I love Andrew Garfield. I love Florence Pugh. I should have loved this movie.

When I first heard of the new Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield romantic drama, I couldn’t help but exclaim “real movies are back!” When I sat down after overpaying for my Flix Brewhouse ticket and mac cheese, I was beyond excited at the prospect of a raw, romantic story with two of our generation’s greatest actors. As the movie progressed, despite my high hopes, I found myself frustrated, disappointed and confused about where it all went wrong.

Let me clarify that I did enjoy the movie. There were bright spots, for example, the scene where Florence’s character gives birth in a petrol station bathroom; it’s funny, absurd, and touching, providing an emotional respite to an otherwise heavy film. And my claim that Garfield and Pugh are among our generation’s best is not a baseless one. Their performances are beyond compelling and they handle the story delicately, injecting emotions at the right times and showing the intimacy of the relationship with plenty of chemistry. 

Unfortunately, I believe that this movie had all the potential to be the movie of the year but it fell flat in many places. The film’s hallmark feature, the nonlinear narrative, although creative, was confusing at times and often detracted from the story. In one of the beginning scenes, Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh) have a serious conversation regarding Almut’s hesitancy to undergo chemotherapy a second time, worrying that she would be spending her final moments in suffering rather than living life to its fullest. Although I appreciated the scene’s vulnerability and messaging concerning a very real decision for many families, I felt that it simply came too early and viewers were not yet emotionally invested in the characters to really feel the gut punch the scene would have provided. The same is true of a conversation that the couple has early on in their relationship as Almut struggles to get pregnant following her first cancer diagnosis. The tension dissipates, however, when we remember that we already have seen her both pregnant and playing with her daughter. The trend of unfortunate production and scene organization persists throughout the duration of the film ultimately making it feel like a series of montages of sad scenes or funny scenes, but neither of them lasting long enough to feel cohesive and push it to the category above ‘good’. 

There were some other broad issues I had with the characters. Although I thought that the performances were commendable, that was much to the credit of the actors rather than the scripts. I felt we didn’t know enough about the characters or their motivations, especially in the beginning. When the characters meet, we know that Tobias is a recent divorcé and Weetabix executive living a rather boring life. On the other hand, we have Almut, a chef. And yes, that’s all we know. The relationship begins rather abruptly and the viewer is left rather in the dark of what exactly it is they like about each other (my notes during this scene were: “this feels reboundish”). 

As the movie continued, I expected to see their characters develop, yet once again, I was disappointed. By the movie’s end, we still know nothing about Tobias except that he loves Almut and worked (maybe still works?) for Weetabix. For as good an actor as Garfield is, it felt unfortunate that much of his role was to just look pretty (which, to be fair, he does well). Pugh enjoys the privilege of having a character that is slightly more fleshed out. We get to meet her family and learn about her history with figure skating, originating from her relationship with her father. While I thought it was touching, I found myself wondering about other aspects of her character, the most prominent being her cooking. Almut’s job as a chef serves as an inciting factor in Almut and Tobias’ relationship but also serves as a key point of tension as Almut decides to devote a lot of time in her late months to an international cooking competition, one which eventually conflicts with the couples intended wedding date. But I found myself wondering where her passion for cooking had come from, as it definitely seemed to be deeper than just something she did for work, especially if she was willing to sacrifice time with her child for.

My final gripe was with the ending, as I felt widely unsatisfied and desperate for a more fulfilling conclusion to the story. Additionally, Florence’s final scene with the family, while I did shed a tear, was slightly corny and a bit too on the nose (Mom skating to the ‘other side’ and waving goodbye to her family? Spare me). I thought the final scene of the movie was cute and a nice full-circle moment, but I was definitely surprised when the credits began to roll. 

Overall, I think the movie would have benefitted from a longer run time and more traditional sequencing. Although it may not have necessarily been the groundbreaking movie I was hoping for, whenever these two are involved, it is impossible to truly have a bad time.

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from the MUSE Winter Collection.