Director: John Crowley
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh
Screenplay: Nick Payne
108 mins. Rated R for language, sexuality and nudity.

The most important element in any romance film is chemistry. I believe that great chemistry can often make up for some bad writing, lazy direction, or uninspired storytelling. That is not the case for We Live in Time, the newest film from director John Crowley (Brooklyn). We Live in Time has some of the best chemistry out there, but it isn’t making up for detriments. Crowley’s film is smartly plotted, expertly directed, and is one of the most beautiful tales of love in recent years. It might even be my favorite romance of the past two decades.

We Live in Time follows two people in the timeline of their relationship: Tobias (Andrew Garfield, Spider-Man: No Way Home), a recently divorced Weetabix rep, and Almut (Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer), a Bavarian-fusion chef set to open her own restaurant. As we glimpse moments on their timeline in a jumbled, non-sequential path, we come to appreciate the pieces of time that make up a set of lives.

It’s not unique to witness a terrific performance from either Garfield or Pugh, as both have consistently shown their chops with seemingly every film, but their chemistry elevates both of them throughout the entire film and aids scenes, some of them as simple as Tobias tasting a mini sausage cooked by Almut and translating its deliciousness through the screen. These two are positively swoonworthy at every level, and I enjoyed being a fly-on-the-wall at the various stages of their love. It’s safe to say I fell in love with both of them here.

Crowley’s no stranger to creating great love stories as demonstrated with Brooklyn, but the added layer of the time jumps and less-straightforward narrative has two significant effects, the first being that it creates a mystery puzzle where Crowley and writer Nick Payne (The Last Letter from Your Lover) are able to play with the traditional expectations one would expect from a traditional romance tale. There were a few moments when the rug was expertly pulled out from under me. The second effect is that the film’s strengths are derived from individual moments more so than figuring out the linear path of the film. The various memories can cover the wide range of moment of the life of a relationship, and we can become invested in those moments without thinking about their place in the larger narrative. Much in the way that Pulp Fiction and Memento are made better by reordering their events, We Live in Time is stronger for making its moments more important than the totality.

One could make the argument that the film features some schmaltzy moments, but I don’t think some schmaltz is a bad thing, and I don’t feel like any of it is misused on Crowley’s film. With the unique structure, we’re able to jump from beautiful moments to real moments to funny moments to schmaltzy moments and combinations therein. We Live in Time is perfectly balanced so as to never fully know where it’s going next.

The beauty of We Live in Time is more than the full package. It’s the life that is lived within that matters, and a number of scenes had my holding back tears of sadness, love, and tenderness. It’s one of the most elegantly devastating movies I’ve seen in years, and I hope you’ll take my recommendation and see it with someone you love.

5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

• For my review of John Crowley’s Brooklyn, click here.