Saoirse Ronan continues to make canny choices that both cast her at the top of strong projects and display her impressive range. We last saw her as a shy English vampire in Neil Jordan's Byzantium, and now here's our first look at her as the brash American refugee at the centre of How I Live Now. The film is based on Meg Rosoff's novel, and directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King Of Scotland, The Eagle).
As you'll have gleaned from that, Ronan is Daisy, evacuated from the States to her extended family in the English countryside thanks to the small inconvenience of a third world war. She's initially resentful, but soon adapts to the change of pace, thanks in no small part to the presence of her cousin Edmund (George MacKay). The war eventually reaches even Daisy's bucolic idyll however, and while the kids initially refuse to be moved, the arrival of enemy forces leads to serious drama.
While we're sure about the soundtrack, there are some beautiful touches in the trailer: particularly the far-off nuclear detonation that Daisy and co. experience as a sudden snow flurry. The novel has a post-war section that isn't on display, but it's tough to gauge how faithful an adaptation this is on the strength of two minutes, so those elements may yet appear. There's no sign of Daisy's Oslo-stranded Aunt Penn either, but the cast list tells us she's played by Anna Chancellor, so she will be making an appearance.
Ronan's other co-stars include MacKay and Tom Holland. How I Live Now is out in UK cinemas on October 4. The excellent source novel is published by Penguin.