We Live in Time is a 2024 British romantic drama which captures the saga of human relationships in all their beauty and tragedy, encompassing over a decade of love, change, and the enduring power of emotion. Broadly, it is the English cinema adaptation of a dolorous tale suiting Netflix romances of the Gyllenhaal era. John Crowley, who sensitively directed Bruce’s road trips Brooklyn, directs this film alongside Nick Payne’s screenplay. It also features Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, two golden age actors, and this film is as quintessential as it gets.
By lightly playing with time in a non-linear fashion, We Live In Time hones its focus on poetic musings of near-defining moments. It also mirrors how fleeting time is, capturing moments that immortalize love in a film that turns love into the most treasured possession and totem of time frozen.
Synopsis
We follow the multilayered arc of Almut – Pugh’s character, who is a deeply passionate and a chef by profession, who instantly clashes with Tobias – played by Garfield, who is a docile IT specialist with a vibrant emotional world. In a world that feels perpetual yet hazy, they collide quite randomly yet serendipitously.Globalization, self censorship, societal norms- desensitisation: the brush of innocently coincidental singing through the feeling that gives way turns out to be rather enduring.
This is not your typical love story, and it is evident from the start. The film is pieced together through their life moments captured through vignettes, rather than following a sequential timeline. The audience is shown critical events in their relationship—falling in love, constructing a life, welcoming a daughter, navigating career shifts, and facing devastating life-altering news that endangers the foundation of everything they have fought to create.
We endure the rollercoaster of emotions together—the joy of one of them cooking in the kitchen, the sleepless nights filled with arguments, and silence that is more powerful than any words. After this, the narrative takes a big turn—as Almut receives a harrowing diagnosis. From here, the film adopts a more serious and reflective approach. It does not resort to dramatization, rather, it shows how love, in its purest form, survives the most excruciating truths of life.
The statement We Live in Time captures the essence of the film, as there is nothing more than a beautifully crafted poem and incredibly guiding philosophy put together. We are stripped down from everything but the moments we live. The people we love become an integral part of those memories, and the film seeks to address love in the light of mortality rather than exploring love itself.
Most Memorable Cast and Roles
Almut by Florence Pugh: Pugh’s Almut is a character based on a real woman, complicated and loving, fiercely passionate. The duality of Almut—that her strength is as emotional as it is physical—and Pugh’s performance, simultaneously restrained and heartbreaking, is commendable.
Tobias by Andrew Garfield: Garfield transforms in a challenge to his usual typecasting, playing a gentle essence of calm that serves as the emotional foundation of gentler Tobias. Without traditional heroic qualities, Tobias embodies a man for whom love is everything.
Ella by Grace Delaney: Ella, their daughter, becomes representative of continuity, optimism, and ancestry—proof that life’s progress is possible even amid sorrow.
Almud and Tobias are surrounded by Jade Lee Braithwaite and Skye Aoife Hinds respectively: The emotional support that Almut and Tobias need comes from supporting characters who serve as friends, Almut’s reality checks, and enrich the couple’s world and enrich it with warmth.
Every performer in the ensemble gives off the impression of being a long-term resident of the story for which they play. The integration of each actor into the character will fully, to a film based thematically on character emotion, embodies character’s experiences and emotions
Direction, Cinematography, and Music
John Crowley’s Direction captures the film gently and intimately. He does not rely on spectacle to grasp the audience’s attention, rather, he utilizes emotion alongside silence and discreet visual language. His direction is subtle yet impactful, providing space for the film’s emotional core to flourish through nuance instead of heavy exposition or plot twists.
Stuart Bentley’s additional cinematography was warm, textured, rich, and full of atmosphere. He softened the lighting in close-up shots of London homes, parks, and cafes as well as hospital rooms to evoke a sense of life that is real and tangible. The visuals serve as the perfect frame for each emotional beat and never overshadow the performances.
The score for the film was composed by Bryce Dessner. It is understated and contemplative with soft piano and strings. It complements the film’s themes of yearning, time, and memory. Music comes not as punctuation, but instead, serves as an accompaniment to the character’s emotional excursions.
Themes and Narrative Style
The essence of We Live in Time is that it revolves around the film’s core duality: time’s ability to give and take away. The film is a clear indication that the meaning of life is not found in elaborate actions but rather in the weaving together of simple, profound moments shared with loved ones.
The selection to tell the story out of order increases this theme. Time is not treated as a linear construct, but rather as a fabric—stitched together from reminiscences, sorrow, laughter, and ambition. This approach to narration prompts the audience to think about their lives and relationships, along with how the most pivotal moments often go unnoticed until it’s too late.
Acceptance is another crucial theme. The inevitability of change poses a challenge for both Tobias and Almut—be it the deterioration of health, the decline of aspirations, or the notion of having a child and raising it in a world where neither parent would be actively present. But the film is never hopeless. Rather, it celebrates the heart that must exist to love someone when everything, even the greatest love, is subjected to transience.
Reception
Whether or not the film’s blend of melancholy and emotional depth resonates with audiences remains to be seen, but critics have received it well. The film has been praised alongside Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield for their starkly human performances devoid of the either-or mentality, portraying the love and relationships in the film with a sentimental intimacy that avoids romantic clichés.
Although the movie is painfully quiet and introspective at times, it greatly instills a sense of hope. It reinforces the notion that the love we can give, regardless of how short-lived it is, is not meaningless. Love endures with time, as do the memories and small acts of care.
Conclusion
We Live in Time is not a film that screams; rather, it subtly speaks truths of human connection through love, grief, and their captivating delicacies. It encapsulates the performance of two of the greatest actors of the present, therefore, the impact and impression of the film becomes everlasting. It is a tale depicting the lives of those who have profoundly loved and mourned intensely. A remarkable tale narrating emotions, We Live in Time bears witness the moment the last credits roll and not with grandeur, but with warmth.
For those who seek profoundly intelligent and rich deep emotional cinema, this film serves as an emotional testament because we do not live forever, but do in time. And perhaps that is enough.
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