by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer
Simon (Brett Goldstein) has agreed to take his best friend, Laura (Imogen Poots), for a test to help her find her soulmate. Despite refusing to take the test himself, Simon agrees to pay for his best friend’s test and possibly allow her to disappear from his life. Over the next few years, the two develop many complicated and conflicting emotional connections, making them wonder if their longterm close friendship could (or has already) blossom into real feelings of love.
Outside of the fictional test to find people their soulmates, All of You‘s story is very contemporary. Much like an episode of Black Mirror, it asks what would happen if one piece of fictional technology existed, such as a test to pair you up with your ideal romantic partner for life. The film doesn’t spend any time explaining how the test works, how they know it works, or even showing the process of meeting your apparent soulmate for the first time. The test has the briefest mention at the start, which is an eye test for some reason, and the story then quickly switches to the two lead characters talking as old friends. The idea here shows what it’s like for two people who have been close friends since they were kids to suddenly fall in love years later.
The real do-or-die factor in the experience of this film is the relationship and chemistry between the two leads. Like Before Sunset, the premise aims to maximize the time it’s just the two of them talking. But unlike Before Sunset, the story takes place over several years, and focuses entirely on the occasions when the two lead characters cross paths. The long periods when they do not see each other are skipped over, and we are merely told what is happening in their lives through dialogue between the main characters. This is a clever way to insert the exploration, because old friends often go months or even years without seeing each other, and naturally would want to catch up on each other’s lives when they reunite. It’s also a good reminder that these two have lives going on, and seeing each other is a brief break from that, which is often what hanging out with a friend feels like.
With the setup revolving around a fictitious idea, you might have expected this to be integral to the plot somehow. But in reality, it’s just a way to get Laura a partner, so there is an apparent reason she and Simon cannot be together. Early on, there is a bit of talk about how finding a romantic partner is about the journey of discovery and developing organic feelings of love. Still, outside of that, the story doesn’t explore this idea. This is fine, of course, but it makes me wonder what the point of having this fictional thing as part of the story even was.
The film explores another interesting idea about what you do if you fall in love while you are already with someone. Do you think with your heart and go to the person you love, or do you obey basic human decency and stay with your partner? The added factor of the test complicates this even more, because the person you are with is your soulmate, and you know this for a fact. But if you are already with the person the test has said is your soul mate, why would you ever fall in love with someone else? So the test element doesn’t add anything here; it just makes the situation more confusing. In fact, the film’s conclusion is also confusing, as things are left massively unresolved. Perhaps this is the point: Life is messy sometimes and doesn’t have a happy ending where everything is tied up in a tidy package. But if that is the story’s overall message, it’s not conveyed particularly well.
The ultimate problem with this story being told as a film is that a central factor to making it work is that the two main characters have apparently known each other and been good friends for the best part of two decades. It’s challenging to convey that kind of longterm friendship between actors who haven’t known each other for that long. Goldstein and Poots do great with what they’re given to work with, and they work off each other well, but I don’t feel any kind of spark between them. Throughout the story, Simon will make a silly joke or remark, which Laura will laugh at way more than she should. There is also this running theme of “being a grown-up,” and how much they don’t like doing it. These are done to show that they still act like kids around each other, since they met at the start of university, as well as show that they feel confident acting and saying anything they want around each other; they just know the other won’t get upset or offended. Unfortunately, there isn’t the right kind of feeling of charisma between the two of them. Usually, I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories, where it’s just characters talking, but I didn’t feel it with Goldstein and Poots. The actors should have spent more time getting to know each other before filming, or maybe it was just a simple case of two great actors who don’t quite work together.
Conversely, the cinematography is a delight, and a remarkable variety of locations and environments helps keep things interesting. As a Brit, seeing the film showcase the best of my homeland was amazing. It helps to keep the slice-of-life feeling to the story, and the contemporary setting is a lot more stimulating. There is something very pleasing about watching ordinary settings like a beach or the countryside shot in this kind of way, and I will never get tired of it.
Overall, there was enough of a compelling idea here to keep me engrossed for the whole runtime. The complex emotions that come from being with one person, while in love with another, is fascinating. The dilemma Laura finds herself in by the end is thought-provoking, but the conclusion to her situation is massively unsatisfactory. The narrative presents ideas without knowing how to weave them into a clear story. It asks questions without ever attempting to give any answers.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
All of You is currently streaming on Apple TV+
You can read more from John Tillyard, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd