We Live in Time First Reviews Praise Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are gracing the big screen with their wit and charm in We Live in Time, a new rom-com from the two-time BAFTA-winning director behind Brooklyn, John Crowley.

The moving first trailer for We Live in Time was released in July and immediately got people talking. With it having that classic British rom-com feel mixed in with some themes of love and loss, We Live in Time is expected to warm and break some hearts this winter when it hits theaters.

Pugh stars as Almut, who meets Tobias (Garfield) in a chance encounter which sets to change their lives forever.

We Live in Time had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend, and praise is pouring out of the first reviews, which has landed it a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Collider's Ross Bonaime calls it "one of the best movie romances in years" and praises the film's director, saying it "proves that few filmmakers can present the power of love quite like Crowley can."

Lauren Bradshaw at Fangirl Freakout calls We Live in Time "an exceptional, enchanting love story that is sure to be a new romantic classic." She praises Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh for their "electric" chemistry, as does Benjamin Lee at The Guardian, who says, "It's such a joy to watch two such assured and natural performers allowed the room to exercise both movie star and actor muscles as well as showcase their ease with both comedy and drama."

Three negative reviews pepper those initial reactions, with J. Don Birnam at AwardsWatch saying the film has "cliché upon cliché" and "the script makes little attempt to give these characters any originality, or any real conflict among them".

However, for the most part, people are gushing about We Live in Time.

The film has one more stop on its festival tour – the BFI London Film Festival – before a limited theatrical run in October.

We Live in Time Review Roundup

• The Playlist: We Live in Time attempts to breathe new life into a dormant subgenre that doesn’t often receive the A-list prestige treatment. Crowley and Payne owe a considerable debt to Pugh and Garfield.
• Vanity Fair: I like much of the film's drifting and darting cadence, but it forces us into a more objective vantage point. The movie remains broadly appealing nonetheless, endearing us to two people and making us ache for them.
• Variety: It's a klutzy way to tell a story, but Crowley is confident that the chemistry between Pugh and Garfield is so compelling, people will want to watch his movie again and again, at which point, Almut and Tobias’ memories will have become our memories.
• Deadline: None of this works of course without the right key cast and Garfield, who worked 16 years ago with Crowley in Boy A, and Pugh, who seemingly can do just about anything, could not be more appealing and believable.
• The Film Stage: Garfield and Pugh are adorable in their capacity to shed all pretense of celebrity and embody an everyman vibe ruled by desire.