With the return of the romcom heralded by 2023’s Anyone But You, I would argue that We Live In Time, which premiered in UK cinemas on New Year’s Day is the genre’s true return. While the latter is decidedly more gritty than the former, this does nothing to dampen the overall joyfulness of the film. The gorgeously executed chemistry of its two leads, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, turns what could have been just another romance studded with tragedy into a poignant and refreshing take on the genre.
The story revolves around Almut, a successful and award winning chef, and Tobias, a recently divorced Weetabix employee, who meet unconventionally when she accidentally runs him over. Their chemistry is powerful and all-encompassing, immediately drawing the audience in to root for them. The timeline is unconventional, skipping forward to Almut’s devastating cancer diagnosis and then backwards to their first meeting and so on. This made me dizzy at first but I soon got used to it, and appreciated the more realistic and messy view of life it portrayed. The undercurrent running through the script is one of memory, of not wanting to be forgotten after you die, and of not having control over how you will be remembered. These themes are universal, which is what I believe will enable this film to stand the test of time. Everyone can relate to the fear of dying and being forgotten, whether they have had experience with terminal illness or not.
Both Pugh and Garfield gave stand out performances, not just with the dramatic emotional scenes, but also with the more mundane, everyday situations depicted. With Pugh’s character Almut dealing with the life changing news that she has cancer, it would be easy for her to fall into the trap of being the passive and tragic character. However the enlightening script gives Almut depth and agency, and I found it refreshing to see a thirty something year old on screen be happy with her career and her life before she wants to settle down. My heart broke for Garfield’s character Tobias. His overwhelming love for his family is gut-wrenching, but his refusal to be walked over makes this love more raw and realistic. Watching Tobias welling up as he tried to sort through the multitude of emotions he was feeling after Almut’s diagnosis, while also trying desperately to keep it together for her, was powerful. As someone who doesn’t often get emotional during films, Garfeild’s depiction of a husband grieving for the future they won’t experience was my exception. While the passionate, emotionally charged scenes between Almut and Tobias packed a punch, my favourites were the subtler, more mundane moments, where we saw their chemistry together in a more realistic way. These moments contributed hugely to the overall warmth of the film, allowing the audience to relate to the couple on screen, and understand the connection between them, making the explosive scenes more powerful when they do occur.
I may have booked my ticket a little apprehensively, worried that it would be too heavy hitting for a Saturday night, but I was pleasantly surprised, and walked out of the cinema thinking it was one of, if not the best film I have seen in a year. This feeling hasn’t gone away, and a few days later I am still on a high. There is nothing like seeing a properly thought-provoking film with charismatic acting and an emotionally-charged storyline, which though simple, is not lacking in quality. The amount of flops I have inadvertently seen this year has soured my opinion of the film industry as of late, but We Live In Time may have just saved it.