While scouring the world to find a new Fiendish Flick, I stumbled across How I live Now, and seeing that it starred Saoirse Ronan I decided to give it a chance. I’ve become really fond of 
Ronan’s acting, ever since I first saw her in the 2011 movie Hanna in which she played the title character, a young girl trained as an assassin. If you haven’t seen Hanna, it’s definitely worth a watch (It was my pick for Renegade’s best spy flicks, but I digress).
In How I live now, a dark drama, Saoirse Ronan plays Daisy; an angry American teenage girl who is sent to stay with Cousins and her Aunt Penn in Britain. Her young Cousins, Isaac (played by Tom Holland), Eddie (George MacKay), and Piper (Harley Bird), along with a live in friend Joe (Danny McEvoy), are pretty care free and happy kids. A stark contrast to herself. At first it’s hard to understand Daisy’s anger and lashing out, and I admit to wondering if the teen angst approach was a little over the top, but then I think about how often I see what I have come to think of as the great American epidemic of depression. People, including myself at 
times, fighting inside their heads. Thinking of what we’d do in situations that haven’t even happened yet, sometimes scared and feeling alone even in a crowd. Daisy is the embodiment of this notion, she’s angry, she’s afraid, and even a bit germophobic. Worried about all the wrong things, and living as if she is made of glass, and could break at any moment. A difficult way to exist when a nuclear bomb is dropped on the capital and World War 3 breaks out. The kids are alone in their countryside home, her Aunt having gone away on business when the event took place. They face separation, they face internment, the dangers of those that take advantage of chaos, and above all Daisy faces her fears and is forced to get outside of her head and focus on 
the war torn world that she only recently found she wanted to be a part of, having finally found something worth living for.
Not a typical pick for Fiendish Flicks, I know, but I found myself thinking about this film days after watching it, and a flick that makes you think, is a flick worth sharing. I believe that this state of narcissistic depression stems from feeling like we lack a sense of purpose, and when we are faced with survival, all the little things fall away and we are forced to focus on what really matters. How I live now, though hard to watch at times, made me stop and reflect on the
world at large. How easily it can change and how little that irate caller at the office, that jerk that cut in line or that snubbing from an elitist matters in the grand scheme. Movies like this don’t always appeal to a lot of people, wanting more of an escape than reflection, but it’s a good movie that actually has something worth saying before the credits roll. Obviously this isn’t the feel good movie of the year, but if you are like me, and enjoy a little dystopian drama from time to time with a dose of dour insight, check it out.
That’s it for this Friday, Fiendish Fans! Keep me posted on what you think should be on my Fiendish Flicks radar. -Ruby
