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By Lauren Bradshaw

‘We Live in Time,’ directed by John Crowley, is an exceptional, enchanting love story that is sure to be a new romantic classic. The relationship between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh is the backbone of the film, and their chemistry absolutely sizzles off the screen; it’s easy to see why their characters first fell in love. With its non-linear narrative structure, the film hops back and forth from the beginning of a couple’s relationship until the end, focusing its set pieces on memorable moments in their lives. I dare you not to cry at the end of the film, but it won’t be in ‘The Notebook’ kind of way. Instead, I think your tears will be more for the film’s beautiful celebration of love and life.

The decade-spanning film shifts between three main storylines: Almut “Al” (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) meeting for the first time, the couple’s pregnancy struggles, and the difficulty in raising a young child while fighting cancer. Somehow it’s never confusing where we are in the story, despite the purposefully jumbled way it’s edited; you don’t even need hair and makeup clues to determine which narrative a scene belongs to. The common themes through all the storylines are the endurance of love and making as much as you can out of life.

Whereas “cancer movies” normally veer into the cliché, we don’t get that with Nick Payne’s clever, non-linear script. At every point where you expect to see a traditional dying in bed scene or overly-emotional farewell, the film goes in a different direction. In fact, much like Al’s wishes, you don’t really see her get that sick, apart from some episodes of chemo-induced nausea. Instead, you see her as she hoped to be remembered—vivacious, ambitious, and a pretty darn good ice skater and chef.

It never feels like Payne or Crowley are trying to be manipulative, despite the film’s upsetting underlying story. In fact, for scenes that other filmmakers would see as ways to tug on the heart strings, Payne changes it up. One of the final scenes in the movie ends on a surprisingly positive note, taking on more of a symbolic meaning than one designed to leave audiences in tears. But I actually think this made the film’s final message even more impactful and emotional.

If there’s one thing to say about this movie, it’s that Garfield and Pugh’s chemistry is electric. The movie lives and dies in whether the audience believes Al and Tobias’s relationship and cares about them being together. Unless you are devoid of all human emotion, you will become immediately obsessed with their love story. What Garfield and Pugh do best is make their relationship sound and feel natural, almost placing you as a fly on the wall or documentarian instead of someone watching a scripted drama. Judging from their Q&A after the film, the two new besties worked to build these feelings of mutual-trust and safety. And it shows, bleeding over into their gut-wrenching performances.

‘We Live in Time’ is so much more than a “cancer film.” It is a beautiful love story driven by the chemistry and charisma of its lead actors. And I should also add it’s one of the best romances I’ve seen in awhile.