Universal Language is a cinematic oddity, blending the stark poetry of Iranian New Wave cinema with the deadpan absurdity of a Winnipeg winter. Matthew Rankin, who directs and also stars as a melancholic version of himself, crafts a world so vividly strange that it feels like a memory you didn’t know you had.
The film weaves three narrative threads: two schoolgirls, Negin and Nazgol (Rojina Esmaeili and Saba Vahedyousefi), on a quest to free a banknote frozen in ice; a tour guide, Massoud (Pirouz Nemati), leading bewildered visitors through Winnipeg’s mundane landmarks; and Matthew, a bureaucrat returning to his hometown to visit his ailing mother. Each story unfolds with a deliberate, almost hypnotic rhythm, captured in Isabelle Stachtchenko’s cinematography, which renders the city’s architecture and snow-laden streets in a palette of beige, gray, and startling pops of color. The visual style, reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s framing but steeped in Iranian director Kiarostami’s humanism, which grounds the film’s surreal premise in an uncanny familiarity.
Rankin’s decision to set this cultural mash-up in Winnipeg—a city he describes as emerging from “50 years of discount furniture commercials”—is both a joke and a revelation. The film’s humor is dry, often delivered through visual gags or a classroom scene where a French teacher (Mani Soleymanlou) scolds students for speaking Persian.
What sets Universal Language apart is its refusal to explain its own logic. Why does Winnipeg pulse with Iranian culture? Why are turkeys a recurring topic? Rankin, alongside co-writers Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi, trusts the audience to embrace the dreamlike ambiguity, much like the Iranian films he admires. This choice can be disorienting—some viewers may find the random narrative and obscure references challenging—but it’s also what makes the film so rewarding.
Universal Language is a film that doesn’t just borrow from Iranian cinema but builds a bridge to it, inviting viewers into a world where differences are not erased but celebrated.
Email:neill@outloudculture.com
