Support Us
Sign Up
One of the most charming and emotionally tumultuous movies coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival 2024 is We Live In Time. The Florence Pugh & Andrew Garfield-starring film is beautiful and moving and has earned its spot as one of the greatest romance films of the year. Read on for my TIFF 2024 review of We Live In Time.
Please note that the following We Live In Time review is completely spoiler-free.
We Live In Time Is A Sweet And Devastating Romance
Quick disclaimer: I will be discussing very specific plot points in this We Live In Time review. However, none of them will be spoilers, as the trailer has already revealed exactly what the movie is about. We Live In Time is one of those stories where the ‘what happens’ is less important than the ‘how’ and the feelings it invokes. And there’s a lot of feelings in this movie.
When aspiring chef Alma (Florence Pugh) runs into (literally) Tobias (Andrew Garfield), their lives are changed forever. A whirlwind romance and sexually charged love story ensues. Pugh and Garfield have wonderful chemistry with one another, and it’s great seeing them together here. But more than the happy bits, when the story eventually gets sadder, how these two actors handle the emotionally charged moments, conflicts, and confrontations feels different.
Despite the heart-aching drama, their love shines through in moments that are meant to highlight their conflict. Both Pugh and Garfield approach those scenes from different places, given where their characters are—Pugh with more assertiveness while Garfield plays it more like a hurt bunny—but they come together to create something wonderfully fresh. And the credit has to be given to the writing here.
A New Romance For A New Generation
Writer Nick Payne crafts scenes of drama that don’t feel like easy tropes regurgitated again. Instead, he carefully shows the conflicts of this couple and their life-altering situations, but without resorting to these characters just going off on one another. The fights feel grown up. The characters talk, they express themselves, they reveal their thoughts, and they understand each other and move forward. The suffering is still present, and the hurt and emotions are still raging, but their love carries them through.
It’s an approach to characters that feel real and not like they exist solely for the sake of this story, in this movie, and nowhere else. In those ways, both Alma and Tobias are characters that audiences can relate to and possibly see themselves in. And director John Crowley can get the best performances out of these two, further enhancing these depictions, especially in the more devastating scenes. Unlike other movies in this genre, We Live In Time isn’t trying to exploit audiences’ emotions but rather invites them into these characters’ lives to love, laugh, and grieve with them.
Career Best Performances From Pugh And Garfield
The performances of the lead duo are what carries We Live In Time. Pugh is already one of her generation’s best actresses, and she keeps reminding us of that fact with each project. Pugh here is sweet, wonderful, and despondent, and Alma gives audiences another perspective on someone with limited time left in life. Through Alma, the story veers away from the usual themes of loss and grief to show audiences something else. Alma’s zest for life and her ultimate arc in the movie is stunning and tragic, and everything that will make audiences invest in her journey almost immediately. Garfield compliments this by never overshadowing Pugh’s performance. Garfield’s take on Tobias is mild-mannered and that of a world-worn man who loves again after meeting Alma. So his journey parallels her’s but never takes away from it.
Garfield is proving his consistency as one of Hollywood’s most underrated talents. This more restraint and somber role cements his talent as a heavyweight. Pugh and Garfield together make We Live In Time one of this year’s best films.
Follow us on MSN for more of the content like this.
Rating: A
We Live In Time premiered at TIFF 2024.
We Live In Time
Almut and Tobias are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken.
Release Date: September 6, 2024
Director: John Crowley
Cast: Florence Pugh , Andrew Garfield , Grace Delaney
