A Review of We Live in Time

I have been known to cry at a good movie, at that point where everything has led to an inevitable heartbreak that just tears you apart. The ending is typically that moment, the climax. However! We Live in Time does not follow this rule (or structure) at all. Instead, the no chronologically told story is filled with heartbreaking moments that bring tears to your eyes again and again. Leaving the cinema after the film, I felt destroyed and also, let’s be honest, a little weak for barely being able to survive a scene with a dry face, but I thankfully discovered I am not alone in this experience. This beautiful and tragic film has been perfectly curated to make its audiences feel something and it certainly succeeds.

Written by Nick Payne, We Live in Time follows the story of Tobias and Almut, their love story being told beginning to end non chronologically. The audience gains the opportunity to witness their first meeting… less cute than violent as she hit him with her car (‘the chocolate orange was pronounced dead at the scene’ being the iconic line here); their unfolding romance, and the agony of a cancer diagnosis… We open in the pre dawn light with Almut on her morning run, the quiet feel of the scene setting the tone for the entire movie. For this is what I would describe as a ‘quiet’ film. There are dramatic scenes certainly, moments of high emotion, tension, pain; but they feel natural rather than heightened or unnecessarily dramatised. In fact, one of the loudest scenes (both tonally and literally) was followed by a very quiet, still scene. In that moment I’ll admit from breaking out of the story to think about how incredibly skilled the writing is and how much I would like to write something this good one day.

Director John Crowley’s cast is led by Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, both giving perhaps their best performances to date. These actors are accepted as powerhouses and their performances here solidify their sterling reputations. No words will do justice to their acting, so suffice to say that each difficult and emotional situation was handled with such grace and skill, no matter the topic of the scene. Garfield’s awkward and quiet Tobias was sweet and at moments a little infuriating with an impeccable skill for taking notes, offsetting Pugh’s more impulsive and vivacious portrayal perfectly. The supporting characters rose to the challenge of starring alongside these two, with Lee Braithwaite’s Jade winning my heart.

I could rave about every aspect of this film; the cinematography, the writing, the direction, the acting… But I feel like the best review is the fact that I could not stop crying. This is a beautiful story, which consumed my life for two hours and had me talking about it all afternoon. Sometimes the saddest stories are the most incredible, perhaps even because they are sad. This broke my heart over and over again in the best way and I know I’m not the only one who has decided that this is one of their favourite films of all time! Also, the cottage is so cute and I want to live there!