We Live In Time (15)

Breakfast cereal brand IT master Tobias moves in with his architect father Reginald to emotionally regroup after his marriage falls apart. In the process of signing divorce papers, Tobias is involved in a bizarre car accident with ambitious chef Almut. A giddy, whirlwind romance, set in motion by a chance collision on a motorway, turns both of their lives upside down but feverish thoughts of the future are curtailed by Almut's diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

LondonNet Film Review

We Live In Time (15) Film Review from LondonNet

In 2012, playwright Nick Payne debuted his metaphysical love story Constellations, which elegantly charts the burgeoning romance between a quantum physicist and a beekeeper, who meet at a barbecue and tumble through a multiverse of relationship possibilities including one timeline punctuated by terminal illness. A rumoured film adaptation never materialised but more than a decade later, Payne revisits key motifs from his award-winning stage work in the screenplay for We Live In Time…

Galvanised by electrifying chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, director John Crowley’s superior tearjerker is a chronologically fractured meditation on mortality, which invites us to contemplate the invisible stopwatch that dictates when our brief sojourn in this chaotic, overwhelming world must end. A deluge of tears are shed on screen, predominantly by Garfield, and expect to hear sobs echoing across cinemas as characters stoically wrestle with the ramifications of a stage three ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Payne’s decision to pinball through time denies the film a conventional crescendo but does allow him to juxtapose scenes of rage, regret and reminiscence. He also repositions a hilarious and heartwarming centrepiece – the birth of a baby girl in a petrol station toilet aided by two encouraging staff (Kerry Godliman, Nikhil Parmar) – to the dewy-eyed final act. Scheduling two major life events for the characters on the same date to create conflict feels like dramatic contrivance rather than credible coincidence.

Breakfast cereal brand IT master Tobias (Garfield) moves in with his architect father Reginald (Douglas Hodge) to emotionally regroup after his marriage falls apart. In the process of signing divorce papers, Tobias is involved in a bizarre car accident with ambitious chef Almut (Pugh). A giddy, whirlwind romance, set in motion by a chance collision on a motorway, turns both of their lives upside down but feverish thoughts of the future are curtailed by Almut’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Fortune initially favours the lovers and they welcome a cherubic daughter, Ella (Grace Delaney), into the world after Almut goes into remission. However, the cancer metastasises and the chef faces a stark choice between aggressive courses of chemotherapy and surgery, with no guarantee of success, or six months of treatment-free memories including a chance to compete at the biennial Bocuse d’Or – the Olympics of international gastronomy – with her commis Jade (Lee Braithwaite).

We Live In Time presents an artfully composed menu of misunderstandings, reconciliations and self-reflection. Garfield and Pugh are the star ingredients, fiercely committed to baring their characters’ souls including a steamy scene of tasteful nudity with a generously proportioned pack of Jaffa cakes. Payne’s script doesn’t defy expectations or conjure medical miracles but is garnished with impeccably polished dialogue that warrants every second of our precious time.

– Jo Planter