It seems like in every other review I’ve written this year, I’ve had to discuss a horrible trend in the film industry where a film releases a misleading trailer. All of You is the latest project guilty of deception, fooling audiences into thinking a rom-com awaits them when, in reality, it’s just two selfish people with destructive habits.
Simon (Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots) have been best friends since college and, despite years of unspoken feelings, are a clear and obvious match for each other. Laura takes the bait when a heavily advertised test claims the ability to match users to their soulmate. After she gets matched with Lukas (Steven Cree), she continuously sees Simon throughout the years, in both random and not-so-random scenarios. What transpires over time is a great lesson in dating and emphasizes the importance of communication.
First of all, when you think of Brett Goldstein, you think of Ted Lasso. I don’t make the rules; that’s just what it is. So the foul-mouthed, short-tempered AFC Richmond character, etched in the minds of the masses, is now poised to be a witty love interest. While I’m a fan of his acting, this wasn’t the role for him, and since he wrote it, the characters should’ve had “more”.
Simon and Laura share dark humor, similar personalities, and a boatload of bad habits. They drink heavily and do drugs like MDMA, which doesn’t aid in their decision-making throughout the film. Their lack of communication should serve as a valuable lesson to audiences on how not to handle relationships. Simon was around for all of Laura’s major moments and knew everything about her, but when it came time to share his feelings, he opted for a joke. He used it as a coping mechanism, and it very much ruined his life. Lack of communication on both sides aided in their downfall.
The film goes off the deep end after Laura gets matched with Lukas. Laura is absolutely mental and lacks the maturity to be in a serious relationship, let alone be a wife. Selfish, toxic behavior runs rampant for the rest of the film, with spats of joy in between. If Laura is married to Lukas, then that should be that. There’s no romance or story to be had with Simon, but the writers beg to differ! Laura takes a solid stance on not leaving Lukas. Ever. But she’s willing to cheat on him for years, lying about her whereabouts to feed her heavy sex drive with Simon. Her slimiest moment was sleeping with Simon after her father’s funeral, then meeting with him months later and blaming her infidelity on him. “You took advantage of me!” she claimed. Yet she went to his house (unannounced) and tackled him upon entering.
The way the film is edited is wonky. The quick blips into the future are unexplained and ruin the film’s pace. It’s disjointed from the get, with early attempts to let subtleties do the explaining, but failing soon after. The editing only exacerbated an already murky storyline that failed at intrigue, romance, and feeling. Again, it was marketed like a feel-good rom-com, but the film was anything but that. I’ve written in the past about how British projects often fail in the U.S., and All of You is no different. The film now joins a pitiful list alongside Renegade Nell (Disney) and Prime Target (Apple TV+).
All of You gets a 5.5 out of 10. The only time Poots and Goldstein look like a romantic couple is when they meet for sex romps. Romantic walks on the beach and hangouts in chateaus are marred by the fact that she’s still married. Distant love? Absolutely not. The film spent an hour and a half romanticizing adultery and didn’t feel “good” in the least bit. The way trends work with film, I usually have a countdown before there’s unnecessary nudity, because at this point, I know it’s coming (it’s expected). When it finally arrived, it seemed excessive and unwarranted. This is not The Notebook or The Idea of You; this is a film that sends the message, “cheating is ok as long as we’re nice about it”. Infidelity and divorce were normalized terms by the film’s end. Anything romantic was just a mirage.
All of You premieres in select theatres and on Apple TV+ on Sept. 26
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Apple TV+
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 1hr, 38 minutes
Trailer: Watch
U.S. Release Date: September 26, 2025