In the age of swiping left and seeking one’s life partner amidst a barrage of gym selfies and recycled pick-up lines, the idea of a surefire soulmate test is a tempting, if not slightly unromantic thought. In All of You, writer and director William Bridges asks what might happen if we were given the opportunity to find our perfect partner, and what consequences might befall us if we think great love might lie outside our designated match. While All of You features powerhouse performances from Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots and some sharp, witty writing from Bridges and Goldstein himself, the film aims high but lacks clear stakes, making this love story difficult to invest in, with underwhelming sci-fi further muddling the heartrending, but ultimately unfulfilling romance.
What Is ‘All of You’ About?
All of You drops us in a virtually indistinguishable near-future, where people have the option to seek out their soulmate by way of an unexplained eye test. It’s not mandatory, but millions opt in to find their alleged true love, leaving Simon (Goldstein) conflicted when his best friend Laura (Poots) decides to partake. Over the course of the next several seasons of their lives, Simon watches as Laura builds a life with her supposed soulmate, Lukas (Steven Cree), and Simon attempts to find his own lover in other women (Zawe Ashton and Jenna Coleman). As they begin to acknowledge that their years of friendship have undeniably become something more, Simon and Laura are forced to deal with the complications of their entangled lives.
Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots Are Captivating in ‘All of You’
Firstly, it’s important to note that All of You‘s two leads do a phenomenal job. While their characters often make frustrating decisions, Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots master Simon’s steadfast devotion and Laura’s mercurial tendencies with total sincerity. Encapsulating the best of the leads’ chemistry, the film’s greatest moments come from Simon making Laura laugh. Brett Goldstein’s quiet, deadpan humor coupled with Imogen Poots’ infectious laughter provide some of the film’s most charming moments.
Poots’ turn as Laura is particularly impressive because the character is, at times, a bit of a nightmare, but we still empathize with her even as she throws her life into chaos on her quest for love. However, this also points to one of All of You‘s most maddening conundrums. The stakes in the story are entirely determined by Laura and her own personal demons. Therefore, Laura becomes less and less sympathetic as the film progresses, because the mess she’s trapped in was entirely her own doing. Of course, it would be heartbreaking to end her marriage, and it’s even more complicated by the fact that she has a young daughter (who even knows how old she is by the end of the movie?). Nevertheless, it’s established that even when you’ve taken the soulmate test, divorce is still very much on the table, so her hesitancy to leave Lukas means that her daughter will inherit the trauma of parental discontent.
‘All of You’s Vague Plot and Middling Sci-fi Make for Low Stakes
This points to one of the film’s core issues, in that the whole idea of the soulmate test in All of You is incredibly confusing because no effort goes into explaining it. Save for a few billboards that advertise it as some sort of eye test, we know nothing about how it actually determines compatibility. We’re told that it’s based on “science,” but how? Is it biological compatibility? Now, one might argue that the science behind the test isn’t the point of the story; we should be focused on the push and pull of Simon and Laura’s convoluted love affair. However, when so little thought has gone into actually unpacking the sci-fi elements, it leaves us to wonder why they were included at all. The story would be pretty unchanged had Laura married Lukas simply because he is a stable, kind man, and then she later discovered deep-seated feelings for her long-time friend.
Furthermore, it’s well established that you don’t have to find your soulmate, and you don’t have to stay with them. The outliers who forgo the test face no consequences, and are free to date whomever they please, so the “soulmate test” really does nothing to raise the film’s stakes. Likewise, the vagueness of the soulmate test also spotlights the choice to set this film at an undefined point in the near future. When we’re told that an eye test is used to determine compatibility, it evokes visions of complex retinal scans and fascinating futuristic elements. We’re never shown (or told) anything like this, and the movie’s near-future timeline is only subtly hinted at with thumbprint scanners on hotel room doors and fancy displays on car windshields. With William Bridges having written for Black Mirror, the passion and knack for eerie, time-jumping sci-fi is certainly there. In fact, All of You would have been more effective had it either gone full Black Mirror or didn’t bother with sci-fi in the first place.
Ultimately, All of You tells an emotional story about love and its infinite complexities, but riddles its story with unearned conflicts. Nonetheless, Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots boast excellent chemistry (even in the most agonizing moments of their characters’ journeys), and William Bridges and Goldstein elevate the script through unexpected humor. With some tender comedic moments and a surprising number of references to MDMA, All of You should have leaned into its sci-fi sensibilities, but remains a worthwhile casual watch for its stellar performances and permeating charm.
All of You had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
