When I entered the theater for a showing of “We Live in Time,” I was handed a pack of tissues branded with the film’s title and offered a fun-sized candy bar. The reps for A24 were not shy about playing up the reputation of the not-yet-released film: It was going to make you cry. Indeed, this was completely expected. After all, the trailer lets you know in no uncertain terms that the main protagonist is battling a cancer diagnosis throughout the runtime, and for a story centered around how we relate to the passage of time, well — we’re all adults with functioning brains, yes?
So, no, I wasn’t shocked to be bombarded with clues that this was a film meant to emotionally wreck its audience. But the plot is not why you go see this movie. You sit down in the theater, laden with emotional-support chocolate and Kleenex, because of Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.
If you’ve long been a fan of either of the Academy Award-nominated leads, prepare to fall deeper in love. Garfield’s Tobias is soft-spoken, able to communicate more with his eyes than words, with a capacity for love and forgiveness for Pugh’s Almut that it seems unrealistic (because it is — this is a romance film, after all). And speaking of Almut: She’s sure of herself, multi-dimensional (even if some of those dimensions could have been flushed out a bit more in the script), and isn’t afraid of a well-placed F-bomb.
What’s not important here, turns out, is Garfield and Pugh’s chemistry. Before watching, and according to their off-screen personas, I assumed the two and their English accents would have sparks flying off the screen. And while the steamier scenes were great fun, I wasn’t blown away by the two leads’ physicality. The magic was all in the dialogue — relatable, nothing very much overdone, every word counting.
If you’re going to leave this film a blubbering mess, it’ll be because of this casting. Garfield and Pugh are such brilliant actors, able to draw you in and feel what they’re feeling like a sucker punch to the gut. I found myself misty-eyed not at the obvious devastation that awaits at the end of the film, but at different moments flawlessly executed with a tenderness that we don’t get too often anymore in the world of ever-expanding Marvel franchises and ‘90s rom-com remakes.
Over the course of the film, which spans years of Tobias and Almut’s relationship, you’re consistently reminded of time — the stopwatch Tobias wears to measure the length of Almut’s labor contractions, the dwindling timer as Almut competes in a cooking challenge — and, while obvious, the theme strikes the right balance between overbearing and sentimental. Tobias and Almut live in time and show us that there’s no right or wrong way to do so. And we’re just lucky to live in time at the same time as Garfield and Pugh.