We Live in Time

F Watchlist

Do we still dare to make a romantic film these days? Frankly, after the denunciation of so many abuses in the past and in the face of so many concerns for the future, the question arises. Fortunately, it seems that there will always be those who will try, like the British Nick Payne (screenwriter) and John Crowley (director) with this amiable We Live in Time. The original title reveals its particularity: a love story with no violence or falling out of love, but told in a certain chronological disorder. It begins with a couple waking up in the morning in the countryside, before moving on to their single lives in the city, followed by scenes of them expecting a child. Soon it's their literally accidental meeting, followed by the news of a serious illness. What seems mysterious at first is not so mysterious after all, except that time itself remains the great mystery, brought to the fore. As for the rest, the meeting between the cook Almut and the marketing employee Tobias would be laughably banal were it not for the indisputable charm and chemistry of their performers, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. Despite a terribly conventional context and a mania for punctuating everything with jokes, thanks to them, the film comes off well. In addition to his narrative gymnastics, the director of Brooklyn and The Goldfinch has managed to make many clichéd scenes moving, and even the final suspense relatively gripping. Which goes to show that, even if love doesn't seem to be the answer to everything as it once did, it remains a fine source of inspiration.