The Time It Takes

I like the story telling style. It really takes time to forget. Maybe not. The director got it. Good acting, quick story telling. I bingewatched. You can find like in your life lots of things in this story so that it grabs you. Am I better without you or not?

Somebody told me the same about grief ... remember the person each day but slightly less each time. Eventually the memories fade, and the hurt and the loss with them. Nice idea, if only life were that simple?

Lina & Nico have a painful break-up and 'The Time It Takes' recounts moments in their 10 year relationship from Lina's point of view. The novelty about this Netflix miniseries is the deliberate present-past split in its 15-minute episodes with the past counted down one minute less each time. Present becomes more and more important than past ... and Lina moves on with her life. It's an enchanting way to tell a beautifully simple albeit quite sad story ... and with a twist at the end, of course!

Nadia De Santiago & Álvaro Cervantes are excellent in the leads, well supported by the rest of the cast and some thoughtful writing (De Santiago contributed to it) in what is quite a nice low-key "don't make a big fuss" sort of production. I liked the way the past would blur into the present but with a swift return at the end of each episode as Lina faces important life choices and puts the past behind her ... or does she?!?

Other reviews point out it would be good to shoot the series again but from Nico's point of view. Presumably the program makers have already considered this logical sequel? Recommended.

What makes this film such an absolute (albeit heartbreaking) joy to watch is how authentic and real it is. Most modern-day films about so-called real life revolve around the chaos and tragedies young people, especially young women, create by their own bad decisions and mistakes. Not so with The Time It Takes. While no one here is perfect, the characters are very believable in their behavior. Lina, as portrayed by Nadia de Santiago (who also helped create the series) is incredibly well written, acted, and developed as a character. (as well as breathtakingly beautiful) How the character of Nico could ever drift away from her is the only unbelievable aspect of the story.

And, by the way, the unusual way of allotting time to present/past scenes, where as we go along less is covered of the past, is explained in episode 7. Pay attention to something Nico says after his father's funeral.

This is a bittersweet story that I feel is going to haunt me for some time.

It would be amazing if we had a second season from the eyes of Nicko. I hope the director already considered doing so! It is like a normal movie in duration if you binge watch it and flows very nicely. It focuses on the relation of this couple and how it gets on through time with flashbacks getting shorter. Definitely worth a watch.

The story is well told and the acting is very good. Good pace. I like that the episodes are about 13, 14 minutes long. This was you don't get any "it's got to be an hour long, do we have anything to fill the hour with." The development of one of the characters never fully explains why he is acting the way he is which is a weak point. But the female lead does a great job carrying the story. I binge watched it and felt it was a better than 7 star show.