At first glance, it would seem that Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her future brother-in-law Julius (Jacob Elordi) might harbor secret feelings for each other. They hold hands and exchange knowing glances out of sight of Muriel's fiancé Lee (Will Poulter). But life (and love) is much more complicated in 1950s America. “On fast horses.” Muriel and Julius travel through Kansas, Nevada, California and Mexico in search of their own discovery, and Julius leaves their shared home to embark on a journey with an ambitious dreamer named Henry (Diego Calva). Unfulfilled by her waitressing job and inattentive husband, Muriel harbors some secrets of her own: she bets on horses to build up a small nest egg and develops a fondness for her neighbor Sandra (Sasha Calle). As Julius comes in and out of her life, Muriel must figure out what true happiness means to her.
What begins as a simple love story is anything but, and the beautiful and sometimes painful denouement is wonderfully striking and emotional. Director Daniel Minahan smothers his romantic melodrama in rich period detail, drenching it in the pastel greens, blues and yellows of mid-century America with all the glitz and refinement of a new home that Julius can't stand and Muriel finds stifling. Lee's dream is a healthy vision for his family, but his demand for conformity doesn't allow Julius and Muriel's true identities to come through.
Screenwriter Bryce Kass, who adapted Shannon Pufahl’s novel of the same name, brings together the high-stakes experiences of two lost souls trying to find themselves in parallel stories, carefully building suspense for each character as the film builds to its tear-filled climax. Edgar-Jones shines in one of the best performances of her career, channeling a young, glamorous Elizabeth Taylor (complete with hair, makeup, and wardrobe) as she navigates her burning forbidden desires and sexuality. Elordi, brooding but equally appealing, seems modeled after James Dean and Montgomery Clift, a young man disappointed with the cards life has dealt him until he meets the right person. As love interests, both Calva and Calle are smoldering presences operating at different intensities that pique the interest of their partners. The film feels electric when these characters connect, and its actors’ performances let the sparks fly freely until reality and guilt intrude.
In “Meet the Barbarians” Julie Delpy stars in and directs a humanitarian comedy about loving your neighbor even if they are from another country. Co-written by Delpy, Matthieu Rumani, Nicolas Slomka and Lea Domenech, “Meet the Barbarians” begins in a small town in the French countryside preparing to receive refugees from Ukraine. In a minor bureaucratic mess and the high demand for Ukrainian refugees from other benevolent communities, the town instead welcomes a family from Syria. Chaos ensues as the new family faces various forms of racism, xenophobia and prejudice from various members of the town, while others, like Delpy’s well-meaning teacher, desperately try to help this family build their new home.
“Meet the Barbarians” tackles similar themes to Ken Loach’s latest film, “The Old Oak,” but with a much more comedic approach. Even Delpy has some physical comedy scenes riding his bike and wrestling with a video camera. Many of the jokes are good-natured, such as Delpy’s father Albert, who plays a farmer with a funny sense of humor and the comment that he is one of the first to lend a welcoming hand to refugees, or how the Syrian grandfather overcomes cultural differences through food. At times, the film turns serious, such as when a racist nationalist breaks up a party or the Syrian family finds hateful graffiti when they arrive at their new home. Most of the events in the film seem predictable and formulaic, but the shift in tone can prove quite jarring, interrupting the narrative flow of events, changing the mood of the film in a painfully distracting turn.
Delpy’s film addresses the hypocritical state of humanitarian aid, attitudes towards refugees in Europe, as well as the power dynamic between husband and wife and how it can affect women’s political voice. This is especially true of the character of Hervé (Laurent Lafitte), a working-class plumber who becomes the town villain shaped by misinformation and prejudice. He even goes so far as to align himself with right-wing extremists who try to scare the visiting family away from settling in the town and impose their views on his wife. This can also be seen in a less obvious way in the case of Anne (Sandrine Kiberlain), Julie’s best friend in the town, as her intolerant husband pressures her and angers her over Julie’s inaction in opposing the family’s stay. Delpy wants to find a way to entertain and critique at the same time, however, the result makes the film feel rather uneven, causing the film to swing wildly between comedic scenes and dramatic moments without warning.
Our next film takes us to a near future where soulmates are now matched by the results of a test in William Bridges’ drama “All of You.” Simon (Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots) are old friends and have long-standing feelings for each other, but only Laura wants to take the futuristic test that would reveal her one true love. Simon is an old-fashioned romantic who gives her the money for the test in hopes that it will confirm their love for each other. Instead, the results point Laura toward Lukas (Steven Cree), and the couple get married and have a child, sharing the life Simon once thought he could have with Laura. Instead, he dates other women, including Jenna Coleman from “Doctor Who” and Zawe Ashton from “The Marvels,” to get over Laura, but as the pair find themselves in each other’s arms over the years, they are left with the confusing question of “what if?” and wonder if maybe the test was wrong after all.
Co-written by Bridges and Goldstein, “All of You” acts as an extension of their previous TV collaboration “Soulmates,” which also explores the experiences of several couples in which one’s fate is chosen by an algorithm. This time around, the story moves through years and years of the couple’s lives, quickly moving from one milestone to the next, pausing only briefly for moments when the two share passionate exchanges and stolen glances. “All of You” has a sleek quality to its visual style to enhance its futuristic settings — even when the characters steal time together surrounded by nature, their hotel rooms looking different enough to put a few decades between our present and then. However, the narrative timeline can feel blurry when characters exit a screen and re-enter several years later, causing a bit of confusion along the way.
Simon’s dilemma as the man who doesn’t want technology to dictate his life decisions feels fully realized in the film, but Laura’s flighty actions (starting an affair, then backing out, insisting on more trips together but calling it quits when she gets nervous) feel underdeveloped by comparison, flattening her character into a sort of “runaway date” trope. While not every aspect of the narrative worked for me, both Goldstein and Poots share enough passionate chemistry to keep their characters’ flames lit throughout the film. Their moments together crackle with sparks as they share childish banter at fancy restaurants, sneak away like teenagers for another forbidden tryst, and yes, steal themselves away for another heartbreaking goodbye. Even if we could rid the world of terrible dating apps in exchange for a test to show you your soulmate, the film warns its viewers that some of life’s answers can’t be found online or through an algorithm. Sometimes you just have to live life to find your own answers.