‘We Live In Time’: Toronto Review

Dir: John Crowley. UK/France. 2024. 107mins 

How do we make sense of a relationship? Is it better to look back on it chronologically or, as in the case of We Live In Time, is it wiser to dissect different moments from different periods, seeking out the behaviours that repeat over time? Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh give sensitive performances as a couple whose history is presented in a jigsaw puzzle of disparate eras, each phase of their courtship speaking to the others. Brooklyn director John Crowley aims to craft a tear-jerking, life-affirming salute to making the most of our days, athough the jumbled timeline and melodramatic flourishes can distance the audience from the melancholy tale he wishes to tell.

The two leads find the nuance in characters who can be a little simplistic

Playing as a Special Presentation at Toronto, the picture will close San Sebastian and play at London before opening in US theatres in October. (The UK release is scheduled for January 1.) The popular stars add commercial muscle to this date-night offering, and those looking for a good cry — not to mention a reaffirmation of the power of love — will no doubt respond.

We Live In Time introduces us to Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh), who at the film’s onset are dealing with the worrying news that Almut’s ovarian cancer, previously in remission, has returned. Raising a young daughter, they debate how aggressive they should be in seeking treatment, with Almut proposing that perhaps, rather than attempting chemotherapy (which has no guarantee of success), they should simply enjoy the time they have left together before the inevitable occurs. 

As they discuss these options, the picture flashes back to other time periods, including their initial meeting — when she accidentally hit him with her car — and the months before the birth of their child. We Live In Time repeatedly cycles between these storylines, although the emphasis is on the current day, when Almut, a renowned chef, is invited to enter a prestigious cooking competition. But is that the best use of her time, given her diagnosis?

Working with a script from playwright Nick Payne, Crowley reunites with his Boy A star Garfield for a romantic drama that boasts plenty of sweet, lightly funny moments. In the film’s early stages, viewers may wonder if they’re watching parallel realities in which Tobias and Almut find one another in unique ways. But eventually, it becomes clear that this is all the same story, with the filmmakers encouraging us to notice the similarities in the rapport between the characters over time. Tobias is a shy, cautious fellow — the sort who has to take copious notes before he delivers an impassioned speech to his beloved — while Almut lives life with abandon, never letting anything get in her way. Even when she is diagnosed with cancer, she refuses to give in — an echo of when, earlier in their relationship, she resented Tobias’ desire to overplan their future.

The two leads find the nuance in characters who can be a little simplistic. Garfield brings an emotional fragility to Tobias, who wants to take care of Almut, despite her resistance to his well-intentioned white-knight behaviour. Meanwhile, Pugh has the tricker role of an ambitious chef who is put into the position of having to choose between family and career. In due course, We Live In Time reveals something pertinent about Almut’s past, which helps explain why she has long felt that she is in a race against time. Pugh delivers a soliloquy near the picture’s end that too neatly encompasses her character’s contradictions, but the actress locates the pain and terror in Almut’s confession.

Unfortunately, We Live In Time’s likeable tone, accented by indie-pop songs from The xx and Wolf Alice on the soundtrack, is undercut by a narrative structure that is initially clever but ultimately unrewarding. Telling this love story in a more straightforward way would have exposed how conventional its cancer plotline is — a disappointing realisation that the fractured chronology delays, but cannot overcome.

In addition, Crowley and Payne too often gravitate toward the cutesy and the pseudo-cosmic, infusing this romance with a feel-good, vaguely mystical vibe that robs the relationship of feeling concrete. Garfield and Pugh have such instant chemistry that one never doubts why their characters would end up together. But ultimately, We Live In Time views Tobias and Almut as abstractions, and by jumping back and forth in time, it never makes them very present.