All of You, 2024.
Directed by William Bridges
Starring Brett Goldstein, Imogen Poots, Zawe Ashton, Steven Cree, and Jenna Coleman.
SYNOPSIS:
Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots star in a stirring near-futuristic romance as best friends who harbor an unspoken love for one another even after a test matches one of them up with their supposed soulmate.
Good romcoms are as difficult to find as William Bridges’ near-future weepie would lead you to believe it is to discover your soulmate. Sure, there are plenty of fish (films) in the sea (streaming service menu), but are they ‘the one’? Is this When Harry Met Sally or Sex Lives of the Potato Men? A one-night-stand, or the old couple from Pixar’s UP?
All of You falls somewhere in the middle. The set-up is a case of love-at-first-sight, with the lightning in-a-bottle chemistry between Imogen Poots and Brett Goldstein, and a doozy of a sci-fi concept for the characters and viewer to be cynical about. The opening is a charming meet-cute between the audience and these two souls, whose spark is incendiary, immediately forging a connection with eachother and us.
A ‘friendship’ made up of retorts, snorts, and moments that go beyond commiserations for missing out on a job. It’s the stuff of checking whether you’re hydrated in the club, or taking one another to the hospital during the most distressing of times.
Despite the 500 Days of Summer format, which skips through the pivotal moments in a decade of drama, Goldstein and Poots ensure that this relationship feels lived-in and weighty, never rushed. There’s a realism and ease to their interactions which means we don’t need much backstory for Simon and Laura. We get snippets, such as they met at Uni, but we’re here for the now of their lives.
Goldstein, who co-wrote the movie with Bridges, brings a softer edged version of Roy Kent to this love story. It’s perfect for a character dismissive of the notion of being told who he is meant to be with. Simon is so much more than his Ted Lasso alter-ego though; the bravado and gruff one-liners regularly give way to a sensitivity that makes the trauma of what unfolds even more heart-wrenching.
Poots has even more heavy lifting to do, and delivers a career-best turn doing it. From the moment we meet Laura she feels as though there are hundreds of layers to her. Every smile, hiding something, every laugh a release, every moment of silence weighted by contrasting emotions. It’s a complex role, one that earns empathy and demands understanding, and Poots ensures that is achieved.
Where the film comes a little unstuck is in how quickly it abandons the sci-fi premise of the story. There is so much to be mined from the concept of being told who to love, and the ideas of conformity and societal expectations, but they are pretty much dismissed once they’ve kissed. This is particularly frustrating considering the final third of the movie becomes a little repetitive in terms of Simon and Laura’s liasons, with the film descending into a series of emotional, if somewhat overwrought exchanges straight out of Hollywood Heartbreak 101. Having said that, good luck retaining those levels of cynicism as you wipe away the tears.
All of You is a complicated tale of love, that doesn’t quite commit to its ideas as much as the leads commit to their performances, but should be destined for classic weepie status for years to come.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★
Matt Rodgers – Follow me on Twitter
