WE LIVE IN TIME - Mark Reviews Movies

We Live in Time, A24

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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 11, 2024

There's a jarring quality to the narrative of We Live in Time that elevates what might otherwise have been a straightforward romance. Instead of paying attention to the occasional contrivances of the plot or the shallowness of its characters, the back-and-forth structure of this film forces us to think of this bittersweet tale on a bigger scale—about how trivial and significant choices can affect the future in unseen ways, how even the biggest problems at any given time can seem small in the face of truly difficult ones, and how every moment in a romantic relationship says something about the people within it.

Whether screenwriter Nick Payne crafted his script in this manner or director John Crowley devised it (with editor Justine Wright) after the fact is irrelevant. The impact of how this story is told, allowing us to see the results and consequences of events and decisions before they even happen within the plot, is greater what the story itself actually is.

That story, though, is fine, especially since it has two charming and soulful performances bolstering it. They come from Florence Pugh, as ambitious professional chef Almut, and Andrew Garfield, as a practical and down-to-earth cereal-company employee named Tobias.

Looking at the course of their romance in a straightforward chronology, it's pretty, well, straightforward. They meet cute in a pretty ridiculous way, and the early stages of their relationship are filled with montages of them spending time together, being very playful, and having that inevitable romantic-comedy moment in which everything seems to be finished over something that could possibly be resolved with a simple conversation.

All of this, however, comes later in the timeline of the film itself, which begins with something far more serious and requiring a more complex conversation. Almut and Tobias sit in a doctor's office and receive the news they both have dreaded. Cancer has returned in Almut, and another surgery won't be enough to stop it. The treatment will require two separate rounds of chemotherapy with surgery in between them.

Right away, we get a sense of these two characters, as Tobias takes detailed notes and Almut simply takes in the diagnosis with a look of resolve on her face. They both have been through this before, as the doctor makes clear, and this time, Almut isn't certain if she wants to go through the treatment again. She puts that forth as a possible option to Tobias in the parking garage, and Garfield's performance in that particular scene is rather astonishing. We see Tobias, not only holding back tears, but also doing so for a specific reason: so that he can listen to Almut and truly comprehend why she's considering this option.

That moment pretty much sums up Tobias as a character, for here's a man who loves and, just as importantly, respects this woman, what she has to say, and what she wants for herself. The scene also tells us about as much as we need to know about Almut, too, as she knows what she wants—to make the best of whatever time she has—and cares about this man enough to include him in, if not the decision itself, then at least the thinking behind it. They are very different people, these two, and the film allows them to be so without it being a source of constant conflict.

Indeed, much of their relationship is about negotiating their differences in personality, ways of speaking, and desires. That makes it surprisingly funny, considering how the actual narrative begins, and also considerate of both characters. Neither of them is right or wrong about the assorted complications and disagreements that arise, but both Tobias and Almut do know they have to navigate these things together. It's tougher for Almut, but Tobias knows his partner well enough to realize and have accepted that fact.

From there, the story does move freely within the timeline of their relationship. In the now of the story, Almut begins treatment, after Tobias puts down his thoughts—which we never hear—on paper, and also takes on a European cooking competition without telling Tobias. In the more recent past, Almut is pregnant with the daughter the couple will later have to tell about Almut's cancer, and Tobias has begun his habit of taking detailed notes, while providing Almut with everything she wants before she can even say she wants it.

In the further past, the two meet after—let's call it—a car accident, and despite the circumstances of that meeting, Tobias and Almut go through the hasty motions of falling in love. In a straightforward telling of this story, the rush might be a detriment, but here, we already have a firm understanding of these two, why they work together as a couple, and what the challenges of their relationship will be. Instead, we're wondering what changes Almut's mind about having kids, since we know the couple has a daughter, and wondering how much of her decision about treating the first occurrence of cancer has affected Tobias' thinking in the story's now.

Theoretically, this is an odd way to tell the story of a romance, especially in how many tonal changes occur within and between the three major periods of the story. Payne might also shortchange the development of and more pointed moments in this relationship in favor of easier matters, such the cooking competition. The actual story of We Live in Time, though, feels secondary to the performances and, more vitally, the way that story is assembled. The former grounds the material, and the latter raises it for us to consider, not the individual moments, but the full scope of this bond and what it means to these characters.

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