We Live In Time: Review

18th December 2024

We Live In Time: Review. By Simon Lalji.

A beautifully heart wrenching turn through time.

From the mind of the gentle John Crowley (Brooklyn) comes the sombre story of aspiring world class chef Almut and recent somewhat depressed divorcee Tobias. As the two collide throughout their not so linear time together, they go through a soul searching quest of love, parenthood and heartbreak in this emotion destroying flick that’s sure to leave a few tears in its wake…

If there was ever any acting duo who could truly live in time on the silver screen in such a star striking story of love it was always Florence Pugh (Midsommar) and Andrew Garfield (Tick Tick…Boom) as it’s safe to say that this beautiful and harrowingly relatable story would simply not work or perhaps even exist in the hands of any other talent. Florence Pugh delivers what can only be described as a performance of painful human desperation as her character Almut goes through the struggle of battling cancer. In such an unfortunately relevant topic it’s far too easy for Hollywood to treat such a sensitive issue in a not so sensitive manner but Florence Pugh once again proves why she’s among the new generation of A list in cinema as she delivers a performance that not only feels genuine to the subject matter at hand but also one that feels sweet, human and truly loving, especially within her simply charming romance with Andrew Garfield’s Tobias.

Though Pugh can’t take all the credit as her incredible chemistry with Andrew Garfield is the true light in this love story that can pose a struggle with darkness. Garfield’s choice in film since his time as ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ has been nothing short of mesmerizing to watch. From ‘Tick Tick…Boom’ to ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ he continues to deliver passionate, powerful and moving relationship driven stories and ‘We live in time’ is no exception as the Spider-Man veteran delivers what many will call a subtle performance. However, it’s that very subtlety that makes it almost impossible not to fall in love with Tobias as it becomes clear within audiences to see him as a man who simply wants to do what’s best for his family in the past, present and future all with the added flavour of that Andrew Garfield charm that audiences have grown to love.

Actors aside, what truly makes the audience live in time is John Crowley’s masterful directing and Nick Payne’s (The last letter from your lover) sensational script manifesting ‘We live in time’s’ non linear structure, venturing through the various stages of the couple’s time in the past, present and future, though not in that particular order. The perhaps genius decision to pose this story in this way is not only bound to transport viewers into Almut and Tobias’s time, but also their own as the structure truly makes and mirrors reality and forces viewers into the question of if they to have truly lived in time or if they perhaps need to start doing so. Suffice to say the film truly encourages viewers, especially the lovers in the audience to treasure their time together as pointed out by the film’s sombre yet heartbreaking ending which tragically portrays the somewhat beautiful truth that life is shorter than we would all like to believe.

Overall, John Crowley’s ‘We live in time’ puts masterful filmmaking back to the silver screen in a story of love, passion and heartbreak, rounded out by dedicated directed, superb screenwriting, a stunning score by Bryce Dessner (C’mon C’mon) and arguably two of the best performances of the year from Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. Though the sad truth may be that the film’s distribution has prevented any kind of Oscar talk, it’s certainly fair to say that ‘We live in time’ definitely deserves a few.

4/5

Facebook

Google

Twitter

We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.