kingdom is facing an outsized threat from terrorists who have access to powerful weapons of mass destruction. Ronan stars as Daisy Rybeck, a highly opinionated American teenager who is sent to England to visit her extended family as the situation grows more contentious. Despite her initial misgivings about having to be isolated in the English countryside with a family that she does not truly know, Daisy begins to form a tight bond with her cousins Eddie (George MacKay), Isaac (Tom Holland), Piper (Harley Bird), and their neighbor, Joe (Danny McEvoy). After her Aunt Penn (Anna Chancellor) leaves their home to attend a conference in Geneva about England’s future, a terrorist attack hits London.

How I Live Now spends enough time developing Daisy’s personality before the conflict starts so that the eventual revelation of an international war lands with a greater impact. Although it is evident that her ability to be transported between loving families means that she has some level of privilege, Daisy is deeply insecure about her future. The opening segments of How I Live Now do more than just set the foundation for the story; simple scenes of Daisy learning more about her family seek to ground her in reality, suggesting that she has more empathy than her abrasive qualities would suggest; the evolution of her character — shaped by the harsh realities of war — underscores this fact. The eventual romance that blossoms between Daisy and Eddie is delicately well-handled, and makes the eventual separation even more heartbreaking as a result. Ronan and McKay deliver compelling performances rooted in complexity and depth.

‘How I Live Now’ Is a Unique Depiction of War

How I Live Now examines war from the perspective of a child, as it does not seek to provide an extensive exposition regarding events and issues that Daisy would never realistically know about. Considering that Daisy is still adjusting to what life is like without her father, the notion of wandering into the outskirts of England in desperate search of resources and shelter is far more overwhelming. Ronan does a great job at showing how confused and frightened Daisy becomes when reacting to both sides of the conflict; even though the government wants Eddie to enlist to help fight the terrorists, Daisy can’t stand the thought of the family being separated. While the soldiers try to order the kids to separate, none of it makes sense to a young girl who is just trying to ensure that the boy she is in love with isn’t killed in a rain of gunfire.

How I Live Now is a brilliant examination of the transition into womanhood, as Daisy begins to take on more maternal qualities when she is left to care for Piper. True strength is often looking to the future with optimism, even if all the evidence points to the contrary; the fact that this heroism comes from a young girl with little experience in the outside world speaks to the strength that Ronan has as a performer. How I Live Now is at times uncompromisingly bleak, but Ronan has a consistency of confidence that makes Daisy’s journey into an inspiring one.

‘How I Live Now’ Isn’t a Typical Science Fiction Drama

Image via Entertainment One

The science fiction genre is typically associated with the massive spectacle of franchises like Star Wars or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but How I Live Now takes a realistic approach to what an apocalyptic scenario could look like. One of the brilliant decisions that the film makes is to not make that many specific references to the era, technology, or current events that surround Daisy’s experience; this makes it feel timeless in a way, and has allowed the film to age quite well compared to other stories about the end of the world. At the time of its release, How I Live Now resonated with fears of societal collapse and conflict, reflecting anxieties shaped by the Iraq War’s aftermath and the persistent threat of terrorism. A decade later, its themes remain strikingly relevant, offering a poignant parallel to recent events such as the conflict in Ukraine.

How I Live Now does a great job at isolating its characters, which only makes Ronan’s performance even stronger. It has become common for films that make bold proclamations about what the future could look like, setting aside a significant portion of their running time to exposition. However, How I Live Now restricts the audience’s understanding of the situation to what Daisy and her family aware of, which makes the situation more relatable. Removing any form of communication was a strong creative decision that helped remove any potential plot contrivances. It also serves as a strong indictment of the authoritarian regime that failed to protect or even regard the young people who are in danger. One of the critical reasons why there is so much hardship in How I Live Now is that Daisy is never provided with context as to why she is being separated from her family, highlighting the emotional toll of such disregard. While it is technically a young adult adaptation that was ostensibly aimed at an audience of teenagers, it managed to wrestle with themes that were quite mature.

Related

Ronan’s performance is certainly one of the reasons that the film was met with such a strong critical response, but it is worth noting that How I Live Now is another strong entry in the directorial canon of the filmmaker Kevin MacDonald. MacDonald may not be a household name in the same way that directors like Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese are, but he has a very solid track record of making politically relevant, intense thrillers that are unafraid to tackle controversial subject material. MacDonald helmed the acclaimed biopic The Last King of Scotland, which famously earned Forest Whitaker the Academy Award for Best Actor. More recently, he helmed the underrated drama The Mauritanian, which was one of the few films about the aftermath of 9/11 that examined the rise in Islamophobia. Although MacDonald has spent the last few years working on documentaries and television, How I Live Now indicates that he has a lot of potential should he ever return to high-concept narrative films.

‘How I Live Now’ Was Released During a Transitional Period in Saoirse Ronan’s Career

How I Live Now was critical in Ronan's transition from a child actor, as the film showcases her growth in real time. It would be later that same year that Ronan would earn her second Academy Award nomination for her performance as a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn, leading to additional acclaimed roles in On Chesil Beach, Lady Bird, Little Women, Foe, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Outrun among others. How I Live Now is a compelling examination of nuclear anxieties with some beautifully crafted sequences, but its importance within the career arc of one of the most talented actresses of our era is what makes it such essential viewing.

How I Live Now is currently streaming on maxin the U.S.

WATCH ON MAX