The romantic comedy is dying. Tragic though it may seem, there is seldom a market for rom-coms nowadays. The genre tends to underperform at the box office, and since streaming services like Netflix have started making their own disastrous productions like “The Kissing Booth” trilogy, quality rom-coms have become a thing of the past.  

Or have they?  

This past Thursday, A24’s new romantic comedy “We Live in Time,” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, hit theaters. There is much to celebrate about the film, from its beautiful original score composed by Bryce Dessner to the emotionally charged performances from Pugh and Garfield. Individually, both actors are known for having remarkable chemistry with their co-stars, so seeing them side by side was nothing short of extraordinary.  

Where “We Live in Time” really succeeds is in Pugh’s and Garfield’s emotional range and ability to make what was occasionally banal dialogue hit home. The rom-com flashes back and forth over the course of Pugh and Garfield’s decade-long relationship, a creative choice that disrupts the narrative flow yet successfully demonstrates how our memories are not linear. It might have benefited from 20 more minutes because the emotionally charged scenes never quite boil over, but there is room for the audience to breathe in between heavy discussions of mortality and being remembered.  

For a movie that focuses heavily on the passage of time while exploring the ways grief warps it, the romance feels timeless. Ultimately, it feels relevant and modern without being trite or kitschy, making it accessible to a range of viewers. 

The film does not do anything particularly revolutionary, but something about it feels unlike any other rom-com out there. Maybe it’s the somber tone that haunts the narrative from the first scene or the subject material that deals with cancer and infertility; in any case, it packs a lot more of an emotional punch than your standard rom-com. 

What makes a rom-com ultimately successful is not how believable the happy ending is; rather, it’s how well both main characters can stand on their own. If one partner in the fictional relationship falls flat, you have no reason to root for the romance, which defeats the whole purpose of said romantic comedy. “We Live in Time” does not have this problem. Pugh’s character Almut is a figure skater turned chef who competes in the Bocuse d’Or, a world-famous cooking competition, and Garfield’s Tobias is a Weetabix representative, which — while less impressive — makes him interesting at the very least. He is also the primary parental figure in their daughter Ella’s life — a nontraditional family structure that few rom-coms have shown.  

Time will tell if this movie has what it takes to stand up against heavy-hitting rom-coms like “When Harry Met Sally” or “The Notebook,” but if it does, it might just be the rom-com for this generation.