Warning: this review contains spoilers.

On Oct. 11, 2024,  “We Live in Time” premiered in select theaters across the country. The film follows the emotional love story of Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield), and depicts the triumphs, struggles and uncertainties of all romantic relationships.

“We Live in Time” is fresh, new and exciting, something audiences haven’t seen since the likes of emotional blockbusters of the 90s and early 2000s rom-com era. The film bears remarkable similarities to quintessential tear-jerking romances like “The Notebook” (2004) and  “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014).

While mildly formulaic and adherent to typical rom-com tropes, the film still maintains an element of unpredictability. Thus, it exceeds expectations and is genre-defying. Yet, in its refusal to fit neatly into any one category of film, it is simultaneously genre-defining, as it is reminiscent of films with similar thematic elements and subject matter. It has become another staple in the small, but growing category of doomed romances.

It has both humor and romance, but it is definitely not your typical rom-com. “We Live in Time” can be classified as a romantic comedy-drama. “It’s constantly refusing to settle down into one kind of thing. And that’s why it refuses the guardrails of a rom-com, or of a melodrama,” the film’s director, John Crowley. The film is complex in the way it blends many themes and tones simultaneously together, creating a vibrantly real depiction of the various ups and downs of relationships.

Just as innovative as it is in genre, it is equally innovative in style. Crowley utilizes the film technique of non-linear storytelling, giving the audience a jumbled mix of memories and emotions. Scenes from Almut and Tobias’s relationship cut back and forth from past to present, to form a unique style of storytelling.

The film begins “in medias res” and opens as Almut receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. This subsequently sparks a conversation between Almut and her partner Tobias about whether she should choose to live six more months in happiness or twelve more months in misery, receiving chemotherapy that may not work anyway. Following the opening scene, a disorganized, jumbled puzzle of scenes ensues, leaving the audience to piece back together scenes of Almut and Tobias’s relationship in order.

Competitive and high-strung Almut, a former figure skater and up-and-coming chef of Anglo-Bavarian cuisine, meets Tobias, a recent divorcée in a chance encounter. As Tobias is walking alone along the streets at night, just having purchased a pen to sign his divorce papers, he drops something in the street. Just as he is about to pick it up, Almut runs him over in her car.

Cut to the hospital, and Tobias is sitting across from Almut. “So sorry, but do we know each other?” Tobias asks, adorned in a hospital gown and neck brace, covered in bruises. “I ran you over,” a reproachful Almut replies.

What follows is a whirlwind of a romance. Pugh and Garfield’s chemistry is magical, the duo convincingly and realistically portrays young love. Scenes of the couple’s first dates, transition into intimate scenes in the bedroom, family dinners during the holidays and difficult conversations about the future. The couple has passionate, emotional conversations about the decision to have children and how to deal with Almut’s cancer diagnosis.

At one of the film’s most intense moments, Almut, who claims that she has never wanted kids, has a particularly difficult conversation with Tobias, who later states that he is someone who sees children as a part of his future. This debate leads to the couple’s first argument, and subsequently a short break in their relationship.

As the film progresses, Tobias eventually wins Almut back with a big romantic gesture, and Almut begins to finally consider children after receiving news from the doctor that she has ovarian cancer and will most likely face complications with childbirth in the future. One particularly heartwarming scene depicts Almut flailing with joy after receiving a positive result after taking a pregnancy test.

Many months later, one of the film’s most intense and memorable scenes occurs, as the couple is stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital while Almut is in labor. Almut wanders into a gas station, where she gives birth in the bathroom, assisted by Tobias and two gas station attendants.

Despite her declining health, Almut decides to begin training for the prestigious Bocuse d’Or culinary competition, which is, unfortunately, on the same date as her and Tobias’s wedding. She kept this information from Tobias, who did not want her overextending herself. The two have a gut-wrenching argument in which Almut admits that she wants to do something that her daughter will remember her by. She admits to Tobias that “maybe I actually just can’t bear the thought of being forgotten.”

This is a film that is bound to pull on your heartstrings. It confronts our biggest fears in a head-on, unapologetic way. Florence Pugh describes the film best in her own words: “It’s about the simplest of things, which is that we are here, I personally believe, for one reason only: to love and be loved.”

Amidst its heartbreak, the film masterfully contrasts its inherent sadness with glimpses of happiness and hope. The film teaches us that even though relationships may end, it’s the memories and time spent together that make it all worthwhile. As the title reminds us, we live in time, so we ought to make the most of it and cherish the time we have with our loved ones.

Victoria Thompson can be reached at [email protected]