The premise of We Live In Time wishes to focus on the different stages of grief that characters deal with over a period of time. And because you have the rider of time in the narrative, it hardly is a surprise that the makers opted for a non-linear narrative to reduce the fragments that accompany a time jump of sorts. But in the process, the editing further distances you from the proceedings and its characters. A simple placard of a year-stamp would have sufficed beginning with how the characters cross paths, to their relationship and the timely obstacles that they have to deal with. Instead, you are served decently staged sequences that hardly come together, emotionally speaking.

One of the highlights of the drama is the evolving relationship between Tobias and Almut with the third wheel being the presence of time. The latter is important given how it acts almost like a timer, or an expiry date for the relationship that essentially is showcased over a decade. So, this drama can also be viewed as a love triangle in its most abstract form, wherein you are privy to Tobias meeting Almut by a searing play of fate, particularly having exited a toxic relationship of his own. Almut too is seen being focused on her career as a chef, until the bug of love seems to have smitten here. And thus begins, a very intimate affair of sorts wherein you see the couple grow, from their personal preferences to the actual ones that matter, that eventually shapes up their relationship. One of the interesting plot-points as far as Almut was concerned was, her rigid thought of not getting married to Tobias that results in a blunt set of words that transpire. Ironically, when she actually agrees, fate has other plans for her, which essentially means that the third wheel of time has a part to play in ‘probably’ having a final say in the relationship between Tobias and Almut.

That said, it cannot be denying that I was barely invested in the drama that largely depended on the emotions for it to work in its entirety. And the structure played a huge part in the disservice that the drama had to offer. It hardly moved me because the time lines were jumped from the past to the present and later to the future, something that never saw me invest in any character. There were a few heartfelt moments which individually worked like Almut giving birth to her baby at a gas station on new year’s eve, only for the new year to stage a new chapter in the lives of the characters. Or even, Tobias and his daughter waving a final goodbye to Almut on an ice-skating court. But these moments are few and far between – instead, the drama gets unnecessarily convoluted in the middle that actually made me decipher on which period in the life of the couple is the scene representing. This was not ideal given that the drama needed to be razor sharp with the intent of making you fall in love with the characters while presenting an emotional core that would make you weep! Hence, it can’t be denied that the editing was a mess that flirted with the writing to a point of no return, despite some solid performances that nearly save the day.