Last Updated on October 21, 2024 by
We Live in Time is a 2024 Drama and Romance Movie directed by John Crowley. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, and Grace Delaney, with a runtime of 1h 47M, and will be released on October 11, 2024.
Over the years, there have been so many debates on the state of Hollywood and people have been wondering where the movie stars are. While we still have famous actors nowadays, there is a distinct difference between ‘being famous’ and being a movie star’, that is, a star whose mere name can pull crowds to the movies. In the past, especially in the 2000s, the actors were mega-stars who could easily market the entire film themselves. However, this has now changed because most producers have no time for actors with a say in the industry and box-office power. Some think that ‘movie stars’ are becoming obsolete because people are only excited with big movies, social networks, and short attention spans. But the other factor is that Hollywood is not producing films that allow actors to develop into legends. Thus, We Live in Time might be one of the films attempting to turn this notion around.
We Live in Time, directed by John Crowley, stars two beloved actors of this generation: The cast of the movie includes actors Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. It is a romantic dramedy [drama-comedy hybrid] that has the maturity of a classical Hollywood film but the vibe of a 2003 romantic comedy. The main focus is an interpersonal relationship between two characters, Almut and Tobias, who fall in love with each other. Almut, portrayed by Florence Pugh, is a determined and ambitious chef. Tobias played by Andrew Garfield is shown as a recently divorced man with a simple job and a dream of a home and family. There are four main phases of their relationship portrayed in the movie: from the moment they meet and fall in love when they have a child together, and finally, the process of experiencing loss and grief, which significantly impacts the future of their marriage.
The plot of We Live in Time may seem clichéd as it revolves around ordinary love and the difficulties that couples face, but how the story is presented sets the novel apart. The movie is not direct where events are shown chronologically with a clear scenario, it has a non-linear narrative which means that at times within the movie, it goes forward and backward in time. Far from being a time-travel movie, the narrative jumps to different significant episodes of their relationship, depicting various emotional phases, which is how Little Women (Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation) is. The visual aspects of the movie convey the theme of warm feelings that come with happy associations as opposed to the chilling conditions of the difficult present moments. Justine Wright’s editing aids in transitioning the audience through these changes without getting lost at any stage.
Apart from the critical aspects, the beauty that floats truly in this film is the ability of the two lead protagonists to act. The chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh is amazing, and you can see that they love their characters. The director, John Crowley, has a reputation for developing young acting talents to the best status. It is enjoyable watching Pugh and Garfield who have come from bright and huge cinematic universe franchises and now star in a more intimate movie. They do not entirely become the character (reality), but they are convincing and remove most of their personalities as real people.
Almut is portrayed as a passionate and quick-tempered woman and Pugh captures this quite well, especially since they have a love for cooking just like the actress herself. Thus, after watching them in large-scale motion pictures, it’s fascinating to see them in a compact and more dramatized movie.
To be as honest as possible, the chemistry between the two main characters is great, but the second part of the movie looks more predictable here. It does attempt to subvert some traits, like switching traditional gender roles—Almut is portrayed as career-oriented, while Tobias takes on caregiving responsibilities, traditionally associated with femininity. Nevertheless, this turn does not make the film delve as deep as it could into the titular gender dynamics. The conflicts that are in between the couple such as the balance between work and family life do not seem as complicated as the events that happen in the series thus do not build up to something extraordinary making the ending quite predictable.
Now it appears that John Crowley is intrigued by the concept of time and how it can be incorporated into a story. Nonetheless, after his last film The Goldfinch, which also portrayed the non-linear narrative, We Live in Time looks like a step forward for him, but it is not without flaws. Thus, the movie never rises to the cinematic heights it strives for, although it can easily be of interest to lovers of romantic dramas filled with heart.
In contemporary Hollywood, character-driven romantic pictures, which involve profound feelings that primary actors portray, are scarce. But people still demand them; in fact, there was a mass outcry when a lip-locking scene was deleted from another upcoming film (Twisters), proving that audiences want more passionate scenes. Possibly, films like We Live in Time will not turn Garfield and Pugh into the kind of stars that can promote a movie solely on their persona, like in the past but still, they offer the audiences the romance they so direly lack.
It will not revolutionize the industry, but there is enough sincerity in We Live in Time to carry the audience through love and tragic events based on the excellent teamwork of the cast and the impressive performance of the two leads.
We Live in Time 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
We Live in Time is rated R by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for language, sexuality and nudity.
Violence: A man is knocked down by a car but the accident results in only slight harm to the man. A sick woman has a nosebleed and vomits in Orient: Histories during the landslides. There are scenes depicting the illness of a woman including the lady falling in severe pain.
Sexual Content: This movie has some explicit content inclusive of scenes that portray kissing and sexual activity devoid of actual sexual intercourse. The woman’s breasts are revealed during the act of sex and while taking a bath. In a touching scene, a man and a woman talk about birth control with the intent of making love. A woman’s past same-sex relationship is mentioned. A pregnant woman is only depicted as being nude from the side and the back while entering the bath. A woman’s breasts and hips are seen to be exposed during the process of sex graphically. An exposed chest of a man is seen after sexual activity. A woman is seen giving birth and when she is seated, her hips and backside are exposed.
Profanity: It employs over five dozen profanities and at least 39 occurrences of sexual references, a dozen scatological words, 10 references to deities, and a couple of low milder profanities and cruder human body part references.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Alcohol is consumed by individuals in social contexts. They administer cancer medication to the patients in the hospital.
