WE LIVE IN TIME

(director: John Crowley; screenwriter: Nick Payne; cinematographer: Stuart Bentley; editor: Justine Wright; music: Bryce Dessner; cast: Andrew Garfield (Tobias), Florence Pugh (Almut),  Grace Delaney (Ella), Lee Braithwaite (Jade), Aoife Hinds (Skye), Adam James (Simon Maxson), Douglas Hodge (Reginald, Tobias’ dad), Amy Morgan (Leah), Niamh Cusack (Sylvia), Lucy Briers (Dr. Kern Weaver), Robert Boulter (Dr. Hernandez), Nikhil Parmar (Sanjaya), Kerry Godliman (Jane); Runtime: 107; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Adam Ackland, Leah Clarke, Guy Heeley; A24; 2024-UK/France-in English)

“It’s a terrifically humanizing story on the perils of mortality.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Director John Crowley (“The Goldfinch”/”Brooklyn”) and the playwright screenwriter Nick Payne tell a thoughtful introspective two-handed romantic/comedy melodrama that spans a decade.

The thirty-somethings Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) are a contemporary British couple, residing in South London, who live an idyllic life until Almut gets an ovarian cancer diagnosis. She’s the chef in her restaurant. He’s the divorced corporate marketing face of Weetabix cereal.

The non-linear film is divided into three time periods and blends the segments together in curious ways. It shows such things as the couple being playful when together, the childbirth of their daughter Ella (Grace Delaney) at a petrol station’s loo, and the couple bonding together when dealing with her illness as it worsens.

It’s a terrifically humanizing story on the perils of mortality.It played at the Toronto Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 9/16/2024  GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com