After viewing the recently released film “We Live In Time” produced by A24, as an audience member one can be sure they will walk away with one feeling– sadness.
Plot Summary:
“We Live In Time” follows the equally separate and intertwined stories of Almut (played by Florence Pugh) and Tobias (played by Andrew Garfield). As these characters begin as strangers, begin to fall in love, face challenges together and start a family, an overarching theme is prevalent to the viewer that time is limited.
The story of Almut and Tobias’ love begins in a very unconventional way, while Tobias is on a walk to retrieve pens to sign divorce papers he is struck by a car for which the driver is Almut. As their love starts to blossom, a large damper is put on their relationship as Almut is diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The debate that has been going on in their relationship up until this point in the movie is whether or not they want to have children. Tobias is very confident he wants kids, whereas it is not that important to Almut and she is unsure if she ever wants kids. However, when Almut receives this diagnosis she is offered two forms of treatment: a hysterectomy which has a higher likelihood of success and the cancer will be less likely to come back, or to try and treat it.
Almut chose the latter and decided to pursue chemotherapy for treatment so that she would still have the option to have kids later. After entering remission they begin trying to start their family and struggle with infertility for a while. Eventually, Almut does become pregnant and gives birth to a healthy baby girl in a gas station bathroom.
Once everything in their lives has worked out and feels perfect with their child and careers, as usual in movies, it is ruined as Almut is diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer. Almut then has to make difficult choices between her career and family with her limited time. To avoid spoiling the ending the summary will end here but there is still a lot of this complex story left after this point.
Review:
Firstly, I would note that this movie is not shown in chronological order which of course can lead to confusion at times especially in the beginning before all of the characters are fully introduced. At some points in the movie, it may be difficult to follow what timeline you are currently watching but by the end of the movie, all of the timeline plots are very clearly developed and no longer confusing.
An additional point of confusion for an average American watcher would be that the actors all speak with a British accent which may be difficult to understand. There were a few conversations in the movie that went completely over my head as I could not understand their accent and I had to convene with the people I was watching with to distinguish words.
Another thought I had about the movie is that despite it being a very good movie, I likely would not watch it again. I write this because while I watched the movie in the theater I think if I had been at home watching I would be on my phone for some parts of the movie as it moved sort of slowly at the beginning.
Also, I do not think I would watch it again because it made me incredibly sad to think about my limited time with people and I do not like to have that depressing feeling in my stomach all day which happened after viewing the movie.
I would rate this movie a seven out of 10 because of the acting skills, storytelling and overarching theme. Overall, I thought this film was beautifully told and the depiction of making the best out of the limited time we have on Earth and with those we love the most was incredibly impactful.
