We Live In Time - Thoughts about Love and Time in Films

a spoiler free review

A lot is going through my head as I begin to write up my views on We Live In Time, a brand new romance comedy-drama that I was fortunate enough to see early as a result of being a Showcase Insider Member here in the UK. One of the more simple thoughts is that I find it weird to think about how the film doesn't actually come out in the UK until the start of 2025, even though it's already been released everywhere else back in October. Other thoughts are a lot more complicated, there are those that have been evoked having watched the film and there are those that are about the film itself.

For those who don't know, We Live in Time follows the story of Tobias (Andrew Garfield) and Almut (Florence Pugh) as they meet, fall in love, and importantly embark on the up and down journey of going through life together. Interestingly, the film doesn't follow a traditional structure when it comes to the plot, with the story taking a non-linear approach to telling it's story. This means that as an audience member, you don't see their story in the ways you might typically expect, with the couple's highs and lows being shown almost simultaneously throughout the film. This is an element of the film that is getting discussed a lot by critics with some finding the throwback approach charming, compared to others feeling that the chronological approach could be a potential deal breaker for audiences. Personally, I found the approach to be enriching to the story. There is something so powerful to me about films that focus on time as a major element of their love stories. Whilst I will always have time for love stories that don't necessarily acknowledge the pressures of time, I find that films feel more real and genuine when they do.

Another example of a film that does similar to this is About Time, a really beautiful film that if anything manages to really creatively give the characters in the film all the time in the world whilst also simultaneously showing how valuable time can be. The more I think about it, it's hard to really explain why I feel more of a connection to this type of storytelling compared to other approaches. I don't believe myself to be someone that necessarily stresses too much about the pressures of time, but I still find it moving when a story manages to highlight how important time can be for love, whether that's love in friendships, love in families or a romantic love. I think I find that it feels more real because it often feels more unapologetic about what love is, what it can be and how it can transcend all other emotions. Hollywood can be very quick to romanticise and glorify love (which is an amazing feat in itself that I hope it never stops doing) but it's not always how real life pans out. When it does this it takes away the fragility of it, which in turn takes away some of what makes love so special. I think that's why when a film tells the story of the impact of time on love well, it makes for a strong connection with audiences. This is something that I believe We Live In Time and About Time do very well. It's a feeling I also share towards one of my favourite films, La La Land, which ironically is a film I hated when it first came out for being too pretentious. I don't know what that means for how my views have changed over the years.

This approach to the storytelling is also benefited enormously by the exceptional performances from Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, who both put in extraordinarily powerful performances as they portray a large amount of emotions that their respective characters go through during the story. Between the two, I don't think there's an emotion they don't touch during the film, with the characters experiencing incredibly high moments and also incredibly dark moments throughout. It also helps that the two have very strong chemistry between them that makes their love and compassion for each other feel so much more real. I am not sure the film would work as well as it did without the strength of their performances and it would be disappointing if they weren't rewarded to some degree for their efforts.

Overall, this is a really well made film which is worth seeing if you get the chance thanks to its rich story and strong performances throughout. Whilst I can see where the critics are coming from in regards to their comments about the non-linear structure, I think it's still worth watching as it may work for you just as well as it did for me. I really liked this film and would definitely recommend it to anyone if they were interested in watching this type of film.

5 out of 5.

Peter Mountain / A24