An ode to human connections.
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A narratively non-linear, anthology-like foreign language film set in an alternate reality sounds like one of the most inaccessible films there could be. Yet, this 2024 Cannes Film Festival gem is a light-hearted, 89-minute family-friendly film that’s perhaps amongst the most delightful surprises of cinema in the past year.
Directed and co-written by Matthew Rankin, Universal Language is his sophomore feature film, and a fine ensemble piece headed by Rankin himself, along with a handful other actors, including a pair of adorable juvenile performances by Rojina Esmaeili and Saba Vahedyousefi.
Taking place somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran (hence alternate reality because Canada and Iran, respectively, are many thousand miles apart), various characters confront a myriad of situations while switching between Persian and French. Esmaeili and Vahedyousefi play Negin and Nazgol – who discover a five-hundred dollar note frozen under ice and who find ways to extract it; Pirouz Nemati plays Massoud, a local tour guide who just doesn’t seem to get it right; and Rankin plays Matthew, a man who quits his unsatisfying government job in Quebec and then makes a trip home to visit his estranged mother. Their paths cross and reconverge in unexpected turns, exposing the absurdity of the world and of life itself, as well as the interconnectedness of human beings and their actions – how one thing leads to another.
Rankin lets loose in the creative realm he conceives for this film. At multiple points in the film, things feel almost too much or too out of the box, but they never really do. In the moment, us audiences might laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of a situation, only to realise upon reflection, hours after the film is over, that our lives in fact do not deviate much from Rankin’s imagination.
Whether it be tolerating a superior whose heart just isn’t where it should be, seeking help from somebody only to find out they have totally no clue of what is happening, or struggling to explain a real problem to someone who simply does not believe it, Rankin weaves these hardships and more into a tight (but not rushed) screenplay, and executes the story with style and the right ratio of comedy and drama.
Even for viewers who prefer having an enjoyable time at the cinemas and not having to infer or reflect, just the aesthetics of this film could be enough to fulfill them. Some would make a convenient comparison with the visuals in Wes Anderson’s films, and while Rankin certainly makes a mark for himself with this film, the effect and effectiveness of the set pieces, cinematography and characterisation do generate similar appreciation in the audience as that of an Anderson film.
Without giving it away, the last scene of the film, although completely expected, is precisely how this film should end, just to drive the message home. No matter what happens in life, the Sun will rise again tomorrow, same time, same place.
Universal Language is an unlikely crowd pleaser. Bizarre, funny and wholesome, this film is an ode to human connections. Catch it exclusively at The Projector from 3 April 2025!
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