Another day, another young adult sci-fi movie, this one taking the premise of a military apocalypse that sees London nuked and survivors relegated to the countryside and hunted by both armed militias and the usual psycho gangs. Saoirse Ronan is the heroine, an imported American brat who arrives with her relatives but finds the obligatory teen angst and romance interrupted by the end of the world. I did like the low-fi look here, and in the second half the depiction of a barren landscape is well handled and feels very British. A shame, then, that the central characters are made so unlikeable, particularly Ronan's thoroughly unpleasant piece of work. Saying that, Tom Holland is quite charming and it will be this kind of role that propelled him into the big time with SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING.

American cousin Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) is sent to live with her British family. She's struggling and guarded. But in the English countryside, she finds some happiness and love. Then the world explodes into war.

The war isn't explained. It has no context. This movie is looking at the world through the clueless eyes of a teenager. And quite frankly, the movie doesn't care much about world politics. The problem is that a British civil war is a very head-scratching proposal. It makes little sense in our world. Maybe this is an alternate universe.

I think I understand what drew director Kevin Macdonald to this material. Most civilians in the third world get drawn into wars that they don't understand. This movie places that idea in Britain. He's trying to make it relateable, but instead he's made it confused.

One must ignore all the questions to watch this movie. If you don't think about it, Saoirse Roanan puts in a very compelling performance. She is the best thing in this. Sadly she may be the only thing in this.

The American teenager Elizabeth "Daisy" (Saoirse Ronan) is sent by her estranged father away from New York to the countryside of England to stay with her Aunt Penn (Anna Chancellor). Her distant cousin Isaac (Tom Holland) welcomes her at the airport and drives her home. She is introduced to her cousins, the seventeen year-old Eddie (George MacKay) and the young Piper (Harley Bird) and to their friend Joe (Danny McEvoy). However Daisy is a resentful, needy of love and aloof girl that believes that is cursed and that bad things happen wherever she goes since her mother died in her delivery. Aunt Penn is a busy woman that is studying the war scenario in England that is in alert due to an eminent terrorist attack and needs to fly to Geneva. However, on the next morning, a nuclear bomb explodes in London and the authorities of the United Kingdom declare state of siege. Meanwhile Daisy and Eddie fall in love with each other, but they are separated by the military that send girls to a camp and men to another. Daisy and Eddie promise to meet each other again. In a country in war, Daisy and Piper flee from their lodging and cross England in martial law trying to find Eddie and Isaac.

"How I Live Now" was a great surprise since I was expecting to see a drama about a rebel teenager and I found an original come of age story in time of contemporary war. Saoirse Ronan is presently one of the most promising young actresses and her performance in the role of a girl that finds love and reaches maturity is top-notch. The little Harley Bird is another promising actress and I look forward to see her again. My vote is seven.

Title ( Brazil ): "Minha Nova Vida" ("My New Life")