Film Review: WE LIVE IN TIME: Utterly Charming Performances From Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh Truly Sell This Modern Melodrama [London 2024]

We Live in Time Review

We Live in Time (2024) Film Review from the 68th Annual London Film Festival, a movie directed by John Crowley, written by Nick Payne and starring Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Adam James, Marama Corbett, Aoife Hinds, Heather Craney, Douglas Hodge, Lee Braithwaite, and Grace Delaney.

Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh steal the show in the traditionally weepy and highly emotional We Live in Time, a delightful and charming romantic drama that will be enjoyed by all. Carried by these two wonderful performances, We Live in Time is a familiar comfort, a traditional melodrama that we see too rarely of, a film the masses will both swoon and sob over.

Following Weetabix worker Tobias (Andrew Garfield) and Chef Almut (Florence Pugh), we see over the course of many years the unfolding love story of these two enchanting individuals. From falling in love to the challenges of modern illness, we are completely and utterly sold on their chemistry. Andrew Garfield is entirely adorable in this role, one of the most endearing of his career that will have you beaming the entire runtime. Florence Pugh is perfectly personable, equally radiant, and displays a British resilience needed for her character’s role. Of course, We Live in Time is not just a romance but a tragedy, a melodrama that details Almut’s battle with cancer.

It doesn’t hold back in its emotional ambitions, a weepy through and through. Our two leads allow its emotion to soar, bringing chemistry and charm that make the film truly work. It rests entirely on their shoulders, their star power elegantly raising this conventional love story to new heights. They blend moments of drama and comedy so well, always at ease on screen together and entirely lovable. The film would not work without them.

And while it is fairly conventional melodrama, director John Crowley tells his story non-linearly, adding a fresh and potent spin on the events. Moving between blossoming romance and crushing heartache, We Live in Time is jarring, but it adds this further layer of emotional complexity and intensity to the film, crushing and heartwarming in equal measure. It leaves the film with a melancholic sadness blanketed over it, and yet you are left with equal joy and delight. It is hyperbolic in all the perfect ways, both accentuated and grounded equally by our two brilliant leads.

I had hoped for further heightened and melodramatic embellishment in its imagery, but its tactility and plainness ground the film also. It is wonderfully British, in a tone and style that is warmly humble, with Pugh and Garfield carrying resilience and stoicism in that very British way. Pugh’s Almut embarks on a very thoughtful journey of remembrance and legacy as she is faced with the prospect of death, its honesty and candidness truly selling the film. We unequivocally root for her.

We Live in Time is not entirely fresh, nor is it remarkable in any true way, but its two central performances by Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh truly elevate this modern melodrama to elevated heights. Highly emotional and bittersweet, if you surrender to its charm and honesty, it will prove sincerely rewarding, its non-linearity surprising and fulfilling in the emotional weight it adds to the film. But the chemistry and dynamic from Garfield and Pugh alone are enough to enjoy this charming and tearful affair.

Rating: 7/10

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