All of You, 2024.
Directed by William Bridges.
Starring Imogen Poots, Brett Goldstein, Zawe Ashton, Steven Cree, Jenna Coleman, Murray Bartlett, Chloe East, Daniel Levy, Éva Magyar, Alara-Star Khan, Jamie Langlands, and Tariq Rasheed.
SYNOPSIS:
A stirring near-futuristic romance of two best friends who harbor an unspoken love for one another even after a test matches one of them up with their supposed soulmate.
In the near future or alternate reality, advertisements for an eye procedure known as the Test are plastered all over London. This groundbreaking science is used to match its taker with their perfect partner, meaning that co-writer/director William Bridges All of You comes with similarities to another recent Apple TV+ film, Fingernails, where that same type of love was found through a slightly different procedure. Initially, there is reason for concern; the latter film botched the premise, with the setup for this film practically threatening to be a repeat of such disappointment.
What works here is that the Test, while discussed throughout much of the first act, gradually fades into the background, serving as a vessel to explore thorny material such as adultery, complicated love, uneasy questions about relationships, and regrets. Friends from their university days, Laura (Imogen Poots) and Simon (Brett Goldstein, also serving as co-writer) have opposing feelings about the Test, with her ready to take it and find her match. Meanwhile, he is against this procedure, justifiably believing in finding love organically.
Not only are they close friends, but they also share an endearing rapport and charming chemistry (which shines through in the deeply relatable and moving performances) that one wonders why they aren’t already dating. From what can be gathered, it appears to be a case of two people who became such close friends that it’s hard to perceive each other in a romantic sense. Nevertheless, Laura is given a long-distance relationship match, whereas Simon tries to get into the dating game, taking up a suggestion from her to mingle with a mutual friend, Andrea (Zawe Ashton).
Set across years in the lives of these characters and their relationships, William Bridges and editor Victoria Boydell methodically jump forward in time from scene to scene. This is a film less about telling the story of one moment than a series of ups and downs, marked by highs and lows, where everything these characters want or think they want comes under reconsideration, and sometimes at the expense of possibly blowing up what happiness they do have. To put it bluntly, Laura and Simon make choices that are easy to disapprove of. They are also on such complex paths that there isn’t room for judgment, which the filmmakers wisely choose not to do. There is a palpable sense of longing here that goes a long way regarding generating empathy for Laura and Simon; one doesn’t exactly root for them, but one certainly understands them and feels that what’s really being judged silently in the background is the Test, which is proven to generate perfect matches, yet that still doesn’t necessarily mean they are the ideal ones.
It’s more than enough to overlook some of the contrived writing (one could write several sentences on the oblivious, gullible nature of Laura’s partner, with whom she starts a family) or the fact that several years pass, yet none of these people age. In some respects, it’s a Hollywood romance to the T, but at the very least, this one is brimming with passion, yearning, intimacy, and emotion. All of You teases and builds to something devastating, though, related to regret. It’s a nuanced condemnation of what technology is and could be capable of in favor of something far more spontaneous, knotty, human, and beautiful.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
