This article contains spoilers

In 2024, a new romantic tragedy, “We Live In Time” was released in theaters, pulling the heartstrings of many viewers. 

The film follows the highs and lows of love between Tobias, played by Andrew Garfield, and Almut, played by Florence Pugh. The story navigates their relationship through puzzle pieces that, in the end, make a beautiful picture. 

Garfield and Pugh deliver a vulnerable performance as they face illness, communication, loss, and parenthood. Their chemistry is pure, and their love at times sweet and sour, yet fulfilling. 

After a minor car incident, an unlikely romance that begins in a hospital room with Tobias, a quiet man, meets Almut, a hardworking chef. Almut tries to repay her guilt for the accident by offering Tobias and his ex-wife an apology dinner, setting a connection for the rest of their lives. 

As the movie unfolds, we can see Almut and Tobias struggling with a long-term commitment. Alamut’s ambitions of being a world-recognized chef are complicated by her growing feelings over Tobias, placing her in a position to make a choice between her personal life and her career. 

However, in the beginning of their relationship and throughout the rest of the story, there is a great deal of communication between the two lovers. Whenever they have a difference of opinions and one has taken it the wrong way, they will find themselves back in the middle communicating and understanding each other’s boundaries. 

Like when Almut was recommended by her doctors to get a hysterectomy, this made her reconcile her previous idea of never having children. With the limited time she has to have any children, she and Tobias do whatever it takes to make the one thing she now can’t lose, come to life. 

Ultimately we know Almut does get pregnant with the multiple memories from the past of her pregnancy, and the most memorable birthing scene from any other film. 

The story jumps to the future after the birth, to Almut having a shaved head and being diagnosed with cervical cancer, placing her in a position about what to do with her life and her future career.

The structure of the film goes back and forth between the past and present, as if they are remembering key memories out of order like it’s coming to an end. This inclusion allows viewers to develop emotional feelings of joy, doubts, and heartbreaks that feel as if it was happening to themselves. 

After being diagnosed, a key memory that highlights the purpose of the story was when Almut and Tobias were talking, which was time. Alumt summarizes how she didn’t want her daughter, Ella, to not remember her mother as just being dead, but rather as a mom who had accomplished so much and will be remembered every day for it. 

Knowing that time isn’t in her favor, she is making everything she has out of the six months. 

That day propelled Amulet to hone her skills as a chef, to participate in a prestigious cooking competition, ‘Bocuse d’Or.’ Allowing Almut to experience a thrill and an energy that she wouldn’t have gotten if she was stuck at home dying. 

Despite the thrill of the moment, Almut doesn’t stay to see the results of the contest. To Almut the outcome was never the point.

She accomplished everything she wanted, which was to be in a family where she felt loved, and when she was gone her story would be remembered. 

By the end of the film, a satisfied and fulfilled Almut brings Tobias and their daughter Ella to an ice skating rink. As Almut shows off her past ice skating skills, she seems to cross an invisible line and waves to her family from her family from the other side of the rink. The wave can be depicted as a goodbye, with no sobbing. 

At the last minute, the scene goes back to their home where everything is just as it was. The birds chirped and everyone was living their lives as if Tobias’s soulmate wasn’t there. However, there was an addition of a dog, which at the beginning of the story was a running joke between Tobias and Almut. The joke is that they should get an old dog, so when it passes, their daughter could already have an understanding of death, which would make Almut’s death less difficult. 

The presence of the dog made the tears run through the eyes of every person in the theater; rather than sad tears, tears of joy were expressed, seeing that Tobias and Ella are living a happy life and still living their lives to the fullest.