“We Live in Time” is a complicated, powerful romantic drama

We live in time
4 out of 5 stars
Director: John Crowley
Writer: Nick Payne
With: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh
Rated: R for language, sexuality and nudity.

Summary: Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) meet in a surprising encounter that changes their lives. As they embark on a path challenged by the limitations of time, they learn to appreciate every moment of the unconventional path their love story has taken in filmmaker John Crowley’s decades-long, deeply moving love story.

Review: When we go through the memories of our relationships, they rarely play out in order. Instead, they are often organized around a theme. It could be a trauma or a triumph that defines a strand in the tangled web of our personal history. “We Live in Time” follows a similar trajectory, exploring a decade in the lives of Almut, a chef, and Tobias, who works in the IT department at Weetabix.

Almut and Tobias are not a perfect match. Their relationship is complicated and has many quirks.

Writer Nick Payne and J’s script does a fantastic job of exploring where their hopes and dreams intersect, where they diverge, and how they influence and enhance each other.

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield bring the couple to life. Garfield’s Tobias is awkward but charming. Pugh’s Amut is cooler, more confident and somewhat distant. Both are likeable and many will find one more likeable than the other.

At the beginning, “We Live in Time” threatens to become a conventional romantic drama, as our protagonists meet in a somewhat contrived way. This and a charming gas station scene are the closest thing the film has to a mainstream romantic drama. It flirts with convention but rarely commits to it.

It’s hard not to look at last year’s “Past Lives” as a reference point. The narratives are fundamentally different, but both films are honest in a way that many romantic dramas cannot. There may not be a villain, but the level of commitment to the relationship varies between the couples. Attitudes change, interests adapt, but often we are who we always were. Almut and Tobias arguably become better versions of themselves, but at their core they are the same people they were when they met in a hospital waiting room.

We Live in Time is a series of beautiful, frustrating, uplifting and devastating films. Highly recommended.