Romantic dramas often end in the proverbial “happily ever after” for the lead characters. However, not every love story gets the ending viewers want or expect. That’s exactly what happens in the 2024 sci-fi romantic drama All of You. The irony here is that Soul Connex, the soulmate-matching service at the center of the movie, actually does what it’s supposed to do. It pairs Laura (Imogen Poots) with Lukas (Steven Cree), a stranger she eventually marries and starts a family with, all while her best friend Simon (Brett Goldstein) watches from the friend zone after paying for the test himself.
But being compatible on paper doesn’t mean that much in real life; at least that’s the disclaimer Soul Connex should have added to their bio. Timing and guts matter more than compatibility. The film spends ten years (that’s how long co-writers Goldstein and William Bridges worked on this) making that point. And then it just decides not to reward Laura and Simon with a happy ending. Love stories don’t get sadder than that, but that’s life.
Trusting the Algorithm Is the Most Human Thing Laura Could Have Done
It’s easy to blame Laura for making things harder than they should be. She was so eager to find her soulmate that she was willing to outsource that responsibility to a machine, while ignoring that he was always right in front of her. But anyone who has had to deal with the same things she did knows that life is rarely that simple. Thankfully, the film knows that, too. Deep down, using Soul Connex wasn’t about finding “the one” for Laura. It was more about dodging the terror of making the wrong choice.
It’s worth noting that by paying for the test, Simon tacitly agrees with Laura’s point of view, even though he’s clearly in love with her and is against everything Soul Connex stands for. Why? Because certainty feels safer than blurting out feelings and not having those feelings reciprocated. Sound familiar? If it does, it’s because it’s pretty much the same promise various dating apps keep making to their users. Tinder, for instance, gives a match percentage designed to push active users together. And like most people, Laura bought the idea that data knows better than her own heart.
What Looks Like Betrayal Is Actually the Film’s Most Honest Moment
The test leads to Laura being linked with and eventually marrying Lukas. Time passes, and their life together gets comfortable, boring even. Simon dates around, including Laura’s friend Andrea (Zawe Ashton), but he never really moves on. Then something huge shakes Laura’s world and pushes them closer together. All the while, they knew where the line was and chose not to cross it. This time, though, they both decide to throw restraint to the wind and explore the attraction between them.
Crucially, the affair isn’t just some steamy romance fantasy. It’s the messy kind, filled with stolen moments and the kind of regret that comes when two people who care deeply for each other realize too late that they didn’t really explore their mutual feelings. The normal rom-com route would be to use that realization as the start of a journey to an eventual happy ending.
But All of You actively pushes back against that idea. It wasn’t about finally getting it right so much as it was about two people finally being honest with each other about the fact that they won’t really work as a couple. Laura particularly says she won’t leave Lukas and means it. Goldstein put it bluntly in an interview: “She’s never gonna leave him. She said that. She hasn’t lied. She’s been true to what she told him…” More importantly, the film doesn’t make anyone the villain, and it doesn’t give audiences an easy out either. That’s what keeps All of You from being another messy love triangle.
Not Every Real Love Story Gets to Finish the Way We Want It To
More often than not, fictional love stories with similar elements to that of Simon and Laura end the same way. The couple realizes their eternal love for each other and blows up their sensible lives to stay together. The end. But not All of You. It unequivocally argues that not every real love story ends the way audiences want it to.
Laura decides to return to her family as Simon prepares to leave the country for work. No last-minute speech and no last-minute airport chase. It’s a devastating ending that some saw as a cop out. But it’s actually the bravest thing the movie does. Goldstein says Simon walks away because being with Laura was like “heroin” to him, amazing while it’s happening, and slowly destroying everything else. Walking away isn’t losing; it’s the first real decision Simon makes for himself in the entire film. And because neither character was ever turned into a villain or saint to make the ending feel easier, it hits like real life – not a script.
Stream All of You on Apple TV+.
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