TIFF Review: Finding Love in a Familiar Place in ‘All of You’

Are soulmates real, and is it actually possible to scientifically determine who they are? It’s an idea often visited in science fiction, where a test exists to find the perfect partner, sometimes compelling people who are otherwise in happy relationships and marriages to take the extra step to be sure. All of You utilizes the concept to anchor its story, which follows two people who only need to truly look at each other to realize how much they’re meant to be together but choose not to see it and instead pursue divergent paths.

Simon (Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots) have been extremely close since their time at university, and Laura has decided that she wants to take the newly available – and highly popular – test to find the person she’s meant to be with for the rest of her life. Simon takes her to the appointment and even pays for it, lamenting that he’ll never see her again since everyone he knows who’s taken the test has stopped socializing. Laura meets Lukas (Steven Cree), a lovely man who makes her happy, but it takes far too long for Simon and Laura to realize that, test or no test, they should be with each other.

All of You is written by director William Bridges and Goldstein, who together cocreated the AMC series Soulmates, which boasted a similar premise but had its second season renewal reversed, resulting in just six standalone episodes. In that series and in the recent film Fingernails, there’s a modifier which leaves room for doubt, that the other person hasn’t tested yet or that the love only goes one way (but which you don’t know). Those details don’t come into play here since it’s merely a framing device for Laura to find Lukas, and audiences can clearly see from the start that Simon and Laura are soulmates even if they’re completely blind to it.

While this idea may not be entirely new, there’s something fresh and unusual about rooting for a couple to be together when it has to come from infidelity. That Lukas is the nicest guy in the world, who repeatedly thanks Simon for being such a good friend to Laura and being there for her when she needs it, only makes it more uncomfortable when the two do eventually realize that they have feelings for each other. While at times it feels like a romantic comedy, this is better described as a romantic drama laced with humor, where best friends come to realize that the closeness they have is what they’ve been searching for all along.

Goldstein and Poots are well-matched and have extraordinary chemistry. Though Goldstein will be best known to American audiences for playing Roy Kent on Ted Lasso, this serves as a welcome return to his film festival roots, namely previous projects like Adult Life Skills and Wild Honey Pie. Simon does swear occasionally and doesn’t much like people, but he’s gentler and much more outwardly caring than the reputation Roy has eternally established for Goldstein. Poots, recently seen on Prime Video’s Outer Range, is a marvelous scene partner whose handling of Laura’s discomfort with loving two men at the same time is particularly compelling. She’s also very naturally funny.

Using this futuristic setting to spark this story proves to be very productive, and rarely coming back to it aside from referencing it, like whether Simon paid for Laura’s test because he hoped he would be her soulmate or if Simon’s new date is a perfect match because she too hates the test, serves the film well. Bridges and Goldstein are a talented team, and this film is both fun and thought-provoking. There’s plenty to like about these characters and just as much to give viewers caution, creating a complex and rewarding experience that doesn’t offer simple answers to big and important questions.

Movie Rating: 8/10

Awards Buzz: Goldstein and Poots are both terrific and would certainly be deserving of Golden Globe nominations or the like, but this film isn’t likely to be a big awards contender unless it finds the right distributor and marketing angle.