The first reviews for We Live in Time are in, and critics are loving the romantic drama. Directed by John Crowley and starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, the movie chronicles a decade-old relationship and marriage between Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh). Releasing on October 11 in theaters, the movie had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6.
With the world premiere now over, critics who attended TIFF are sharing their thoughts on the highly anticipated romantic drama. At the time of this writing, the critical consensus seems mostly positive about the film, calling it a heartbreaking and tear-jerking experience. In her review for Screen Rant, Mae Abdulbaki praised the movie: ” The love story at its heart is one of the best film romances we’ve gotten in years. Payne and Crowley both understand how to give us a worthwhile relationship. It’s one where we can laugh with the characters and also cry with them.”
What The We Live in Time Reviews Say About The Movie
Pugh & Garfield’s Performances Are The Highlight
The main focal point in all the marketing for We Live in Time was the on-screen relationship and chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. The early reviews mostly seem to agree that the two have incredible chemistry together, with Deadline‘s Pete Hammond saying that the movie likely would not have worked without the right cast. In his review, he says, “Garfield, who worked 16 years ago with Crowley in Boy A, and Pugh, who seemingly can do just about anything, could not be more appealing and believable.”
Related
Andrew Garfield’s Best Movies, Ranked
From The Social Network to Hacksaw Ridge to Martin Scorsese’s Silence, Andrew Garfield has starred in some terrific movies throughout his career.
This is also echoed in Tyler Taing’s review for DiscussingFilm. In it, he states that the former Spider-Man actor“imbues Tobias with a gentle sensitivity and boyish awkwardness. Pugh, on the other hand, brings an aura of personal passion to Almut — the actress and her character even share a love for the culinary arts, which adds to the film’s air of authenticity.”IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich believes that Pugh is the film’s strongest part, saying that she “is rivetingly headstrong and self-possessed as a sick woman who feels an undue pressure to live in the moment, even when that means competing in an ultra-intense culinary competition at the height of her chemo treatments.”
We Live in Time
‘s director, John Crowley, is mostly known for helming 2015’s
Brooklyn
, which received three nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan.
However, some reviewers criticized the screenplay’s jumbled nature, which takes a non-linear approach to storytelling. In his review, RogerEbert‘s Brian Tallerico said, “The chronological jumble will be a dealbreaker for some people who like their weepers straightforward. Crowley and his editor Justine Wright don’t use title cards or other markers beyond Almut’s physical state, including the pregnant belly and the shaved head of cancer treatment.” From the looks of its reviews, it seems like We Live in Time will contain two of Garfield and Pugh’s finest performances while also taking an unconventional structure to its dramatic story in an attempt to reinvent the wheel of romantic dramas on the big screen.
Source: Various (see above)
