The generically titled “We Live in Time” is a life-affirming story about Almut (Florence Pugh), a chef, bravely facing cancer. But viewers may be more inclined to weep at how this would-be tearjerker relies on its remarkable star to uplift an otherwise insufferable film.
Almut is first seen running in the countryside where she stops and literally smells some flowers. This scene emphasizes the film’s “savor every moment” theme that “We Live in Time” relentlessly cudgels viewers with for 108 endless minutes. Poorly directed by John Crowley (“Brooklyn”), and badly written by Nick Payne, this film is never subtle or nuanced. It toggles back and forth in time to juxtapose moments that create meaning, but a scene of Almut deciding against treatment followed by her getting her haircut—a cliched literary device that signals life change!—is typical of how heavy-handed the film is.
After Almut gets the news that her cancer needs aggressive treatment, she tells her partner Tobias (Andrew Garfield) that she would rather “make the most of the time she has left,” and live well for 6 months, rather than suffer for 12. Almut also decides, in secret, to participate in the prestigious Bacchus D’Or cooking competition, but does not tell Tobias, a decision that is sure to backfire on her.
“We Live in Time” then flashes back to Tobias and Almut meeting by accident, a sequence that is preposterous and a sign of how bloody awful this film truly is. Tobias is in a hotel room in his bathrobe trying to sign his divorce papers. His pen runs out of ink. He finds a pencil and it breaks. So rather than get a writing implement from the hotel desk — surely, they must have one? — he heads out on foot in the aforementioned bathrobe to go buy a pen. On his way home he walks into traffic where Almut hits him with her car. What is even weirder, he doesn’t seem too bothered by it.
This episode is played as a meet-cute, but nothing the attractive Pugh and Garfield do in “We Live in Time” is adorable. In fact, much of it is awkward. There is a scene where Almut, who is pregnant — after declaring she doesn’t want kids; fighting with Tobias who does; trying to get pregnant (cue pregnancy test montage), etc. — needs to get to the hospital because she thinks she’s crowning. But their car is boxed in and as gently as Tobias tries to extricate things from a tight space, he eventually just pulls out damaging three cars in the process. But this is not nearly as excruciating as the scene where Almut actually does give birth, which takes place in a gas station bathroom and involves breaking down a door (because a key broke off in the lock).
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The film has many exasperating, head-scratching moments that start out bad and often become more unbearable — as if the writer Nick Payne thought: How much worse can this situation be? And the director John Crowley insists on showing him. When Almut and Tobias sit down in a sweet shop to tell their young daughter, Ella (Grace Delaney), that Mommy is unwell, a magician appears to amuse Ella not taking the multiple hints that her parents drop that they want him to go away. It is painful and unfunny, which is likely unintended.
The film struggles throughout to find the right tone. Thankfully, “We Live in Time” never becomes maudlin, but it also never generates much emotion other than disappointment and frustration. Why are the characters so one-dimensional? Why are they put in such stupid situations? And how can Pugh and Garfield have so little chemistry together?
Pugh is terrific in one scene where Almut reveals she once was a competitive figure skater. She talks about what skating meant to her, and how she lost her passion for it after her father, who coached her, died. But the nice moment is quickly ruined by her suddenly succumbing to severe cancer pain. In contrast, a much worse episode has Almut’s competition partner, Jade (Lee Braithwaite) mistakenly asking her boss if she is “using,” because Almut is bleeding and vomiting. No, it’s just Stage 3 ovarian cancer. Oof!
“We Live in Time” is also chock-full of contrivances. When Tobias proposes, of course, the day they select for their wedding is the weekend of her secret cooking competition. This discovery of her deceit — which happens when Almut forgets to pick Ella up from school after being asked (cue child standing in the rain, another hoary cliché) — sends the otherwise meek Tobias into a moment of voice-raising fury. But he retreats, probably because he remembers she has cancer. But it is easy to get angry with this film, which fails to generate the appropriate sympathy for the characters.
It is easy to feel sympathy for Pugh, who does better than the film deserves. She is passionate when Almut and Tobias fight over her biological clock. She is defiant when she insists on competing in the Bacchus D’Or because she wants to leave a legacy. And she is heartbreaking in simple moments like responding to unfortunate news from a doctor. The film would be utterly worthless without her.
Alas, the top-billed Garfield is miscast here. He is too wispy and innocent as Tobias. It makes sense that he is initially gun-shy having just ended a marriage, but his long-term passivity does not make him endearing. His fretting over Almut’s condition barely registers, so it is hard to feel anything for him other than pity. Ironically, had the film been told solely from his perspective (or hers), it might have had some real power to process the pain. Instead, “We Live in Time” is just painful.
For viewers who want to see a truly moving film about a couple facing cancer, “Ordinary Love,” from 2019, starring Leslie Manville and Liam Neeson, is everything “We Live in Time” should have been.
"We Live in Time" opens in select theaters on October 11 with national expansion to follow."
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