A film starring beloved actors Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield is bound to be great, but “We Live in Time,” directed by John Crowley, exceeds all possible expectations.
The film is centered around the story of Almut Brühl (Florence Pugh), a chef opening her own restaurant, and Tobias Durand (Andrew Garfield), an executive at Weetabix, a popular breakfast brand in England. The film is told in a nonlinear narrative, switching between the beginning stages of Brühl and Durand’s relationship, the middle of their relationship and their relationship after Brühl announces that she has been diagnosed with stage three cancer.
Brühl’s cancer diagnosis is what propels the central theme of the story: how to handle grief. When Brühl initially tells Durand about her diagnosis, he is adamant that she receive treatment immediately, for the sake of their daughter, Ella (Grace Delaney).
However, Brühl responds that she does not wish to spend the next six months of her life struggling with the hypotheticals; instead, she wants to live in the present. Brühl wants to maintain the control in her life that she believes cancer takes from a person. While reluctant at first, Durand ultimately agrees, abiding by her wish to take each moment as it comes.
From that moment forward, the film becomes a beautiful array of moments encapsulating the mantra of living like there is no tomorrow. Durand finally musters up the strength to propose to Brühl, which inspires her to go through treatment and she chooses to live out a lifelong dream: competing in the world’s culinary competition Bocuse d’Or.
The film tackles the heavy topic of grief, while still weaving in the charisma and moments of wit that Garfield and Pugh are famous for. One moment that stands out is the pair’s first meeting, when Pugh’s character accidentally hits Garfield’s character with her car.
While the wit eases the weight of grief maintained throughout the movie, the film’s depiction of grief is powerful because the lead actors, namely Garfield, drew from their personal experiences.
Garfield has been extremely open about his grief after his mother passed away in 2019 from cancer. In a recent interview with Anderson Cooper, Garfield expressed his belief in grief as a tool to recognize the spirit of life. The film incorporates this concept perfectly.
Spurred by the recognition that life is not eternal, Brühl and Durand are able to focus on the here and now and create a life filled with wonderful memories for their daughter to cherish versus solely focusing on what the future holds.
In another interview with Stephen Colbert, Garfield describes grief as “unexpressed love.” This concept is incorporated in the movie as Durand continues to honor Brühl’s legacy after her passing by teaching their daughter Ella many of the things Brühl found so important.
In the final scene of the movie, Durand teaches Ella how to cook eggs in the same manner Brühl did throughout the film. By passing on Brühl’s traditions, Durand illustrates how grief can manifest itself into love.
By acknowledging the ups and downs of the journey of grief, and, most importantly, the way one can persevere through this journey, Crowley creates a film that is a perfect combination of romance, comedy and wisdom.
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