How I Live Now [Blu-ray]

I have watched this film again and again and will probably see it more times.I saw it first with no sound on a train while I was travelling between Toledo and Granada and probably because I had read the book I knew what the film was immediately.It does differ slightly from the book, which I also loved and read several times over a 5 year period.As a review on the book cover states: Meg Rossoff has a magical and utterly faultless voice (Mark Haddon)It is written in the first person, with a quirky style - lots of caps and asides.The narrator Daisy is a sardonic anorexic teen from NY city and also a posthumous child with a remarried father..She receives a real psychological grounding on arriving in The UK to stay with her three cousins in Wales.A real attachment develops between them all especially between Daisy and her eldest cousin Eddy, then war comes,and they are forcibly evacuated away from their rural summer idyll and separated.Daisy then has the dual tasks of looking after her little cousin Piper and setting off across war torn England (or Wales) in an attempt to reunite with the boys.We enter a Survivor like tale which becomes a showcase for Daisy - magnificently displayed by Saoirse Ronan - to show what resources a teenager in love can muster.There are all the challenges you could invent and plenty of shocks.It may fall into the new YA category but I think its deeper.It works on many levels.How do you react when life alters beyond recognition?What happens to all your 'stuff'.We see a bit of the old Daisy as the stresses of the trip tell.Yet she is unfaltering, driven and powerful.Lots of wonderful country scenery, animals, and the blind numbing presence of 'authority'This film is a true precurser to the current vogue of Divergent/Insurgent and the Hunger games.And the emotional content is pretty full on.For a first novel - a lot to be proud of.And for a film adaptation - tasteful, restrained and beautifully cast.In my view destined to be a Classic.

Great stuff all round, decent acting from the young cast... beautifully shot in the English countryside, super chilled first act, reminds me of going camping as a kid, I miss those days...I knew eventually something serious was going to happen, but wast quite expecting this...slowly building in tension and emotion throughout the movie!!!!Nostaligic and yet thrilling in the end!!!!

Watched it some time ago, then when I could not find it anywhere I could stream from I purchased the DVD. I enjoyed it. Some of the cast stand out from the others, and those are the ones who are (becoming) A-listers now. So if you can never have enough apocalypse I do think this stands up to occasional re-watch.

Would recommend the book as well.The choices made by the music supervisor would have earned 7 stars from me but amazon won't let me give this film more stars!

It takes a while to find itself, but after a while the characters do make a mark, and we get the message of the movie, without overstatement, a chilled out movie which is all more surprising given the horrible subject matter

Pretty charming film for teens.

An amazing film! I was left in tears and utterly speechless at the end. Although I haven't read the book so I cannot compare the two I honestly think that this is one of the best films I've ever seen!

Great