PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   A specific scene from Hanna, an unusual departure for director Joe Wright, had not crossed my mind since the movie’s debut in 2011. However, the instant I saw a glimpse of a 15-year-old Saoirse Ronan—her bleached eyebrows making her blue eyes look even colder, clutching a bow and arrow—my fixation on the film came rushing back with sudden clarity. When Hanna arrived in theaters 15 years ago, it felt like a dream come true. Wright had already won over teenage audiences with the success of Pride & Prejudice and Atonement — but the 2010s ushered in an experimental era for him, effectively starting with this chaotic mix of a film that falls somewhere between a dark fairytale, a coming-of-age story, and a spy thriller. Critics may have been unsure how to categorize its narrative at the time, but I was 15—the same age as Ronan’s title character—and Wright’s shift into a punk-rock style resonated with the rebellious spirit growing inside me.

Following a string of period romances, Wright was eager to dismantle the reputation he had so easily established with his first two films. “I wanted to smash it all up a bit, really,” he explained to IndieWire back then. “I love the idea that we are free to change and develop. I think the idea of making the same type of film throughout your career would be really boring.”

“Boring” is one thing Hanna certainly is not. Drawing from a story by screenwriter Seth Lochhead, the movie centers on a young woman (Ronan) who has spent her entire life in a secluded part of the Arctic, where her father (Eric Bana) taught her to hunt and fight. Erik, a former CIA agent who went rogue after Hanna’s birth, is quietly preparing for the day Hanna’s abilities will be tested. Her inaugural assignment is to eliminate Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), Erik’s ex-handler, and the brisk opening act of Hanna’s effectively sets up the intense rivalry between the two sides.

Once Hanna is set loose, Wright utilizes frantic camera movements that spin around his subject and quick edits that mirror her sensory overload. Ronan portrays Hanna’s sincere efforts to be lethal as well as her awkward innocence. While she has been trained to break a neck with maximum efficiency and construct a flawless cover identity, she has no understanding of how to simply… be a teenage girl. When she stumbles upon a free-spirited British family traveling through Morocco and, surprisingly, bonds with their outspoken daughter (Jessica Barden), she receives an abrupt education in adolescence that is both touching—perhaps slightly romantic—and cringe-worthy. This is a detour in every respect, as she is supposed to reunite with her father in Berlin to finalize her mission. However, with Wiegler and her international network—including a menacing German assassin portrayed by Tom Hollander—pursuing her closely, the happy ending she desires will be difficult to achieve, if she can achieve it at all.

The fairytale components serve to bridge the divide between innocent childhood wonder and mature, dark themes, with Hanna’s adventure echoing the narrative structure of classics like Alice in Wonderland or Hansel and Gretel. The Brothers Grimm are a significant influence on Hanna: among other references to their work, the protagonist is instructed to meet her father at “Grimm’s house,” a cabin located in an abandoned amusement park. Wiegler is compared to a wicked witch, while Hollander’s bogeyman, Isaacs, resembles the big, bad wolf. According to Lochhead, Wright aimed to reinforce the fairytale metaphor wherever possible. “He found an amazing way to give a literal interpretation to the story’s subtext,” the writer told Focus. “For him, the story, with its dark woods and wicked witch, was a fairy tale.”

The soundtrack, crafted by the Chemical Brothers, also plays a crucial role. The electronic atmosphere they create follows the trend of upbeat, synth-heavy scores that challenged the norm in 2010 and have since become modern classics—similar to Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy score or the work of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on The Social Network. At the time, this style was just emerging, and Hanna fits perfectly into this wave, providing pulsating synths for its intense action scenes and delicate instrumentals for Hanna’s internal thoughts. The music captures the turbulent angst common in the inner lives of many girls, the struggle to let go of childhood and embrace a new concept of womanhood. That conflict is often overlooked, but 15 years later, few films have depicted it as powerfully as Hanna.

Hanna is currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and various other digital platforms.