Time Ticks On…
My end-of-the-week treat to myself was watching A24's new film "We Live in Time" starring ever-beloved Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, and directed by John Crowley. I went into the film very excited to see the grandiose ups and downs of their love and how they navigate a cancer diagnosis. Being so close to loved ones who had and still do have such a wretched disease, I walked into Theater #8 at the Alamo Drafthouse expecting another sad, gut-wrenching portrayal of losing a loved one to something so out of your control. As I am writing this post-movie, I realize that it was all of that and more. Yes, it was of course sad and gut-wrenching, but it was also so filled with laughter in times of sorrow as well as the the most important life lesson of all: the finite nature of time.
A still of Tobias (Andrew Garfield), Almut (Florence Pugh), and Ella (Grace Delaney) from We Live in Time (2024).
We begin the movie with a go-with-the-flow Almut and a by-the-books Tobias finding their way to one another after Almut runs Tobias over with her car while he is foolishly fishing for his chocolate oranges in the middle of the road one night. Almut waited for Tobias in the hospital and took him out to a classic British diner while they had a chance to properly introduce themselves to one another. Almut invites Tobias to the debut night of her Anglo-Bavarian restaurant. From here onwards, Tobias and Almut's story unfolds into a beautiful recounting of both their present lives and past lives through three separate timelines. In the past, we learn that Almut is a strong-headed chef with her goals set in stone and not wanting to change for anyone. In the present, we see that Almut has relapsed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, but is still very hell-bent on representing the U.K. in the Bocuse d'Or, basically the Olympics of cooking, in fear of being forgotten for the life she led. All of this to say, Tobias has been by her side and on her side no matter what she wanted to do. He only asked that she consider the time they have left together, as a family.
A still of Tobias (Andrew Garfield), Almut (Florence Pugh), and Ella (Grace Delaney) ice skating from We Live in Time (2024).
Time is a really funny thing. You never know how much of it you really have until you feel yourself slipping away. Time truly is a killer. The subtle portrayal of time throughout the film left me gutted at the end. Tobias always kept a stopwatch to time Almut's contractions, he set the 3-minute timer each time Almut took a pregnancy test, every practice session for the Bocuse d'Or had an official timekeeper, and even the ticking in the soundtrack. Time is everywhere in life. Even for people like you and I. Time doesn't stop for anyone, so why are we so obsessed with stopping time? The basic laws of calculus draw an obvious line between finite and infinite objects. Time is finite, but the lasting legacy loved ones carry of you is what will remain infinite. All this to say, live the life you've been given, with the people you've been given, with the time you've been given. Live thoroughly, love fully, and laugh loudly.
