Sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees, but it isn’t so much the forest that Hanna has to fear, as the modern world. Outside of the isolated cottage where she has lived with her ex-CIA father (Eric Bana) for all of her 16 years lies the threat of a red-headed Texan Cate Blanchett and her Neo-Nazi cronies. In this warped fairytale, Marissa Wiegler (Blanchett) is the wicked witch. Pale as she might be, Hanna is no Snow White; maybe it’s the rest of the world that needs to watch their back…

Ronan may also star in director Joe Wright’s previous work Atonement, but there the similarities end. Hanna has gruesome yet finely choreographed fight scenes; chases are also rendered hypnotic as in one case when the camera rotates on Ronan’s face-it’s a wonderfully delirious experience. Wright is able to juxtapose such intense sequences with moments of delicacy and warmth. After spending her entire life being drilled to “adapt or die,” Hanna discovers light-hearted family dynamics in Morocco, as well as music. On that note, The Chemical Brothers’ score perfectly complements the on-screen action: edgy and euphoric in equal measure.

As the bleached blonde villain Isaacs (Tom Hollander) says: “the devil is in the detail.” The film is both aesthetically and thematically rich. A focus on eyes is recurrent throughout, suggesting an underlying fear of surveillance, plus there is the reappearance of phones ringing in various settings, unanswered. In Berlin, we are even treated to a symbolically loaded setting of a disintegrating theme park. As it becomes clear that Hanna’s quest is not just for vengeance, but for her own identity, it’s a coming-of-age story just as much as a revenge saga.

Hanna is a potpourri of thrills, self-reflection and allegory, perhaps even to the extent that Wright could have held back more. Yet, it would be hard not to be caught up in the relentless hunt of, and for, the protagonist. Suspend your disbelief, and you could discover an intensely intricate work that boils down to a fable lamenting the erosion of childhood innocence.