We Live in Time is a 2024 romantic drama directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Payne, starring Florence Pugh as Almut Brühl and Andrew Garfield as Tobias Durand. Structured through a non-linear narrative, the story traces a decade of the couple’s relationship as it moves between their impulsive first meeting, the years in which they build a shared life, and the period following Almut’s terminal diagnosis. The film combines domestic realism with a reflective exploration of time, memory, and the emotional architecture of long-term relationships.
The story begins with Almut and Tobias’s unexpected encounter when she accidentally hits him with her car while he is crossing the street, after looking to buy a pen to sign papers for his past divorce. Their connection develops quickly, and the movie jumps fluidly across different points in their relationship as they navigate intimacy, career ambitions, parenthood, and the consequences of choices made earlier in life. Almut is introduced as a well-established chef whose determination and restlessness shape many of her decisions, while Tobias is presented as steady, warm, and increasingly devoted to their daughter as Almut’s culinary career grows. The use of temporal fragmentation allows the movie’s narrative to reveal moments out of order: their hesitant early dates, their eventual partnership, the birth of their daughter in a gas station, and the emotional strain of their diverging professional paths.
Bi representation appears through Almut’s backstory, which includes a significant past relationship with a woman named Adrienne Duval. The film treats this relationship as an important part of Almut’s life rather than a brief experiment or ambiguous detail. In a conversation with Tobias, she explains that she and Adrienne ended their relationship because Adrienne wanted children, something Almut could not envision for herself at the time. The dialogue is presented plainly, with no emphasis on the gender of her former partner as a source of tension or surprise, and Tobias responds to the information with ease and genuine curiosity. Later in the film, Almut recounts a brief encounter with Adrienne years after their breakup, suggesting that their connection remained warm even after their romantic relationship ended. This inclusion positions Almut as canonically bi and frames her past relationship with a woman as meaningful rather than incidental.
As Almut’s illness becomes central to the narrative, the film juxtaposes moments of joy and domestic intimacy with scenes depicting the emotional and physical impact of her diagnosis. Tobias becomes her primary caregiver, and their household shifts around the demands of treatments, fatigue, and the awareness that their time together is finite. The time-jumps amplify the emotional weight of these scenes, placing memories of early happiness alongside the realities of decline. Through this device, the film presents a cohesive portrait of how their love evolves across changing circumstances and the inevitability of loss.
We Live in Time emphasizes the multiplicity of a single life, highlighting the relationships, ambitions, and decisions that accumulate to shape a person’s identity. Almut’s bisexuality is portrayed as one of these integral elements, seamlessly integrated into her history without becoming the focal point of the narrative. The film’s refusal to sensationalize her sexuality contributes to a representation that feels grounded and mature, aligning with its broader themes of emotional complexity and the importance of acknowledging the many lives a person lives across time.