All Of You - Review 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

IT’S always frustrating when a film struggles to make good on an intriguing premise. But All Of You, a sci-fi tinged romance starring Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots, certainly falls into that category.

Co-written by Shrinking and Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein with William Bridges (who also directs), the film tackles issues of platonic friendship, unrequited love and the role that tech/AI may come to play in finding our partners in the future.

The jumping off point is a test that could match you with your soulmate. It then follows university friends Laura (Poots) and Simon (Goldstein) as he takes her to get the test, hopeful that it may identify himself as ‘the one’.

Needless to say, it doesn’t and the rest of the film flashes forward to selected moments over the next few years, as the two get together, slowly realise their true feelings for each other but - in Laura’s case - find themselves trapped by circumstance.

For Laura, this means being married to her soulmate Lukas (Steven Cree), and being a mother, which doesn’t prevent her from meeting Simon for passionate weekends away; but which stops her from pulling the plug on her marriage (which also seems happy from the brief insights we’re given).

For Simon, meanwhile, this inevitably means heartbreak as - by his own admission - Laura is his heroin and he is hopefully addicted to her, at the expense of all other relationships (of which he has a few).

There remains a will they/won’t they quality to the film, which is enhanced by the committed performances of both leads and the obvious chemistry they share. And it’s refreshing to see the woman being given more control in the relationship dynamic than the man, which feels progressive.

There are no easy get outs either, with all of the people in Laura and Simon’s lives inherently decent and unworthy of being hurt.

The main problem, therefore, is how the film both struggles to engage as emotionally as it should and squanders the potential of its sci-fi element.

In the case of the latter element, the soulmate test is played up during the film’s early stages before largely being forgotten for long periods… missing out on any chance to probe the moral or ethical implications of it, or putting forward a genuine struggle between heart and technology.

There are several directions the film could have taken around this, but opting for the most conventional seems too easy. It doesn’t give viewers enough to do.

As for the central relationship, it again lacks enough nuance. Or rather, neither character is sympathetic enough. There feels like there should be more push and pull in the affair, which instead feels a little too one-sided and thereby frustrating.

Goldstein and Bridges can’t be accused of making things overly mushy or sentimental, and All Of You certainly doesn’t feel contrived. But for a film that resists some of the more obvious romantic plot beats, it also still doesn’t feel challenging or memorable enough.

It’s a film that ultimately leaves you feeling more empty and frustrated, which is a shame given the committed performances of its primary players.

Certificate: 15

Running time: 1hr 38mins