Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language is like stepping into a fever dream that someone tried to organize with a Canadian passport and a Farsi phrasebook. Fresh off its Cannes debut, this flick is headed for theaters in February 2025, and the trailer? It’s a trip.
expect the unexpected
Rankin’s latest offering tosses you into a world where Tehran and Winnipeg are neighbors in a surreal landscape. We’ve got kids finding cash frozen in ice, a tour guide who can’t keep his group together, and a guy ditching his soul-crushing job for a cryptic trek to see his mom. It’s a mashup of timelines, identities, and locations that somehow makes sense if you squint hard enough.
cinematic madness
Influenced by Iranian meta-realist directors and his own bonkers life experiences, Rankin blends his personal history with a kind of autobiographical hallucination. Imagine a very cold Wes Anderson colliding with Kiarostami in a snowstorm—that’s the vibe here.
Universal Language is gunning for those awards, but it’s not just another artsy flick. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and it’s got “you’ll talk about this one for weeks” written all over it.
Universal Language Matthew Rankin, Canadian surreal cinema, Tehran Winnipeg crossover, Cannes 2024 standout, February 2025 movie release
