If you’re in the mood for a good cry, then go ahead and watch We Live In Time, aka the Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh movie that is now streaming on Max. Ugh, I thought this was going to be a cute movie about a goofy carousel horse! Instead, it tore my heart into a million pieces.
Directed by John Crowley, with a screenplay by Nick Payne, this new romance from A24 is all but guaranteed to make you cry. It’s a non-linear narrative that tells the love story of Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh), who must endure the beautiful, heartbreaking, euphoric experience that is being in love.
Though not a big awards seasons player, We Live In Time is still a highly watchable, heart-wrenching romance, thanks in large part to the chemistry between Garfield and Pugh. You’ll be rooting for them to get their happily ever after… but will they get it?
If you found yourself confused by the We Live In Time ending, or if you just want to know what happens, then read on for a full break down of the We Live In Time ending explained, including what happens to Almut in We Live in Time. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
We Live In Time tells the love story of Tobias Durand (Andrew Garfield) and Almut Brühl (Florence Pugh) by presenting us snippets of their life together in a non-linear narrative. In the first scene, Almut collects eggs fro her chicken coop and makes breakfast for Tobias. In the next scene, she’s pregnant, and Tobias times her contractions. In the next scene, Almut and Tobias are receiving the news from a doctor that Almut’s cancer is back, and they will need to do chemotherapy to shrink her tumor before they can operate. Almut suggests to Tobias that maybe they should get an old dog, so that their daughter can have a better grasp on the concept of death.
As the movie continues, we begin to piece together the story. Tobias and Almut first meet when Almut accidentally runs Tobias over with her car. In her defense, he stepped into oncoming traffic. In his defense, he was spinning out from his divorce. As an apology, Almut, who is a chef, offers to cook Tobias a fabulous meal at her fancy restaurant. Tobias accepts, and their love story begins.
Their first big fight happens when Tobias voices that he definitely wants to have kids someday, and Almut responds that she probably doesn’t. But they stay together. Years later, Almut is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and must decide whether to get a partial hysterectomy, which would allow her to still potentially get pregnant, or have a full hysterectomy, which would give her better odds of recovery, but take away her option to give birth. Almut realizes she does want to have a baby, and gets the partial hysterectomy. It goes well; she goes into remission. After months of trying to conceive, she finally does get pregnant.
Almut gives birth to a healthy baby girl, despite the fact that a traffic jam means she is forced to give birth in a gas station bathroom. They name the baby Ella. When Ella is three or four years old (played by actor Grace Delaney), Almut’s cancer comes back. She tells Tobias that she’s not sure if she wants to go through treatment again, because she’s not sure if it will work. She says she’d rather have “six to eight amazing months” than twelve awful ones. Tobias, in response, proposes, and Almut says yes.
On the same day as her diagnosis, Almut receives word that she’s been invited to compete in a prestigious international cooking competition known as the Bocuse d’Or. She tells Tobias that she will turn them down, because the doctor has advised stepping back from work. But secretly, she pursues the competition, and makes into the finals. Unfortunately, the finals are scheduled for the same day as the wedding. When Tobias finds out, Almut tells him that she wants to be remembered as more than just “somebody’s dead mum.” She wants to be remembered for her accomplishments.
Though heartbroken, Tobias scraps the plans for their wedding. Instead, he and Ella go to support Almat in the competition. After Almut and her team successfully make their meal—though they cut it close to running out of time—Almut doesn’t wait to hear her score. Instead, she takes off her chef’s hat, approaches her family in the audience, and leaves. Though it’s not said in so many words, the implication is that she will now take a break from work to spend time with her family.
In the final scene of the movie, Tobias and Ella collect eggs from the chicken coop, just like Almut did in the first scene of the movie. Only this time, Almut’s not there. (However, there is now a dog.) Tobias teaches Ella the best way to crack an egg, mirroring the first ever morning he spent with Almut, and the moment he fell in love with her—when she was speaking reverently about the many uses of eggs. We can tell that Tobias is thinking of Almut in this moment, but it’s with joy, not with sadness. He and Ella laugh together as they cook, and with that, the movie ends.
The movie implies pretty heavily that Almut died, and Tobias is now raising Ella on his own. He even followed Almut’s advice and got a dog, presumably to help them both cope with Almut’s death. Even though it’s obviously very sad, we see in this final scene the joy that Almut brought in Tobias’s life, from his daughter to the knowledge of how to crack in an egg. Clearly, he doesn’t regret anything. It’s sad, but it’s also hopeful. They will still have a beautiful life, even without Almut in it.
Is it possible that Almut is just out that morning, and is still alive? Sure, it’s possible. But I don’t think that’s the point of the movie. The point is acknowledging that their love story was beautiful and worth it, even if it was over too soon. Sometimes, that’s the way life goes. But we keep on living. Tobias and Ella are going to be OK. And Almut’s not really gone, not when so many parts of her live on in Ella and Tobias—like showing them the best way to crack an egg.