Whether it’s a stopwatch, a kitchen timer, or a countdown at a competition; the clock is always ticking. We Live in Time is a reminder that our time is limited, so we should make it mean something.
Written by Susan Dijker
Source: We Live in Time (Crowley, 2024).
We Live in Time (directed by John Crowley) is a romantic drama that will make you both laugh and cry. The film follows the ups and downs of the relationship between Tobias (Andrew Garfield) and Almut (Florence Pugh) over the course of a decade. When Almuts ovarian cancer returns, she has to decide whether she wants to go through treatment again, and has to deal with the impact of her choice on those around her.
The film uses a fragmented chronology, but never tells the viewer exactly where in the story they are. In my opinion this fragmentation is somewhat unnecessary. It would have made sense if it was presented as flashbacks, which I think could have easily been done, but that is not the decision that Crowley made here. The order in which the fragments of the story are presented also doesn’t seem to make much sense, they don’t necessarily relate to each other in a causal way. I can, however, also imagine that the movie would have been quite boring showing ten years in chronological order. I generally think that a decade is just too long of a timespan to cover in 108 minutes- it makes the story feel rushed. Because of this, I left the theater feeling quite unsatisfied. The movie touches upon multiple themes ranging from the desire to have children to dealing with loss, but never really says anything new about them; it constantly moves on to a different fragment before anything meaningful happens. A major loss in my opinion, since the story has so much potential to open up a conversation. Tobias and Almut want different things when it comes to her treatment. I think this could have been a strong plot by itself, just focussing on their relationship as they learn to accept the inevitable and make the most of their time left together.
It’s obviously not all bad. I really appreciated that the movie has a strong female lead, with a more sentimental supporting male. This felt like a refreshing change from the standard, where women are required to be the sentimental ones. On top of that Almut is a queer character in a straight passing relationship, which is something that I feel like isn’t represented much in the media. Her queerness isn’t made into some sort of struggle in their relationship, it just is. It made me really happy to see this kind of representation without it feeling forced.
There’s one theme that the film portrays in a very on the nose, but in my opinion pretty creative way: the transience of time. In all of the most important moments of the film, that aren’t already directly about this theme, clocks are present in some form. The first time they sleep together it’s a kitchen timer, when Almut’s in labour it's a stopwatch, and during the cooking competition she participates in it’s the big countdown clock. In these overwhelmingly happy moments there is always still the reminder that time is limited. At times the movie is also absolutely hilarious, which creates a pleasant and realistic balance in the film.
Source: We Live in Time (Crowley, 2024).
This movie is a great example of how actors can make or break a movie. In my opinion, the acting performances by Andrew and Florence elevate this film, with an otherwise somewhat empty story, to an artistic level. The actors have made clear in interviews that they are incredibly comfortable with each other and I think this connection really shows in the film. The relationship between Tobias and Almut feels 100% genuine, and their interactions show a great amount of vulnerability. Not for a moment did I get reminded that these are actors just pretending.
I’ve seen confusion online about the ending, because we are not really shown what happens (a recurring problem in this film). Personally, however, this was the one moment where I actually appreciated that some of the events were left out or shown only partially. After leaving the cooking competition early, we see the family together enjoying an intimate moment at an ice rink. The way this is filmed, Almut alone on one side of the ice, Tobias and their daughter together on the other side, immediately felt like a goodbye to me. The next, and final, scene shows Tobias and their daughter in the kitchen as he explains the best way to crack an egg, like Almut explained to him at the start of their relationship. We don’t see Almut dying, we aren’t even explicitly told this happens. Instead the movie skips past this, showing only her absence, showing how life goes on after loss.
Overall, I think We Live in Time is still definitely worth the watch. Despite the plot being unnecessarily scattered and the story feeling a bit empty as a result, the performances by Garfield and Pugh really make up for this. They bring a lot of humor and beautiful vulnerability. In the end this made watching the film an enjoyable experience.
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