Brett Goldstein Talk His Toronto Festival Romance ‘All of You’

“All of You,” a sales title premiering in Toronto Sept. 7, features a test many viewers might shy away from taking.

In the story, set in the near-future, science has devised a method to determine one’s true soulmate — if one is willing to take the test. An unexpected answer comes between Simon (Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots), and their meetings over the years after Laura discovers who her ideal partner really is (hint: not Simon, whom she loves despite herself) take on an increasing, painful intensity.

“We wanted to tell a relationship story,” says William Bridges, the film’s director and, with Goldstein, its co-writer. “And we found that by changing one thing in our world, it allowed us to unlock people’s perception of what true love is, and that was very rich territory for a love story.”

Bridges, an Emmy-winner for “Black Mirror” (his two episodes include the fan favorite “USS Callister”), originally made “All of You” with Goldstein as a short film after sparking the idea while discussing their respective relationships. “At the time, we didn’t have funding for anything,” Bridges says. “We wrote it for ourselves, to get to the end and see if there’s a movie in it.”

There was — and, in the intervening years, both men experienced career upswings (Goldstein is now a two-time Emmy winner for “Ted Lasso,” and co-created Apple’s TV+’s comedy “Shrinking”). “I could cry,” Goldstein says. “It’s like my baby, this one — what we’ve dreamt of doing for 10 years. I rarely say this — I’m really proud of it.”

Part of the film’s signature is its tendency to leap forward in its story without onscreen titles indicating how much time has passed; viewers must use context to determine where Simon and Laura are, and what they mean to one another at each new milestone, moments that tend to be deeply significant for them both. “It helps the story have pace,” Poots says. “There’s something interesting about seeing the high-drama moments — moments where it feels more stylized.”

“Your enjoyment is working out how they relate to each other,” Bridges says. “But for the actors, it’s a big ask — it spans 15, 20 years.”

Goldstein says with a laugh: “Our schedule was set by my beard length. We started with a big beard, and then we’d shave it a bit — the hardest part was keeping beard continuity.”

Keeping the timeline straight while shooting out of sequence was a challenge — but the film was buoyed by an esprit de corps. “It was a very quick shoot,” says Poots, known for roles in films like “French Exit” and “The Father.” “But the beauty of this job sometimes is incredibly guerrilla — grabbing shots around London streets at rush hour. But that’s the thrill.”

“All of You” tells an intimate story inflected by technology, but Bridges is quick to clarify that it’s not science fiction: “We just want to tell this specific love story, and only touch on how the world has changed through [the characters’] perspective.” The shift in culture and tech is a supporting player; Simon and Laura — and what exists between them — are the stars.

Poots compares the film to movies from the 1970s and 1980s that she’s returned to throughout her life, like “Heartburn” and “Falling in Love.” “They taught me what I’m made of and what’s important in life,” she says. “I hope this means something to people.” (As an aside, she jokes: “I hope it doesn’t break up marriages!”)

As for Goldstein, best-known for his work on television — he wants it to play on as grand a screen as possible after its run in Toronto. “My hope is that it gets a huge cinema release. I’m a cinema guy,” he says. “And I would love for it to be in cinemas so people can laugh and cry together.”