Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield’s romance will happily break your heart

One of the most enjoyable things about watching a film like We live in time observes how life is lived. Director John Crowley and writer Nick Payne paint a heartfelt, often humorous and touching picture of a couple whose love for each other simply exists. Juggling work and childcare, illness and developing relationships, the romantic drama is a gripping, heart-wrenching experience. It is gentle and warm, like listening to the sound of waves on the beach. It lulls us into the comfort of seemingly endless love, but its narrative, spanning decades and non-chronological, reminds us that life can always be unexpected.

The film follows the lives of Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) at various stages of their relationship. Recently divorced, Tobias meets Almut after an accident, although this is not what We live in time opens with. The drama moves seamlessly from one moment to the next—pregnancy, dating, raising a daughter—and settles into a rhythm that becomes almost hypnotic, even as we find ourselves at the center of Almut’s cancer diagnosis. I was hesitant to invest in them because Almuth’s illness prepares us for what comes later, but it’s hard not to fall into this couple’s orbit.

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield put their souls into their characters

Garfield and Pugh’s performances are charismatic and tender. Although their characters sometimes seem thinly drawn, the actors put so much heart into them that I couldn’t help but fall in love with them and their love for each other. Payne manages to paint a fairly broad picture of Almuth and Tobias, giving them a lived-in feel. Even though we only met once, there is an instant connection and attraction to each other. The film is filled with an abundance of such powerful moments. That it works so well is a testament to the excellent chemistry between Pugh and Garfield.

The love story at the heart of the film is one of the best romantic films we have made in recent years. Payne and Crowley both understand how to provide us with a decent relationship. This is a case where we can laugh with the characters and also cry with them. Garfield is a master at playing sensitive men, and that remains true here. His performance is heartbreaking, tender and caring. Almut Pugh is more fiery in comparison and they challenge each other.

Pugh, like Garfield, can do a lot with his face to convey emotion. It’s hard to buy her into the 34-year-old when the couple first meets, but the actress brings enough gravitas and depth to Almut that she’s easy to overlook. With so much emphasis on these two central performances, Garfield and Pugh do more than enough to bring Tobias and Almuth together, becoming people who are just trying to live and love as hard as they can, for as long as they can. To this end, We live in time can be very beautiful, sad, but joyful.

“We live in time” is not only the sad moments of life

However, romantic drama is not rooted in melancholy. It can also be quite funny, full of light-hearted moments that balance out the cloud that follows Tobias and Almut. There is a particularly wonderful scene in which Almut gives birth to the couple’s daughter in one of the most unexpected places. This is one of the funniest moments in the film, and the audience rightfully laughed. And that’s what We live in time does this very well: it brings into focus life’s moments – big, small and often mundane – and allows us to enjoy them to the fullest.

Crowley’s direction is languid, allowing us to linger on every word and expression between characters. Much remains unsaid, but we feel it just as keenly. Stuart Bentley’s cinematography is almost wistful, the balance of bright and dim conveying the mood. Because the story is not told in chronological order, no major conflict occurs, but tension still exists as Almut and Tobias battle her illness and Almut prioritizes the chef competition. The final scenes are meant to be a gut punch, but they are also soft and heartfelt.

As we watch the lives of Almut and Tobias, we know that these loving, sad and beautiful experiences are fleeting. They come and go, often without a second thought, but they shape us. I thought a little about David Nicholls. One dayrecently adapted into a Netflix series, while watching (for all the good reasons). We live in time gives us what we’ve been missing from romantic dramas. It can be heartbreaking, but there is a sense of peace in watching a couple live life as fully as possible. And really, that’s all we can ask for while we’re still here.

We live in time is now playing in cinemas. The film runs 107 minutes and is rated R for language, sexuality and nudity.