we live in time
‘We Live in Time’ is a story about the relationship between Almut and Tobias, played by Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. It weaves together moments from their relationship in a non-linear narrative, exploring themes of love, sacrifice and the ephemerality of time.
I liked this film, but I didn’t love it.
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield and their on screen chemistry made is a good film, but I think the script was slightly lacking which I think was largely due to the non-linear narrative style.
I understand that was part of the theme of ‘We Live in Time’ - to focus on moments in time that are now, but the consequence was that the story felt like it lacked a narrative arc.
For example, if Almut and Tobias had a huge argument, we would know the outcome (because we had seen it before). If there was conflict introduced about whether they wanted kids or not, we already knew the outcome.
And unfortunately as humans we like narrative arcs. We like to see character development, tension, resolution and conclusion.
To be honest, I think it didn’t tackle the heavy topics that were introduced that well : grief, illness, conflict in relationships, whether to have kids/no kids, balancing personal goals/ambition with family life.
Spoilers : for example we see Almut, in this life phase, battling a recurrence of her ovarian cancer. She is on chemotherapy and has been lying to Tobias and secretly taking part in a competitive cooking competition, the finals of which is on their planned wedding day.
Ultimately we see Tobias give up that wedding day to go to Almuts cooking competition with their daughter. A huge sacrifice that I thought they would address. But it was just glanced over.
Enough disparaging of the film. I liked it! But to me it’s an example of an ‘ok’ script being elevated by excellent acting. I found that I was crying and laughing. I didn’t expect it to be a funny movie, but it was.
I think the idea of the non-linearity of the movie was to take each moment in time as it is. The nature of time and the irrevocable mysterious nature is a difficult subject to tackle, a deeply spiritual topic. I’m reminder of the poem ‘Time’ by David Whyte in his new anthology, which explores this. If you can, go read it. A few of my favourite lines :
Time is not slipping through our fingers, time is here forever, it is we who are slipping through the fingers of time
The entrance into time is always the threshold where we are asked to loosen our grasp on our previous, fearful understandings. Love is time unanchored and let to be fully itself where the hours are rich and spacious with anticipation and the sudden sense that there is no immediate horizon to our possibilities
The letting go of time is a doorway to love.
Final thoughts
“We Live in Time” is a film that reaches for profound truths about love and time, even if it doesn’t quite grasp them all. While the script sometimes struggles under the weight of its ambitious structure and themes, the powerful performances by Pugh and Garfield create moments of genuine emotional impact. It’s a film that, like time itself, contains both beauty and imperfection, moments of brilliance and missed opportunities.
The result is a movie that, while not perfect, leaves you thinking about the nature of time and relationships. It reminds us that every moment - whether joyful or painful, significant or mundane - is part of the larger tapestry of our lives. In this way, perhaps the film’s fragmented narrative succeeds in its most fundamental goal: showing how we truly live in time, not as a linear progression, but as a collection of moments that shape and define us.