Andrew Garfield premieres Florence Pugh’s cardboard cutout

If one were to describe Florence Pugh as a two-dimensional actress, she might understandably feel quite insulted.

However, her co-star Andrew Garfield took a more literal approach, bringing a cardboard cutout of her to a premiere she couldn’t attend.

While most of the films released at the London Film Festival last week had their A-list stars in attendance, Garfield had to fly alone on Thursday night as Pugh is away filming another film.

The British actress stars in We Live In Time as a young chef who is diagnosed with cancer, while Garfield plays her partner and father to the couple’s three-year-old daughter.

The film was shot last spring and was the reason for Pugh’s shaved head at the 2023 Met Gala, a look that made headlines in the fashion press at the time.

Despite its heavy subject matter, We Live In Time has been praised as “life-affirming”, although other critics have described it as “thoroughly cheesy”.

Garfield plays Tobias, a marketing executive for Weetabix who is struggling with a divorce from his first wife when he is run over by Pugh’s character Almut.

He wakes up in the hospital with an apologetic Almut at his side. The two eventually fall in love, but their plans for the future are thrown into question when the cancer-stricken Almut, who thought she was in remission, returns.

The film sees Garfield reunite with director John Crowley, 17 years after the release of their previous collaboration Boy A – one of Garfield’s earliest breakthrough roles.

Garfield walked the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Thursday alongside his cardboard co-star.

The film is an entertaining film in many ways, with real chemistry between Garfield and Pugh and interesting subplots such as Almut’s participation in an international cooking championship. But the film has received mixed reviews since its Toronto premiere last month.

The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney reports Crowley directed the film with a “tender yet truthful touch,” adding, “Rarely has such an unflinchingly honest view of mortality felt so transcendently life-affirming.”

However, other critics were far less positive. Mashable’s Kirsty Puchko describes it as “the biggest cinema disappointment of the year”.

“Although peppered with sex scenes and adoring close-ups, this is not a steamy or even sweaty embrace of lust and love, but a wet handshake of a film that, despite its star power, doesn’t overwhelm,” she said.

“The worst sin of We Live In Time is making its thin characters so damn boring.” added AV Club’s Brianna Zigler.

“Everything about Tobias and Almut is so simple and clean, so downright kitschy and precious, that it’s almost unbearable to watch them.”

MovieFreak’s Sara Michelle Fetters responded more warmly, writing: “Even though some of the dramatic pieces don’t fit together, Garfield and Pugh’s performances are so stirringly excellent that they give the film meaning despite its frustrating flaws.”

And there was a four-star rating by Benjamin Lee from the Guardian, who said: “It is such a joy to see how two such confident and natural performers have allowed the room to flex the muscles of both movie stars and actors, showcasing their ease in both comedy and drama place.”

“Its softer, funnier and sexier scenes are more effective than most romantic comedies we’ve seen in a long time, but its harsher, weightier conflicts are just as effective.”

In an emotional scene, Tobias and her daughter help shave Almut’s head – which was Pugh’s real hair.

“For any actor who takes on a role like this, it’s absolutely important that you see her head and we see her shaving it – that was just always a given.” Pugh recently told British Vogue. “You have the honor of doing something with yourself that fully supports the character.”

Garfield admitted he was nervous. “What if I somehow destroyed the head of one of the best actors of her generation?” he joked. “It was terrifying, but ultimately it was a very beautiful, intimate scene to shoot and thank God she has such a beautifully shaped melon.”

Pugh added that she was inspired by her character’s desire to live life to the fullest. “I was the right age for this film,” said the 28-year-old.

“I’ve been through a lot of strange things in terms of relationships over the last year and I think part of the story is not being passive and not letting things overwhelm you. I want to go and find love and I want to have babies.”

Pugh previously appeared in films such as Little Women, Midsommar, Don’t Worry Darling, Oppenheimer, Black Widow and Dune: Part Two.

Garfield’s previous film appearances include The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, the Spider-Man franchise and Tick Tick… Boom!

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