We Live in Time is a sad one, huh? For nearly two hours, it uses every trick in the book to make us care about Almut and Tobias. Not just as a couple but as individuals. We root for them, cheer their successes, then feel the cruel arbitrariness of fate when Almut receives her cancer diagnosis.
While the film is designed to hurt your heart, it’s actually trying to remind us of one of life’s most important lessons.
We Live in Time’s ending explained
There are two major revelations at the end of We Live in Time. And they’re the main themes the film wants the viewer to come away with.
More than someone’s dead mom
The first comes through Almut’s relationship with the Bocuse d’Or and the choice she makes at the end of the Euros. Heading into the scene, we have the context of the big fight Almut and Tobias have over her participating in the competition.
At the beginning of the conversation, Tobias has the upper hand and Almut seems like the one in denial. But midway through, we realize they’re both in denial. Almut never considered the possibility she would get better, and Tobias hadn’t considered that she wouldn’t.
- Tobias: Where the hell were you? You said you would pick up—
- Almut: The restaurant. [Realizing she forgot about their daughter] Oh my god.
- T: No, you weren’t at the restaurant ‘cause I spoke to Skye and she didn’t know where you were either.
- A: Was everything okay with the pickup?
- T: No, not particularly. Jesus. I was this close to calling the A&E department.
- A: I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Um. I’ve been training for the Bocuse d’Or.
- T: [Painfully] Hmm. Beg pardon?
- A: Not the final. Just the Euros. We won the UK heat.
- T: How long? How long have you been prioritizing f***ing cooking instead of getting better?
- A: The UK heat was back in October. And the Euro qualifiers are coming up soon.
- T: Did the hospital know? Did they…did you… Please, please tell me that they, um, that they—
- A: What differences does it make if they knew or not?
- T: [Erupting] Grow up!!!!!Will you, Almut?!!?!?!?! You have cancer. You have cancer, Al.
- A: No, you [can’t hear], you f***ing dick.
- T: The difference this could make…is…is vast. Why? Why are you taking the risk?
- A: Isn’t it obvious?
- T: No, actually, it’s not. Not to me.
- A: I’m not exactly going to get the chance again, am I?
- T: What is that supposed to mean? In what reality—
That’s the moment Tobias reveals that he hasn’t fully accepted Almut’s fate. And we see a lot of that denial come up over his next few lines. Until Almut finally opens up about what’s been weighing on her. That clears the air for both of them so they can finally confront the awful reality of this situation.
- A: It means I’m not particularly interested in dying with f***-all to show for it!
- T: Oh. Okay. So we’re not enough for you? Is that what it is? Award-winning chef-cum-former-figure-skating-nutcase.
- A: No, now you’re just being mean.
- T: No, I’m not. Honestly, I’m trying to understand what it is that motivates an otherwise perfectly sane—
- A: Of course you factor into my thinking, you f***!
- T: Okay, so then I don’t understand. I’m sorry. But I really, honest to God, I don’t.
- A: Maybe, I mean, Jesus, I mean did it ever occur to you that maybe I don’t just want to be someone’s dead f***ing mom?!?! I mean, at this point, nothing terrifies me more than the thought of having her having nothing whatsoever to remember me by. And it’s like there’s this bit of me that is f***ing desperate for to her know that I didn’t just give up. And wouldn’t it be quite the thing if, maybe, one day, she decided to look back on this time, she actually chose, to look back on this entire god-forsaken-episode and thought “Wow, that’s my mom!” I don’t…I don’t want my relationship with Ella to be solely defined by my decline. Or maybe I actually just can’t bear the thought of being forgotten. I’m not sure which is worse.
- T: Wanting us to remember your achievements is one thing. Wanting us to somehow remember your achievements that we have absolutely no f***ing knowledge of…
- A: Okay, I get it, I f****ed up, please stop, please stop going on about it.
So that’s the context heading into the Bocuse. Just like she had competed in the Olympics as a figure skater, Almut wants to compete in the “Olympics of Cooking” for her own sense of legacy. It’s crossing some imaginary finish line that will give her closure that amounts to feeling as though she did something with her life that will define her time on Earth, beyond simply being a mom.
The Bocuse d’Or
Up to this point, Almut had separated her family from her chefing. In the kitchen, she was Almut, an award-winning chef. At home, she was Almut, partner and mom. After the fight with Tobias, the two worlds finally overlap, as he and Ella attend the Euro qualifier and cheer Almut and Jade on while they cook.
As focused as Almut is on the competition, part of her can’t help but be aware of the two people she loves the most in the world, there in the crowd, for hours, providing support. Near the end, Almut doesn’t have the strength to finish garnishing before time runs out, but allows Jade to take over and land the final bits of green just in the nick of time. While Jade provided a simple act of support, Almut recognizes she’s at her limit, that her passing is near.
And suddenly, at that moment, cooking isn’t so important. Even though Almut had hoped to win, to prove something to herself, to the world, to Ella…this was enough. She got to the Euros. She finished in time. And part of her knows that, if she had more time, she would have made it. So she has nothing left to prove. Whatever the result, she’s satisfied. Rather than wait for that external validation about her work as a chef, she’d rather, when push comes to shove, just be with her family.
The last skate
Earlier in the film, Almut explained to Tobias how figure skating had been something she did with her dad. She said, “And then when he was ill, when he was sick…I wanted to help out. I took some time off from it. And then…after that…skating without him around was just…joyless. I think it just really reminded me of him.” So she hadn’t skated in years and years. Until now, after the Bocuse competition. The whole family hits the ice. Tobias and Ella get to watch as Almut taps into this world-class experience. She comes alive. Then stops at the far end of the ice. And then she’s gone.
In the context of the film, Almut connects skating with her dad. So by being back on the ice, she’s reconnecting with the parent she had lost prematurely from an illness. At the time, she was in Ella’s position—the child who had to face loss. Now, she’s in her dad’s position—the adult who has to face mortality. So you get this nice resonance there.
The dynamic also calls attention to the fact that Almut had been worried about what Ella would think, the memories she would have of her mother. The irony is that Almut had already been in that position. She lost her dad early. And the thing she remembered wasn’t what he did on his own, his achievements, but the things they did together. That’s another reason she decided to skate. What do we think Ella would cherish more? The memory of skating for the first time and her mom being there with her or Almut winning a competition?
And that’s how the film leaves us with Almut. We don’t see her decline or her passing. We, like Ella, are left with that last, lovely day and spared the rest.
How to crack an egg
We Live in Time concludes not long after Almut’s passing. We see Tobias and Ella grab some eggs then go to the kitchen. There, Tobias asks, “Do you remember the best way to crack an egg?” He repeats what Almut had taught him all those years earlier. “Always on a flat surface, yeah?” Then he asks Ella, “Do you want to try?” And she does.
It’s that bit that explains the film’s title. “We live in time” means that we continue to exist, even after we pass away, because of the little impacts we make on the world. We become part of this incredible chain. Almut didn’t win the Bocuse d’Or and become recognized as one of the best chefs ever. But she mentored an entire restaurant full of chefs, not to mention Jade. And had Tobias had Ella. And the way she cracked an egg, something as simple as that, persists after her, because of her.
I think that’s the most interesting part of We Live in Time. I feel the same fear Almut had. “Will I be forgotten? Will I leave anything behind? Can I reach my full potential before the end of it all?” But the movie takes the position that it’s not the achievement that ultimately matters. More important than your name in a history book is the impact you have on the people you loved and who loved you. That’s how, after dying, you live on.
We Live in Time and Aftersun
I just wanted to talk about this for a second because I think Aftersun and We Live in Time make for a good pair. For those unfamiliar with Aftersun, a woman, Sophie, in her early 30s, watches a home video from a trip she took, at 11 years old, with her dad. 95% of the movie takes place in the past.
Spoilers, but, at the end, it’s revealed that, soon after the trip, the girl’s father took his own life. At the time, Sophie had no idea what her dad was going through, but, two decades later, a mother herself, she can begin to make sense of it all. Ultimately, watching the video brings her a sense of connection and closure.
We Live in Time is like a reverse Aftersun. Instead of being mostly in the past, we’re mostly in the present, with the adult version of the child who lost a parent. Almut couldn’t have understood what her dad was going through. But now she can. And, at the end, she’s able to reconnect with him by returning to the skating rink.
Together, the movies really provide a powerful statement on the grieving process. You get both the act of grieving another and the ultimate challenge of grieving yourself.
We Live in Time questions
How much time passess?
10 years!
What is Almut sick with?
Stage 3 ovarian cancer.
Would Almut have lived had she chosen the hysterectomy?
So when Almut has her initial diagnosis, she has the option of removing the one affected ovary or having a total hysterectomy. She opts for the former because it would allow her to still have children later. That’s how she and Tobias have Ella.
You could read this as the film essentially making a commentary on the sacrifice of becoming a parent. If Almut had chosen to remove her uterus, then maybe the cancer never returns and she lives a full life. A life where she probably wins many awards. But, instead, she sacrifices her future to ensure she has a child.
As poetic as that is, I can personally say that the full hysterectomy would have guaranteed nothing. My mom had what doctors believed was a very contained uterine cancer. They removed her uterus, gave her a clean bill of health, and said she should be good to go. It recurred less than a year later and was fatal.
In the world of fiction, Almut’s choice was a meaningful, metaphoric one. But in the real world, there was no guarantee.
Is the Bocuse d’Or real?
Yup. It happens every two years, in Lyon, France. As of October 2024, there have been 19 Bocuses.
Winners:
- France: 87, 91, 95, 01, 05, 07, 13, 21
- Luxembourg: 88
- Norway: 93, 99, 03, 09, 15
- Sweden: 97
- Denmark: 11, 19, 23
- United States: 17
And it really is considered the be-all and end-all of cooking competitions.
What happened to the car in the tunnel?
Good question. As far as I’m aware, there wasn’t any exposition about it in the movie. I imagine it got towed or emergency services ended up moving it for them or something.
Cast
- Almut – Florence Pugh
- Tobias – Andrew Garfield
- Jade – Lee Braithwaite
- Ella – Grace Delaney
- Skye – Aofie Hinds
- Simon Maxson – Adam James
- Adrienne Duvall – Marama Corlett
- Written by – Nick Payne
- Directed by – John Crowley
