- After an unusual encounter, a talented chef and a recently divorcée fall in love and build the home and family they've always dreamed of, until a painful truth puts their love story to the test.
- Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Through snapshots of their life together -- falling for each other, building a home, becoming a family -- a difficult truth is revealed that rocks its foundation. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken, in filmmaker John Crowley's decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.—A24
- The film is presented in a nonlinear narrative. Below is a linear synopsis of the plot.
Weetabix representative Tobias Durand, while out purchasing a pen to sign divorce papers served to him by his wife, wanders into the road and is struck by a car driven by Almut Brühl, a former figure skater turned Bavarian-fusion chef. At the hospital, Almut offers to treat Tobias and his wife to a meal at the restaurant she works at, though Tobias does not disclose his divorce to her. On the night of his dinner, Tobias, now separated, goes to the restaurant alone, informing Almut about his divorce. The two go to Almut's flat after dinner and have sex. They begin living with each other soon after.
Months later, Tobias expresses to Almut his desire to start a family with her and that he's begun to fall in love with her. Almut rebuffs him rudely, and Tobias leaves without saying a word. Later, at a baby shower for one of Almut's co-workers, Tobias sneaks in and apologizes to Almut for his hastiness while criticizing the way she responded to him in front of all the guests. Tobias once again professes his love to her and they reconcile.
Almut discovers that she has ovarian cancer and explains to Tobias that her gynecologist has recommended that she get a hysterectomy to prevent the cancer's worsening. Though Tobias intends to respect Almut's decision, she chooses to undergo treatment until her cancer eventually goes into remission. After numerous subsequent attempts to conceive a child, Tobias and Almut are happy when she manages to get pregnant. On New Year's Eve, she gives birth to a baby girl in a petrol station bathroom after she and Tobias had their car stuck in traffic on their way to the hospital.
Around three years later, Almut, now working as the head chef in her own higher-scale restaurant and having moved with her family to a small cottage and farm, begins feeling pains in her waist. At the doctor, Almut and Tobias learn that her cancer has advanced to stage 3, and that she would need to begin chemotherapy as soon as possible before any surgery to remove the tumor can take place, though there is still no guarantee of survival. Almut, hesitant to undergo treatment again, proposes living "6 to 8 great months" instead of spending her potential last months sick and in agony. They explain the situation to their young daughter, Ella. After Tobias finally proposes marriage to Almut, she makes the decision to undergo treatment.
Around the same time as her diagnosis, Almut is invited by one of her colleagues, Simon, to participate in the Bocuse d'Or, arguably the most prestigious cooking competition in the world. Despite her training conflicting with both her treatments as well as her wedding, she agrees to compete; Almut and her commis Jade win the UK selections and reach the finals: but they take place in Italy on the day of Almut and Tobias's proposed wedding ceremony. When Tobias discovers this, he angrily scolds her for choosing the competition over her life and family, and Almut responds that she would rather her daughter remember her as an accomplished chef than merely someone she watched get sick and die. Tobias begrudgingly cancels their wedding and agrees with Almut to continue training for the finals, which she has advanced to.
In Italy, in June, Tobias and Ella attend the finals of the Bocuse d'Or and watch Almut cook. As the weaker Almut begins to falter at the end of the plating of the last dish, she lets Jade take control, and they successfully finish in time. Almut promptly leaves with Tobias and their daughter afterwards and they go skating at a nearby ice rink.
Some time later, Tobias and Ella return home from their chicken coop alone alongside their new dog, which Almut and Tobias had earlier more or less seriously considered getting for Ella, to help her psychologically if her mother should die. Tobias then teaches his daughter how to crack an egg, just as Almut had taught him.
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