We Live In Time ending explained: Does Almut win the cooking competition and eventually survive her cancer?

The Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh starrer We Live In Time was an absolute tearjerker. Taking a break from their usual genres, Garfield's portrayal of Tobias Durand and Pugh's portrayal of Almut Brühl managed to move audiences with their nuanced relationship, delicately explored through the lens of director John Crowley.

The film features a shuffled timeframe, going to and fro between the couple's present relationship and instances of the initial stages of them dating. One way it helps the audience understand the progression of their relationship is how you can see the shifted dynamics, particularly Almut's outlook on relationships and how her priorities realign.

In this movie, Almut is shown participating in the fictional Bocuse d'Or. The result of this competition is not clear, even though the audience witnessed her finishing the final dish. However, the ending makes it clear that Almut has not survived her cancer.

What is the plot of We Live In Time?

The initial stage of their relationship sees a sporadic turn of events, with Almut wanting to take a slower pace in the relationship while Tobias falls for her more sprightly. The contrast in their dynamics leads to conflict, but they later decided to give things another go. However, when it is discovered that Almut has ovarian cancer, things quickly start to seem bleak. In order to have the chance of having a kid naturally, she chooses to have a partial hysterectomy rather than a full one.

After her cancer goes into remission, the couple puts in all their efforts at parenthood and finally succeeds. Featuring an unconventional childbirth at a gas station and a period of immense bliss as Almut gets to become the head chef at a high-end restaurant and they dive deep into the joys of parenthood, the film gives the audience a brief moment of joy.

However, it is short-lived because her cancer relapses, and her doctor advises her to undergo chemotherapy. She rejects advice, stating that she would rather live six to eight incredible months than spend the rest of her life weak and unsure of her survival.

She starts her treatment while Tobias proposes to her, and they decide on a date for their wedding. At the same time, she gets selected to compete in the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition as a chef. Despite the fact that the competition training conflicted with her treatment and the date of their wedding, she continued with it, further deteriorating her health.

As she continues her treatment, which bears little result, Tobias gets to know that she has been secretly training for Bocuse d'Or. He chastises her, regrettably, for disregarding her health and concealing the competition.

Instead of having her daughter remember her as someone who simply fell ill and died, she responds that she would prefer that she be remembered as a successful chef who worked hard until the very end and died with pride. Tobias begrudgingly accepts her decision, encourages her to pursue the competition, and supports her through it.

What is the ending of We Live In Time?

Still from We Live In Time (Image via Youtube @/A24)

Almut competes in Bocuse d'Or in the closing moments of the movie, while Tobias and their daughter Ella support her from the stands. However, during the last minutes of the competition, Almut gets weaker and hands it over to her commis, Jade. Although they finish in time, Almut doesn't hang around for the results. She walks up to Tobias and Ella, embraces them, and goes to a skating rink. The scene ends with her reaching the other end of the rink and waving goodbye to Tobias and Ella.

The ending sequence of the film shows Tobias and Ella picking up eggs from their chicken's coop as Tobias teaches her how to crack open an egg—something Almut taught him in the beginning of their relationship. They are accompanied by a dog, which Almut and Tobias agreed on to help Ella cope with Almut's death.

What does the ending of We Live In Time signify?

The film's title, We Live In Time, mostly signifies Almut's outlook on life. Ever since the beginning, we have witnessed her willingness to live in the present rather than Tobias' stance on planning ahead. It's how she wants to move ahead with the relationship in the beginning and how she decides to handle her cancer in the end.

We Live In Time spares you from the usual visuals of heart rate monitors going flat or a funeral scene or Pugh on a deathbed. Instead, it depends on a more metaphorical approach to portraying her last moments alive. Just like she wanted, she died as someone who accomplished her dream as her family cheered her on. Just like she wanted, she died with pride and fulfillment, rather than frail and weak.

Under Crowley's direction and Nick Payne's screenwriting and a brilliant performance from both Pugh and Garfield, who are so convincing in their roles that even the prosaic scenes of them doing humdrum things prove to be captivating as we watch on, We Live In Time is heart-wrenching in the most beautiful way. It's resonating and thought-provoking while carrying the heart of two ordinary characters and wonderfully divulges into the scarcity of time and how it's stolen from us in the most harrowing ways.

The poignant message of the film is nothing but how the weight of the time we live for matters more than its length. It's an intimate watch and one that leaves you with sadness in all its subtlety but also a riveting moment of contentment knowing the characters' acceptance of the ending.