WE LIVE IN TIME
United Kingdom, France | 2024 | 107m | English
Cast: Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield
Director(s): John Crowley
Since their first encounter, Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) have rarely had a dull moment. A meet-cute car accident, giving birth in the unlikeliest of locations, a world-class gastronomical competition… their time together seems fated to brim with striking events.
We Live in Time alternates between three distinct chronologies, allowing us to experience this couple’s story in a way that heightens our understanding of how memory collides with present experience and how meaning is made through accumulation.
As the film begins, Almut is given a sobering medical diagnosis and options for treatment that may or may not prove effective. What if the time spent in treatment wastes time that could be spent living life to the fullest?
Pugh is exhilarating as a young woman determined to balance personal relationships with professional ambitions, while Garfield gives a career-best performance by using Tobias’ innate restraint as a way of revealing a deep well of intense emotion. The pair ensure that this intricately told story mirrors our own blend of dizziness and gratitude in the face of time’s merciless march.

Courtesy Of TIFF
TIFF 24 REVIEW BY: DARREN ZAKUS
DATE: OCTOBER 13, 2024
RATING: 3.5 out of 5
We Live in Time features one of the best romantic pairings of the year thanks to the stunning performances of and electrifying chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, which both makes up for a at times choppy narrative structure and ensures that John Crowley’s latest film will have audiences laughing, swooning and falling in love with it.
John Crowley is no stranger to the romance genre, having previously directed the critically acclaimed Brooklyn, which played the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Since then, Crowley has largely been directing episodes of some of the most buzz worthy television series like True Detective and Black Mirror, as well as adapting the best selling novel The Goldfinch for the big screen, but he has returned back to the romance genre with this year’s We Live In Time. Teaming up with A24 and stars Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, Crowley tackles the terminal illness romance subgenre with a uniquely structured film. Rather than telling the story chronologically, Nick Payne’s screenplay lets the romance unfold between Tobias and Almut by playing out different stages of their relationship in sync, though when you have the pairing of Garfield and Pugh it doesn’t matter how the story plays out as you are bound to fall in love with them.
Fans of the romance genre are no strangers to dealing with terminal illness in their films and knowing that one of the lead characters will most likely die at the end of the film, though knowing that sitting down for the film still doesn’t prepare them emotionally. To subvert the typical narrative of this subgenre, Payne chronicles the ten year relationship between Tobias and Almut out of order, having three distinct timelines play out simultaneously throughout the film. The first twenty minutes or so of the film it is a little disorienting to keep track of where you are in Tobias and Almut’s relationship, largely due to the fast changes between timelines and the lack of any distinctiveness to each timeline, whether it be costumes, hair stylings or the cinematography choices. But once each timeline is set up and the screenplay allows the scenes in each timeline to breathe and go on for longer than a few minutes before jumping to a different timeline, Payne and Crowley find their rhythm and the romance of Tobias and Almut will sweep audiences away.
Once it is past the hurdle of the structuring of the film’s multiple timelines, Crowley and Payne know exactly what audiences are looking for in this romance. Crowley’s direction is strong and helps to keep the emotion of the story at the forefront, while Payne’s screenplay delivers some truly heartwarming, tender, devastating and surprisingly hilarious moments throughout the film. From that unforgettable birthing scene which has a beautiful intensity and humorous element to it that makes for the best film of the scene, to the smaller moments that make the romance between Tobias and Almut so deeply moving, the film delivers everything audiences could want from the genre while showcasing the central relationship as it is felt by the characters: as a continuum of interactions that build a life together rather than letting it be defined by how it ends. Amplifying the writing and direction at every turn is Bryce Dessner’s musical score which captures the magic of Tobias and Almut’s relationship with every melodic line, acting as a true third character along for all the ups and downs of their relationship. Even though the structuring of the film slightly dampens the emotional sucker punch at the film’s end, as you are jumping from happier moments into the soul crushing ending, there is no doubt that We Live in Time will give viewers and their tear ducts an emotional workout.
There is no denying that two of the most talented actors of their generation are Garfield and Pugh, each having both starred in critically acclaimed films and gigantic blockbusters alike, worked with some of cinema’s most revered directors, and captured the hearts of fans around the world. Given their talents as actors, it comes as no surprise that Garfield and Pugh are both individually spectacular in We Live In Time. But as a romantic pairing, the two of them are an unstoppable force. Their chemistry is undeniable from the first scene they share together and propels the entire film from start to finish. Beautiful, earnest, passionate and steamy enough to make any audience member get weak in the knees, Garfield and Pugh light up the screen as a pair as you watch Tobias and Almut fall in love. As a viewer, you can feel the deep trust and comfort between them as actors, which allows them to get truly vulnerable and raw as their characters grapple with the challenges of their relationship and soar high during the moments of romantic bliss. There are few pairings this year that can rival Garfield and Pugh aside from Glen Powell and Adria Arjona in Hit Man who are operating on the same level as them, as the fiery and tender romantic chemistry between Garfield and Pugh on display in We Live in Time is truly off the charts!
With the subgenre of the romance genre it is playing in, there is no question that We Live in Time tugs on viewers’ heartstrings throughout and may cause some crying. While it is not as heartbreaking or devastating as other romances, there is an authentic portrayal of Tobias and Almut’s relationship as three different stages of it play out in synchronization across the film, allowing the romance to continuously grow between the character and display the continuous nature of love and defy the Hollywood notion that it is defined by a single defining moment in the relationship. Thanks to the utterly brilliant performances of and passionate romantic chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh that luminously dominates every frame of the film, We Live in Time is a welcomed return of John Crowley to the romance genre that will have viewers reaching for their tissues.