Major Spoilers Ahead: If you’ve yet to watch We Live in Time, please proceed with caution.
You know those movies that you know will probably change your life and become a new favorite, but you just can’t bring yourself to watch yet because the timing isn’t right? That’s how I felt about Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh’s We Live in Time. I’ve been putting off watching it since October, but I finally decided to let myself indulge in the incredibly emotional romantic drama a few nights ago. I’m actually glad I waited because I didn’t expect to feel so conflicted about how the story ended for Pugh’s character, Almut.
The A24-produced film is impossible to watch without crying, as it follows Pugh’s Almut and Garfield’s Tobias through the ups and downs of life. The two meet after Almut accidentally runs Tobias over with her car while he’s on a walk back to his hotel room to sign divorce papers. The unlikely pair hit it off and are soon swept up in an epic romance that nearly comes to a crashing halt when Almut is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Thankfully the treatment works, and the pair resume their happy life. They welcome a daughter, and Almut continues to chase her dreams of becoming one of the best chefs in the area. And then her cancer returns, and she finds herself at the crossroads between seeking treatment again or enjoying whatever time she has left.
Going into the movie, I knew that Almut’s fate was going to be death, but I had no idea that I would both love and hate how it happened.
I Loved That Almut's Death Wasn’t Physically Shown
One of the things We Live in Time did right was choosing not to show Almut’s actual death. So often with movies centered around terminal illness, audiences have to watch the major character wither away, which can be extremely hard to watch. I expected the same to happen with Almut and was surprised when the creative team chose a different direction.
Instead of watching Almut become frail and bedridden, she got to live the last of her days with dignity. She still sought out treatment in the beginning, but she also kept living her life. The character spent time with her family and even entered a major culinary competition in the hopes of giving her young daughter something important to remember her by.
In the end, Almut’s death happens off-screen, and we don’t have to watch an emotional funeral scene where Tobias and the rest of their family have to grieve Almut. Instead of ending on an emotional low, the film ends with Tobias teaching their daughter how to crack eggs the same way Almut taught him. Sure, she might be gone, but her spirit lives on.
But I Hate That She Had To Die At All
As touching as the ending was, there was a part of me that hated that it happened. In a way, it felt preventable. Let me explain.
When Almut gets diagnosed the first time, she is offered two options: get a full hysterectomy, which would eliminate any chance of the cancer ever coming back, or remove the cancer-affected ovary. Almut chooses the latter, which is less invasive and gives her a chance at carrying a biological child in the future.
Had she chosen to get the full hysterectomy the first time she got diagnosed, she never would have gotten ovarian cancer again. Sure, it would have stopped her from naturally having Ella, but she and Tobias could have still had kids. And Almut could have gone on to compete in the full culinary competition.
Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and Almut had no idea that her cancer would return three short years after she entered remission in a much more aggressive state. But as an audience viewer, I couldn’t help but mourn the loss of the life she could have had she made a different choice the first time around.
We Live in Time is available to stream with an active Max subscription.
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