Time: 108 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Sex scenes, offensive language & nudity
Cast:
Andrew Garfield as Tobias Durand
Florence Pugh as Almut Brühl
Director: John Crowley

My knowledge of We Live in Time was fairly limited, just that it was a romance film starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. So I went in mostly blind, and I found it to be pretty good overall.

On the whole, the movie is enjoyable and I was invested enough in the relationship of the main characters, largely due to the performances. It has a good handle on its tone, it is surprisingly humorous and quite funny, while effectively hitting the sadder beats even if it goes into melodrama at times. The most unique part of the movie is its unconventional plot structure, in which it jumps around in time in the main characters’ lives over the course of the movie. This does emphasise the emotional highs and lows and some of the moments hit harder here than if they had just played the story conventionally from beginning to end. As for whether this nonlinear storytelling was needed, I guess it was intended to show a relationship that’s looked at in hindsight. It did keep me engaged at least, but it could be unintentionally jarring at some points when it would jump to a completely different moment in time.

The biggest selling points of the movie are Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, and they deliver some great performances. They make their relationship believable and feel authentic with their chemistry, and it elevates much of the movie. It’s a good acting showcase from them if nothing else.

John Crowley’s direction is solid; the visuals and cinematography are nice, as is the score from Bryce Dessner. The most notable technical aspect is the editing, mainly with how it handles the nonlinear narrative. While I’m fine with this choice, I do think that some of the jumps in time feel very disjointed at points, and not necessarily in an intentional way.

We Live in Time is a solid and engaging romance dramedy, with great performances from Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.