Daisy is a troubled and surly American teenager, resentful after being evacuated by her evasive father to spend the summer with relatives in the U.K. She finds herself in an alien English countryside where adults are largely absent, distracted by a world in crisis. Daisy finds her curious cousins eccentric and is initially withdrawn, though as she develops a crush on Edmund (George MacKay), she gradually edges toward them, cautiously embracing their carefree ways. However, as the news reports of an escalating conflict in Europe rumble in the background, their idyllic existence is increasingly under threat. 

Set in a frighteningly recognisable near future, Kevin Macdonald’s adaptation of Meg Rosoff’s award-winning novel is a haunting dystopian story of human survival. Saoirse Ronan is perfectly cast in the central role of Daisy, and she carries the film with the conviction of an actor coming of age. (Notes by Michael Hayden.)