We Live In Time Review

I didn't know much about this movie. It's one of those come out of nowhere movies, which, can I say, I'm starting to get a little annoyed by. I thought I was gonna have my week set by watching Venom: The Last Dance early, but no, I gotta struggle to find time to watch this thing that A24 threw out! The fact that it was A24 didn't help things, but apparently it was only distributed by them. One of the producers is Film4, which is a production studio tied to Channel 4. Channel 4 is a British television channel that isn't BBC so you've never heard of it. But I like the Big Fat Quiz and Countdown, and they have Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding on their shows a lot and I love those two. The other thing I heard about We Live In Time is that it is sad, which, honestly, I was hoping it was! Bathos and action can only go so far, and sometimes it's healthy to be miserable for sometime. That's why I listen to Frightened Rabbit.

What's The Movie About?

Tobias and Almut (Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh respectively) are in love and need to deal with a lot of struggles, such as Tobias wanting kids, or Almut wanting to compete in a cooking tournament instead of getting chemotherapy for her cancer. 

What I Like.

This movie made me cry. Yes, I wept at this film readers (or, at least my eyes were moist for most of the run time) and I am not ashamed to tell you that. We Live In Time is very direct about the final fate of the couple, and because of that every happy moment they share is heartwarming, every argument they have is meaningful, and every sad moment inches the Sword of Damocles closer to impaling me right through the heart. I love the characters. Tobias is a massive nerd who has a hard time speaking his mind, yet is amazing with kids and shockingly romantic. I like that Almut is incredibly driven to for what she wants even to the point of self-destruction, but isn't entirely stubborn and will to compromise with Tobias. The situations in the movie are so adult and realistic. A big conflict in the early parts of their relationship is Tobias wanting kids and Almut not, and the scene where they finally confront each other about it is my favorite in the whole movie. I love that they are forward about their desires, they treat each other like adults, and yet they can be unreasonable in their response to each other! The acting is spectacular. I'm already a pretty big fan of Andrew Garfield, and Florence Pugh was quite excellent as well. And the movie is pretty funny. It's  bit of dark, dry British humor, which is all fine by me, I love that stuff. I knew it was when one of the first conversations in the movie is about getting an old dog who's going to die before Almut to help prepare their daughter for her death I was gonna be chortling a lot. We Live In Time is definitely a Studio4 movie than an A24 one.

What I Didn't Like.

The story being told out of order is questionably necessary. It's not confusing per say, and in the end I came out positive on the whole thing. But a small niggle in the back of my head is making me wonder it is would just be better if the story was told in order. Like, was the reason it was told out of order just to be artsy? That's kinda obnoxious. Admittedly this structure does aid telling the audience about what's going to happen at the very end so we can get all the delicious pathos from the happier moments of the story, but a flashback structure would do the same thing. The reason I'm coming away positive is that it blends emotional moments of the character's lives in a very pleasing way, and climaxes in a way that it couldn't if it was told linearly. But that's just one of my two bothers hanging off of my experience with this truly excellent film. The other one, and this is EXTREMELY petty, is that the title sucks. Like, I get what they were going for, and it's not strictly incongruous with what the story is about. But it's so forgettable. I keep wanting to tell people about this movie in my day-to-day but I have to keep referring to it as "That sad romance movie with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. Time something. Time Is Gone or something like that." Which is frustrating. 

Final Summation.

I fucking love We Live In Time. (Yes, I had to scroll up to doublecheck.) It hit me it exactly the right spot, at exactly the right time. This movie is definitely worth checking out, even if you are a little skeptical. Just bring something to dry your eyes.