One of the most anticipated romance movies of the year, “We Live in Time,” finally hit theaters this fall. With widely beloved actors Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield as the lead characters, the movie delivered exceptional chemistry, emotional acting, beautiful cinematography, and a heart wrenching storyline that lived up to all expectations. The movie explores sensitive subjects in such a wonderful way that it leaves you sobbing once the credits start rolling.
The movie tells the complex love story between Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) in a creative and non-chronological order. We quickly learn that Almut is diagnosed with cancer, and she has to be on chemotherapy for a year to try to get healthy again. Being a very determined, independent, and driven person, she chooses to live a fulfilling and exciting last 6 months of her life. Despite the obvious pain that this causes the emotional, sweet, and sensitive Tobias, he supports Almut’s decision. Through multiple different timelines, we learn about how the couple met, how their relationship evolved, and what decisions each of the characters made. Garfield and Pugh’s exceptional acting perfectly conveys the emotions that the characters are experiencing through the high and low moments of their relationships. The characters feel real, and the movie is made up of small everyday moments that we ourselves experience. We see the couple going on walks in the park, shopping together, and having fun with bumper cars. The red lining through all of these “normal” scenarios is the pure and raw happiness that the characters feel when spending time with each other. This makes us as an audience appreciate all of life’s small moments and cherish all the time that we have with our loved ones. You will find yourself both smiling and tearing up, in addition to occasionally slipping a laugh at the few humorous moments that are carefully scattered throughout the movie.
The combination of the sincere acting and the characteristically unique style of A24 productions makes the movie feel like a breath of fresh air. The journey that the characters go through is told through beautifully cinematic scenes, and although they are not told in a linear order, it all makes sense in the end. You could almost compare it to how we humans remember things—we can usually recall the feelings that we went through during major life events, not the time that they happened. All of these memories are mixed up in our minds, but we still remember them because they hold significance to us. That is how the movie feels—like a beautiful scramble of the moments that had an impact on the lives of Tobias and Almut.
Overall, the movie is a great addition to the heart wrenching-tragic-love story genre and holds its position pretty high compared to other similar productions. If you enjoy a good storyline with well-fleshed-out characters, an amazing emotional performance, and having your heartstrings pulled over and over again, then this is a movie you can’t miss.