We Live in Time (15)

Tissues at the ready as Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh charm as two lovers in this heartfelt drama.

Every love story is a tragedy. Every relationship ends, either in separation or death, and the only question is how much joy you can get out of it before that time comes.

Tobias (Garfield) is an anxious, emotional wreck whose first marriage ended in disaster. He encounters Almut (Pugh) and they make an unlikely connection, their chemistry is so undeniable that they attempt a date. The timeline leaps between early, sex-on-the-floor courtship to a complicated pregnancy to Almut’s diagnosis, the highs of easy weekends contrasted with the lows of difficult days of impossible decision-making.

The strength of their performances keep even the weakest scenes free from cliché. They’re cast close to their own personas: Garfield is emotional, his heart always on his sleeve, while Pugh is steely, and fights for everything. Their softer, funnier and sexier scenes are more effective than most romantic comedies, but then their weightier conflicts are just as effective. It is a big romantic drama that knows exactly how to make us swoon as well as make us sad.