REVIEW: We Live in Time – Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are a force of nature in this devastatingly beautiful cancer drama

Whenever a film deals with the idea or theme of cancer or any illness, as We Live in Time does, you will always connect with someone. One of the greatest things about cinema and film is that it connects us all, even if we don’t know it, are aware of it, or acknowledge it. Whenever any of us enter a cinema, no matter what we watch, we sit with complete strangers and watch the film together, taking it all in as one. We laugh, we cry, and we (occasionally) clap and cheer. That is the beauty of it all. There was nothing but complete silence during We Live in Time (the showing was packed), except for a couple of laugh out loud moments, nor was there a single dry eye in the house once the credits rolled.

Set in a non-linear story structure not too dissimilar to some of Christopher Nolan’s films, or from what Richard Curtis did with About Time, Florence Pugh is Almut, a chef and restaurant owner who falls for recently divorced Tobias played by Andrew Garfield. The two have a humorous chance encounter that changes their lives as we follow them through a decade-spanning relationship encountering, love, anger and challenges along the way.

Very rarely have I been this utterly spellbound by a film that I can only describe this as being one of the purest pieces of cinema you will ever see. I must begin with its greatest accomplishments: the direction from John Crowley, the cinematography from Stuart Bentley and Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield who share the greatest onscreen chemistry I have ever witnessed in a film. Aside from each of them delivering a career-best performance that engulfed me from minute one, I have never seen two people bounce off each other or gel this well. You are swept of your feet by the sheer power the two have with one another and it is a force of nature to witness and experience. There is something about the way they seem to cry and show expression here that I have never seen done before.

It is this slow-burning and patient sense of overpowering emotion that will overpower you as the camera simple stares into their faces. In truth, I am not sure who to commend the most: Pugh and Garfield? John Crowley? Or Stuart Bentley? They are all one in the end and work together to make something absolutely remarkable. Since the film appears to adopt a narrative akin to Nolan – in which he does not spoon-feed the audience and expects them to follow the story – We Live in Time follows the same approach which I could not have respected more. At no point do we see any caption say ”One year later”, or ”One year ago” or anything like that.

Photo credit: A24

Initially, I feared that I may not have been able to keep up with it, yet its execution is that well done and clear that those worries were quickly forgotten. As someone whose favourite type of music is film scores, I loved Bryce Dessner’s gorgeously soothing array of music which gave the film an even more effective level of emotion than it already had. The film includes a final metaphorical sequence which, given what the story and context behind it is, was not only genius but the most profoundly heartfelt thing I have ever seen a film do; it truly sealed everything for me in the best way possible. This will easily sit in my top five films of the year. We Live in Time is a magnificent accomplishment by all those who were involved. Take tissues.

5/5

In cinemas from 1st January 2025