Directed by John Crowley, We Live in Time is a gut-wrenching drama starring Andrew Garfield as Tobias and Florence Pugh as Almut. The movie follows a couple, Tobias and Almut, whose love story unfolds through a non-linear narrative. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie captures a heart-wrenching tale of love and loss.
The highly anticipated A24 romance is about ordinary people falling in love and desperately trying to escape the looming presence of time. However, it’s also a story about cancer and the shadow of death behind it. Andrew Garfield’s Tobias is a recently separated and aimless IT worker at Weetabix who is captivated by Pugh’s Almut, a spirited chef and restaurant owner determined not to sacrifice her dreams. As their lives slowly fall into sync, shown through separate timelines of their journey as friends, lovers, and parents, the audience learns about Almut’s ovarian cancer. This revelation runs throughout the film’s hour and 44-minute runtime, and the diagnosis quietly shapes the narrative.
In the emotional end of As We Live in Time, Almut, now quite ill, agrees to start chemotherapy but makes it straightforward to Tobias that she doesn’t want her final days spent feeling weak and confined. Although Tobias reluctantly agrees, he struggles with the idea. On the other hand, Almut secretly signs up for the prestigious Bocuse d’Or cooking competition, training behind his back. When Tobias finds out, he feels hurt and blindsided. Of course, he would feel so knowing she has so little left, and how could she keep this secret from him, who loves and knows her better than anyone?
Nevertheless, Almut’s decision to compete in the Bocuse d’Or isn’t about ambition but reclaiming control of her story. She doesn’t want to fade away quietly; she wants her daughter to remember her as full of life, talent, and passion. Rather than feeling death, she chooses to face it with grace. By the time the cooking competition arrives, Tobias fully supports Almut and lets go of his dream of marrying to let Almut live on her terms. During the competition, Tobias and their daughter Ella cheer her from the sidelines even when Almut seems exhausted. Although she doesn’t stay to hear the results, they visit a nearby skating rink to relive her childhood passion tied to her late father. As she spins away from Tobias and Ella, she bids them goodbye after gracefully accepting it.
Almut’s death is never acknowledged in We Live in Time. In the end, Tobias and Ella walk alone in the kitchen with a dog, signaling she is no longer with them. The final scene of We Live in Time featured Tobias standing with his daughter, showing her how to crack an egg, just as Almut once taught him. Though Almut is gone, her presence remains deeply felt in their everyday ritual. Moreover, her goal was never about chasing one last career achievement; it was leaving behind the love and memories that bind them together.
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