A story of ever-present love with stellar performances from Garfield and Pugh.
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We Live in Time is a 2024 romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Crowley (Brookyln, The Goldfinch) from a screenplay by Nick Payne. The film follows the relationship of a couple, Tobias Durand and Almut Brühl (played Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh), over the course of a decade. As with Nick Payne's Tony Award nominated play, Constellation, the film implements the use of non-linear storytelling.
The film starts out with the driving plot point which is Almut's third stage ovarian cancer diagnosis. This is the event which splits the timelines across the scenes with the film showing snippets of how the couple met and had Ella, their daughter and the aftermath of the diagnosis. The storyline is well trodden ground as we follow an adorably cute family faced with one of the worst situations. Whilst trite, the stellar performances and non-chronological narrative help to elevate the film. The quietly powerful performances by both Andrew and Florence are just but one of the many examples of their acting prowess.
The relationship starts when Tobias, while out purchasing a pen to sign divorce papers, wanders into the road and is struck by a car driven by Almut, a former figure skater turned Bavarian-fusion chef. At the hospital and to make up in part for knocking him down, Almut offers to treat Tobias and his wife to a meal at the restaurant she works at. On the night of the dinner at Almut's new restaurant, Tobias who is at this juncture now separated, goes to the restaurant alone, informing Almut about his divorce. The two go to Almut's flat after dinner and have sex and it appears they begin co-habiting together not soon after.
Some time later, when Tobias expresses to Almut his desires to start a family with her and that he's begun to fall in love with her, she responds angrily and rebuffs him. Hurt and saddened by her response, Tobias leaves without saying a word. Later, quite obviously still hung up on Almut, Tobias comes by to her flat and crashes the baby shower for one of her co-workers to apologise to Almut while also sharing his feelings about her response and makes a grand gesture of his love to her. The couple reconciles.
Almut then discovers that she has ovarian cancer for the first time and that the recommendation from her gynecologist was for her she get a full hysterectomy to remove the cancer and prevent reoccurrence or the alternative would be to get a partial hysterectomy which comes with some risk of the cancer recurring, Though Tobias intends to respect Almut's decision and it does seem that he expects her to take the former route, she chooses to undergo the partial hysterectomy despite the dangers as she states that she could potentially see a world where she has a child with Tobias, contrary to her earlier stance of not wanting children. Thankfully, the treatment works and Almut goes into remission.
After this cancer scare, it appears that Almut and Tobias begin actively working towards conceiving a child and we see numerous subsequent attempts which lend levity to the film, and soon, we see that Tobias and Almut are both happy when she manages to get pregnant. On New Year's Eve, she gives birth to a baby girl in a petrol station bathroom after being stuck in traffic on their way to the hospital.
A few years later, Almut is now working as the head chef in her own high-end restaurant. The family lives in a small farm cottage where the chef has access to fresh ingredients creating an snapshot of an idyllic homelife. However, Almut suffers an extreme pain in her abdomen at work and goes to see the doctor. They learn that her cancer has returned at an advanced stage and that she would need to begin chemotherapy as soon as possible before any surgery to remove the tumour can take place. What is also painful for the couple is grappling with the possibility of that there is still no guarantee of survival. Almut is hesitant to undergo treatment again, proposes living "6 to 8 great months" instead of spending her potential last months in agony. We see the couple attempt to explain the situation to Ella although unfortunately, we do not see Ella's actual response as the scene cuts just before which is perhaps one of the few criticisms of the film in that some scenes are not fully fleshed out. Eventually and with another grand gesture on the part of Tobias, he proposes marriage to Almut, and she makes the decision to undergo treatment.
Around the same time as her diagnosis, Almut is invited by one of her ex-colleagues, Simon, to participate in the Bocuse d'Or, which is couched to the audience as the most prestigious cooking competition in the world. Despite Almut's training for the competition conflicting with both her treatments as well as potentially her wedding date, Almut agrees to compete as it is established that she is extremely competitive and is gunning for this accolate. Almut and her assistant, Jade win the UK selections and reach the finals which takes place in Italy on the day of Almut and Tobias's proposed wedding ceremony. When Tobias discovers this, he is understandably furious and scolds her for choosing the competition over her life and family. On her part, Almut responds that she would rather her daughter remember her as an accomplished chef than merely someone in Ella's life who gets ill and dies. Tobias begrudgingly cancels their wedding and tosses their wedding invitations in the trash and is resigned to accept Almut's continued training for the finals.
In Italy, Tobias and Ella attend the finals of the Bocuse d'Or and to support and watch Almut cook. As the weakened Almut begins to falter at the end of the plating of the last dish, she lets Jade, her assistant, take control, and they successfully finish in time. Almut promptly leaves with Tobias and their daughter afterwards and they go skating at a nearby ice rink.
Some time later after the finals and as the parting shot to audience, we see Tobias and Ella return home from their chicken coop alone alongside their new dog. Tobias then teaches his daughter how to crack an egg, just as Almut had taught him implying that Almut has passed away.
While the storyline isn't groundbreaking, the performances from both Andrew and Florence are evidence of the wonderful chemistry between the actors and help draw the audience in to the two characters.
Admittedly, the non-linear scenes do tend to cut off at certain significant events which leaves the audience trying to piece together what happened such as when the couple are breaking the news to Ella and the aftermath of Almut's first chemotherapy session. That being said, this film is a great watch for lovers of the genre and the non-linear story-telling serves to show that love is ever present throughout all moments in a relationship whether good or bad.
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