By Kayla Ross, Digital Communications Manager

SPOILERS AHEAD

“We Live in Time,” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, was released to theaters on Oct. 11, by A24 studios. There was much anticipation for this movie, with trailers featuring a happy family and the ever-witty pair navigating illness while trying to lead normal lives and follow their dreams. 

The movie opens on an unorthodox meet-cute, with Almut (Pugh) hitting a distraught Tobias (Garfield) with her car. She buys him dinner and discovers that he is married. Although still technically married, his divorce is almost final. They quickly become enthralled with each other after he comes to the opening of her first restaurant. 

Almut is a trendy, enigmatic chef in London. Tobias fits into her life immediately. Their chemistry and need for each other is the most compelling aspect of the story. They seem magnetized to each other.

 My biggest gripe with this movie, however, is the argument the pair fall into after a party at Almut’s home. Tobias stays to clean up after and brings up the conversation of whether they would want to have children together due to their “biological clocks.” First of all, I hated this conversation because I was deeply confused about the “biological clock” Tobias was referring to. Almut appears to be very young. She reveals that she is thirty-four years old, which made sense for the storyline, but should have been rewritten with Florence Pugh in mind, who is only twenty-eight years old. Second, this seems out of character for Tobias. He has been a constant, upbeat, spontaneous boyfriend up to this point, but they had not yet even said “I love you” to each other. They argue, and he leaves. Soon after, Almut is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She says that even if she had not been considering motherhood, she would consider it with Tobias. 

I understand that this conflict was necessary to move the plot, to reveal details about Tobias and to continue the nonlinear narrative, but as the pair decide to go through with IVF and conceive a child of their own, it felt like a screen time burn in a movie that is already only 104 minutes. I wish they had chosen a different conflict. It did not feel properly placed or written with the rest of the movie, and it felt irrelevant when Almut decides she does want to be a mother about 10 minutes later. The movie then centers around Almut’s pregnancy. 

However, when they do begin their IVF journey, the hopelessness they feel in the struggle to get pregnant is palpable. I think I teared up more at this point than at the ending. Their desire to become parents is gut-wrenching, and it paired expertly with the beautiful scene where Almut gives birth to their baby girl. 

The birth scene was absolutely the best part of this movie. I am unsure how they made Pugh’s body look pregnant so realistically, but this may have been the most accurate depiction of birth I have seen portrayed on screen. The relief and joy the couple feel are a needed bright spot for what the audience will endure after that. 

When their daughter is four or five years old, Almut’s cancer comes back stronger than before. Her prognosis is no longer than a year. The rest of the movie follows the couple trying to figure out a balance for enjoying their little family, following out Almut’s dreams and ensuring that she will not be forgotten. 

“We Live in Time” is the poignant movie featuring a couple faced by illness that the romantic comedy genre has been trying to recreate for decades. Even though I had some issues with the movement of plot, this film invoked the most sincere emotional reaction I have had since films like “Fried Green Tomatoes” or “Terms of Endearment.” This is a must-see for anyone who is unafraid of an ugly cry.