We Live In Time (15) |Close-Up Film Review

When you remember the important moments of your life, you don’t recall them in the order in which they happened and neither does John Crowley’s film in its storytelling.  

Writer Nick Payne’s script tells the love story of two people Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) in an effective non chronological way, shuffling around the turning points – the important moments – of their relationship – just as you probably do with the memories of your life.

So we begin at a point where they are happily living in the country with their three year old daughter – though that, we will discover, is not the standard happy ending of their story.  We later learn some facts about them,  such as the jobs they do – she is a top chef, he does something corporate with a breakfast cereal company – the fact that they have both come out of relationships when they meet, Almut with another woman, Tobias just divorced – and later we see the event that actually brings them together – she runs him over with her car when he’s not paying attention. 

It sounds confusing but it’s not.   All is perfectly clear in execution, helped by the fact that Almut’s hair style changes at different stages.   Their story is sometimes funny, often very moving.  After Almut is in remission from ovarian cancer, it looks like she may not be able to get pregnant, but against the odds she does.  And the tension, comedy and poignancy of the sequence where  she actually gives birth, which is in the toilet of a gas service station, outdoes anything you’ve ever seen on Call the Midwife.  

The last third of the film becomes more chronological as Almut, Tobias and their little girl deal with their biggest challenge of all, which involves Almut, who is the most ambitious of the two to make her mark on the world, taking part against the odds in a sort of Eurovision competition for top chef, despite the implications of her health issues.

Pugh and Garfield are excellent in their roles.  They are really believable as a couple in performances which lift the film above the level of the average rom-com into something more substantial.   There are some good supporting performances, such as Douglas Hodge as Almut’s former boss but the focus is always on that central relationship.  

Writer Nick Payne has already proved himself as an innovative story teller in his previous film and theatre work.   This one embraces romance, conflict, comedy and tragedy.   And that of course is life.

Released in theatres on 1st January