Meaning at the Movies | “We Live in Time” and the persistence of love

It starts with a warm feeling in my chest — a kind of guttural instinct that what I just watched marked my heart and my life in some way. This is the feeling I get everytime I fall in love with a movie. I feel almost emptied out, as if the film has washed over me with so much love and emotion that it has left me temporarily numb. Then, slowly, everything comes back — my heart now a little bit bigger, a new corner having been added to it for a newfound love. 

This was the exact feeling I had when I walked out of the theater having seen “We Live in Time.” I felt like I had just witnessed something intensely raw and human, and that it was going to be a film that stayed with me long after the credits rolled. “We Live in Time” follows an up-and-coming chef, Almut — played by Florence Pugh — and a recent divorcee and Weetabix cereal executive, Tobias — played by Andrew Garfield — as they meet, fall in love, build a life together and have that life interrupted by Almut’s cancer diagnosis. The film utilizes a nonlinear structure, moving between the timelines of Almut and Tobias meeting, the couple having their daughter Ella and Almut’s cancer diagnosis and the fallout. The film is a complex tapestry of what it means to love and lose, and the people that make it worth it all. 

“We Live in Time” is my dream come true. Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are undoubtedly two of my favorite actors in the entire world, and in the weeks leading up to the film’s release, I received multiple texts daily from multiple different friends about their ongoing press tour. If I was asked to pick two of the kindest, most generous, tenderhearted and talented actors to star in a film, Florence and Andrew would undoubtedly be my first two picks. 

The performances the pair delivers in “We Live in Time” more than lived up to my expectations, with the film featuring some of their best moments to date. Florence Pugh is devastatingly charming as Almut, imbuing the character with so much love, care and passion. Almut is someone who stands firm in who she is and is unwavering in the pursuit of her dreams — being a world renowned chef chief among them — and yet, she is also filled with so much love for Tobias and their daughter Ella. The space the film holds for Almut to be her own person with her own dreams and ambitions outside of motherhood while still allowing her to be an incredibly compassionate and dedicated mother and wife is incredible. 

Oftentimes, women who are mothers are reduced simply to the role of mother, not given the chance to be their own independent people. “We Live in Time” does an incredible job of allowing Almut to be a full person, someone who does love being a mother and who also has so many wild and beautiful dreams outside of that. A large part of the space and care that Almut is allowed in the film is due to Pugh’s performance. She plays Almut with such nuance, attention and care that it’s impossible not to fall in love with her. 

Andrew Garfield’s performance as Tobias is equally breathtaking. Garfield’s mother passed away a few years ago after a battle with cancer, and he’s talked on multiple occasions on how this film has been a source of healing and comfort for him — that could not be more evident in this performance. He fully and wholeheartedly sinks into the character of Tobias — he is the dotting and devoted father, he is the overcome and captivated lover. The love Tobias and Almut share is so deep, moving and human. Tobias wants Almut to stay, he wants her to fight, but he also wants her to live the life she has left with as much joy as she can. The challenge of loving someone knowing you very well might lose and fighting to accept that while also wishing they’d stay is the core of this film. 

The film’s use of a nonlinear narrative makes it all the more heartbreaking. We see Tobias and Almut fall in love at almost the same time we watch their love story come to an end as Almut’s cancer becomes terminal. This layering of the story serves as a reminder that every second counts. Every minute you get to have with someone you love is a minute worth reveling in. Clocks, stopwatches and timers are featured throughout the movie, further serving as a reminder of the ticking clock of time. This is a movie about loss, but this is also so clearly a movie about love — it’s a reminder that you cannot have one without the other, but that love can be more than worth the risk. 

This is my favorite aspect of the film — the idea that love is worth it all. Tobias and Almut build an incredible life together, even if it is unjustly cut short. Their love story is not built on these big, grandiose gestures, but rather the simple rhythms of the everyday. Their love shines in quiet moments, in looks across rooms and small snippets of their lives. They are ordinary people leading ordinary lives, but they have an extraordinary kind of love for each other. Their story is devastating because it feels so real. You fall in love with the pair and the way they love each other throughout the film, and you wish it could last forever — but it can’t. Everything comes to an end, but why not make it a beautiful life while you can?