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

One of the nice things about watching a film like We live in time is watching life being lived. Director John Crowley and writer Nick Payne paint a heartwarming, often humorous and moving picture of a couple whose love for each other simply exists. Between work and caring for a child, illness, and growing a relationship, this romantic drama is a captivating, tear-jerking experience. It is gentle and warm, like listening to waves on the beach. It lulls us into the comforts of a seemingly endless love, but its decades-spanning and non-chronological narrative reminds us that life can always be unexpected.

The film explores the lives of Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) at different stages in their relationship. Recently divorced, Tobias met Alma after an accident, although it was not that We live in time Open with. The drama moves seamlessly between one moment and another – pregnancy, dating, raising their daughter – and it falls into a rhythm that becomes almost hypnotic, even when we are thrown into the midst of Alma’s cancer diagnosis. I found myself becoming invested in them, because Elmoth’s illness prepares us for what will come later, but it’s hard not to fall into the couple’s orbit.

Florence Pugh & Andrew Garfield pour their hearts into their characters

Garfield and Pugh’s performances are charismatic and tender. Even though their characters can be a bit too neat at times, 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 broad enough picture of Almut and Tobias while giving them a vivid feel. Although they have only met at one point, there is an instant connection and attraction to each other. The film is filled with an abundance of powerful moments like this. It’s a testament to Pugh and Garfield’s excellent chemistry that it works so well.

The love story at its heart is one of the best film romances we’ve had in years. Payne and Crowley both understand how to give us a worthwhile relationship. It is one that we can laugh with the characters and also cry with them. Garfield is a master at playing vulnerable people, and that remains true here. His performance is heartbreaking, gentle and caring. Pugh’s Almut is more pathetic in comparison, and the two challenge each other.

Pugh, like Garfield, can do a lot with her face to convey emotion. It’s hard to buy her as a 34-year-old when the couple first meet, but the actress gives Almut enough gravitas and depth that it’s easy to overlook. With so much riding on the two central performances, Garfield and Pugh do more than enough to layer Tobias and Almut, forming 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 quite beautiful, sad yet joyful.

We live in times not only about the sad parts of life

The romantic drama, however, does not take place firmly in melancholy. It can also be quite funny, full of bright moments that balance the cloud that follows Tobias and Alma. There is a particularly excellent scene that sees Almut deliver the couple’s daughter in one of the most unlikely places. It is one of the funniest moments in the film and the audience rightly laughed. And that’s why We live in time Does so well: It brings the moments of life – big, small and often mundane – into focus and allows us to enjoy them fully.

Crowley’s direction is languid, allowing us to linger on every word and expression between the characters. There is a lot that is not said, but we feel it just as strongly. Stuart Bentley’s cinematography is almost desolate, a balance of light and dark to raise the mood. Since the story is not told chronologically, there is no build-up to a major conflict, but the tension still exists as Elmoth and Tobias navigate her illness and Elmoth prioritizes a chef’s competition. The final scenes are meant to be punchy, but they’re also tender and heartwarming.

We know while watching Alma and Tobias go through life that these lovely, sad, beautiful experiences are fleeting. They come and go, often without thought, but they shape us. I thought a bit of 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 may be a tearjerker, but there is a sense of peace watching the couple live as full a life as they can together. And really, that’s all we can ask for while we’re still here.

We live in time Now playing in theaters. The film is 107 minutes long and rated R for language, sexuality and nudity.