We Live in Time, A24’s new romantic drama starring British screen powerhouses Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, has spent the last handful of weeks expanding to more and more theaters since its limited debut on Oct. 11. Garfield and Pugh themselves have been doing some expanding as well, albeit in a manner that’s as unusual as it is wholesome.
Indeed, the pair recently found themselves as the collective patient zero of Celebrity Substitute, a brand new YouTube initiative hosted by Recess Therapy‘s Julian Shapiro-Barnum, wherein celebrities are summoned to a classroom to act as substitute teachers for the day.
Appropriately enough, the Marvel stars were put in charge of an elementary-age drama class at S.T.A.R. Academy P.S. 63 with the goal of completing a short film or four, and it of course goes without saying that these tots will be coming for their jobs in the blink of an eye.
The ordeal kicks off with Pugh and Garfield meeting the students, most of whom are too young to be entranced by the fact of their celebrity, but precisely young enough to get very excited when Pugh reveals she voiced Goldilocks in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Project number one in the Pugh-Garfield-Schoolchildren Cinematic Universe is Creature of the Night; a stupendously Hitchcockian suspense thriller starring Pugh and her incandescent co-star Destiny. In the film, Pugh’s heart is pounding with fear when mysterious noises start coming from the outdoors, despite Destiny’s reassurance that everything is perfectly fine. Directed by Garfield, Creature of the Night also stars Shapiro-Barnum as “The Neighbor,” although reports of his on-set clash with Garfield has led to rumors about a potential recast.
Up next was Fired!, starring Garfield, Shapiro-Barnum, and Paige, the latter of whom is already being touted for the Golden Globe for her performance as Andrew’s Loose Cannon Former Employer. In the film, Garfield is let go from a non-descript line of work after 30 years of loyalty; the heartbreaking narrative springboard for director Pugh’s ruthless takedown of the capitalist hell around us.
Then came Lady Loan, based on a yet-unproduced screenplay by Martin Scorsese, probably. Actors Asher and Lemon star alongside Pugh’s titular loan shark, who agrees to loan them money so long as they host a birthday party for her unborn daughter at their local restaurant, which they agree to. The cashflow stays strong and the boss stays happy; it’s a win-win!
Capping it off was the Endgame-level event of Uninvited, starring Andrew Garfield and Jeremiah as a pair of estranged friends who wind up clashing on account of Jeremiah keeping Andrew away from his birthday party. As more and more revelations — ranging from bullies to broken legs to ugly shirts — come to light, it will take a miracle for this particular brotherhood to survive. Ms. Laird, the teacher who Pugh and Garfield are substituting for, makes a cameo appearance as Ms. Laird, who the fandom believes will be the protagonist of Phase Two.
A post-credits scene reveals that S.T.A.R. Academy P.S. 63 went on to receive a bulk of school supplies and resources supplied by Amazon in hopes of allowing Pugh’s and Garfield’s new up-and-coming contemporaries to have as rich an arts education as possible. Many critics agreed that this was the highlight of the whole franchise.
Published: Oct 23, 2024 12:14 pm