We Live In Time will be in cinemas on 16 January 2025. At 108 minutes long, this 'M' rated (Censorship Advice: Coarse language, nudity and sex scenes) romance, drama is written by Nick Payne and directed by John Crowley. It stars Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield as Almut and Tobias, who meet under the most unusual circumstances. They literally crash into each other's lives. From then on, the story goes back and forth in time as you see snapshots of their lives together - crashing, falling, building and becoming. That's falling in love, building a home and becoming a family. However life is here to try us, and they are put on a path challenged by the limits of time.
The trailer makes no bones about what the film is about, from the crashing introduction to the obvious challenging diagnosis personified by the balding crown. But that's only a glimpse into what is a deep, building connection built on instant attraction between two modern-day Londoners whose story is told in a chronological jumble which might seem a little confusing for a couple of initial scenes, its time marked only by Almut's physical state - the shaved head, the pregnant belly, the flush of romance. There may be times you'd love to spend a moment longer in one chapter than the film allows, yet it somehow works better than had it followed the expectations of the common man. Had it gone sequentially, the story would have deteriorated and collapsed into the suffering and challenges of life. Instead, the edges are blurred, which allows the audience to drift between time going back and forth, and feel all the ways they blend into and inform one another.
Pugh and Garfield's palpable chemistry is not just instant but intensifying even as it dissolves into a state of normality between a couple as they go through all the bumps and grinds, and decisions of life. This is a couple that doesn't meet in the flush of youth but in their 30s, when they already have fully formed lives and accumulated scar tissue wrapped around their hearts. This light-handed, deep-hearted portrait of a marriage between the guarded Tobias who is a Weetbix cereal marketeer, and the fiery Almut who is a rising chef aspiring for more, is imbued with more humorous moments than you'd expect, giving you moments of laughing out loud. The joy and playfulness between the characters are infectious, and you're totally invested in following them through their every single high and low because their love feels so pure and real. An understated very real everyday London instead of the usual snapshots of tourist destinations as the backdrop allows the characters and all the happiness and sadness they go through, to take the main stage. This is not a tourist's Britain but an unglamorous one where you might pass two people on a street without any thought, who are having something extraordinary happening in their lives.
Pugh and Garfield have definitely upped the ante here with Garfield taking a step back by playing the passive caring, supportive, emotional, flummoxed suitor that lets his partner shine. Yet from the shadows, he emerges even stronger as he hits all the right spots as an emotional being that deep dives into all the depths of his character's personality. Pugh not only manages to give Almut tremendous depth but manages to add a lightness of touch that shows us the chameleon-like abilities Pugh is capable of and known for. She is remarkably present with what is going on inside Almut - her portrayal leaves the audience without doubt as to what she's feeling. One who deserves a big mention is actor Lee Brathwaite as Jade, the chef in training who accompanies Almut to the Bocuse d'Or, sometimes called the cooking Olympics and considered to be the world's most prestigious, fiercest, culinary competition that takes place biennially in Lyons, France.
Inexperienced and unaware of Almut's condition, Jade adds a touch of innocence, naivety, and a shot of humour to a beautiful story, and embodies a touching, tender heartbeat that can't help but draw you to this endearing character. This is a film of an unconventional meeting and an unconventional birth that mixes humour, urgency, absurdity, and beauty topped by the richness of everything in between. It also makes for two of the longest, strangest days in the life of this couple, but with a light touch in the hands of a master who knows how to wield it. A refreshing take on a modern-day love story, with leads that bring their all, to the table - this deeply moving romance speaks of cherishing each and every one of our moments.