3 Short Paragraphs: How I Live Now

2013, Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) -- download

Apparently, the bulk of post-apocalyptic fiction is being written for the teen genre these days. We obviously have The Hunger Games and Divergent doing well for themselves, reaching more into the sub-genre of dystopia. This particular sub-genre of Third World War is not as explored these days, post cold war. We just don't have that fear anymore of being invaded by another country or someone clicking the red button and releasing the nukes. Even the terrorists are more about smuggled dirty bombs in major cities than all out war. Anywayz, in this small sub-genre we have the well known Red Dawn and Tomorrow, When the War Began, which I compared here. And we have this one.

It makes sense that introspective teens would like the genre. They live in a world where everything is laid before them, all the opportunities and potential of living 1st World. So how would they react, if all that was taken away? This is the core of the plot of this book now movie. Daisy is a whiny American brat with a host of self-induced neuroses and unlikable attitude. She is sent to live with her deceased mother's family for the summer, perhaps to help her work things out but more likely to just dump her on someone else. And then WWIII starts in the UK. She has to strip herself of all the BS and work to save the lives of her cousins and reconnect with her (er, ick?) love interest cousin.

The character of Daisy lives inside her head and while the movie is about her coming out of that, to deal with real life, the movie mostly stays inside her head. Much of the movie is shot in over-exposed imagery, all floating pollen and bright sunlight. Very little of the movie is about the war, as it is happening Far Away, and like many in this sub-genre, we don't know the details of the war. But it does do a good job of reminding us that war is hell. They don't cringe on deaths in this movie, not leaving a single character, young or old, untouched by the evils that man can do. But really, I think I might have to be a gloomy 16 year old girl to truly enjoy this movie.