Universal Language (, ) is a 2024 Canadian absurdist comedy-drama film, co-written and directed by Matthew Rankin.
It received positive reviews from critics and was named one of the top 5 international films of 2024 by the National Board of Review. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. It had a limited release on February 25, 2025, through Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Plot The film is set in an alternate reality in which Persian, rather than English, is the dominant language of Canada, although it remains in coexistence with French.
Described as a "surreal comedy of disorientation" set "somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg", the film blends the initially unrelated, but gradually converging, stories of Negin (Rojina Esmaeili) and Nazgol (Saba Vahedyousefi), who find money frozen in ice and try to claim it; Massoud (Pirouz Nemati), a tour guide in Winnipeg who is leading a confused and disoriented tour group; and Matthew (Rankin), who quits his unfulfilling job with the government of Quebec and travels home to Winnipeg to visit his mother.Melanie Goodfellow, "Best Friend Forever Boards Sales On Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Title ‘Universal Language’; Oscilloscope Takes U.S. Rights". Deadline Hollywood, April 16, 2024.
Cast
Rojina Esmaeili as Negin Saba Vahedyousefi as Nazgol Sobhan Javadi as Omid Pirouz Nemati as Massoud Mani Soleymanlou as Iraj Bilodeau Danielle Fichaud as Monsieur Castonguay Matthew Rankin as Matthew Denis Houle as Jean Suissûr Annie St-Pierre as Jeanne and Réjeanne Suissûr Asinnajaq as Knitter
Release The film had its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2024, and had its North American premiere at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival.
It also screened as the opening film of the 2024 Festival du nouveau cinéma, in the Currents section of the 62nd New York Film Festival, and the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 under the World Cinema section, where it was screened together with An Urban Allegory by Alice Rohrwacher and JR.
It had a limited release in the United States on February 25, 2025, through Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Universal Language was selected as Canada's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. Rankin stated that it was the first film from Winnipeg to compete at the Academy Awards since La Salla in 1996. It made the shortlist of 15 films, but was not one of the five films selected as finalists.
Reception Critical response Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily wrote: "Universal Language is doggedly eccentric, something that’s mirrored in its exaggerated aesthetic. There’s a pink cowboy-hatted singing turkey-shop worker; a man wandering around wearing a lit Christmas tree over his body; an absurdist bingo hall where men and women are interchangeable. Inside a pharmacy, all the labels are a generic Adam Stockhausen tribute — only they're beige. There’s also a 'Kleenex repository' and reference made to a 'Winnipeg Earmuff Authority'. Sad-eyed characters say things like: 'My son choked to death in a marshmallow-eating contest,' or 'she was flattened in a steamrolling accident'. You could call it whimsical. Absurdist. Contrived. Or an unexpectedly unusual concept album that doesn't quite come off but was worth the effort. And you would be correct every time."Fionnuala Halligan, "‘Universal Language’: Cannes Review". Screen Daily, May 18, 2024.
Writing for IndieWire, David Ehrlich noted that the film "is first and foremost a testament to the shared artifice of all filmic storytelling, and to the singular realities it’s able to bring alive in turn."
In Vulture, Bilge Ebiri called the film the best he had seen at Cannes and "a magnificent film, one that feels warm and familiar even as we realize just how startlingly original it is."
The film was named to TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2024.Carlos Diaz, "Canada’s Top Ten: TIFF Celebrates the Best in Cinema for 2024". That Shelf, January 8, 2025.
Awards Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Cannes Film Festival 2024 Audience Award, Director's Fortnight Matthew Rankin Ben Dalton, "Matthew Rankin’s Persian, French-language drama ‘Universal Language’ wins inaugural Cannes Directors’ Fortnight audience award". Screen Daily, May 23, 2024. Melbourne International Film Festival 2024 Bright Horizons Award Sarah Downs, "2024 MIFF Awards Winners Announced". Variety, August 26, 2024. Toronto International Film Festival 2024 Best Canadian Discovery Steve Pond, "‘The Life of Chuck’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap, September 15, 2024. Vancouver International Film Festival 2024 Best Canadian Film Directors Guild of Canada 2024 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award Connie Thiessen, "Sweet Angel Baby leads DGC Awards’ film nominations". Broadcast Dialogue, September 20, 2024. National Board of Review 2024 Top Five International Films Clayton Davis, "‘Wicked’ Named Best Picture by National Board of Review, Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman Among Acting Winners". Variety, December 4, 2024. Toronto Film Critics Association 2024 Rogers Best Canadian Film Alex Nino Gheciu, "‘Universal Language’ wins best Canadian film at TFCA Awards, while ‘Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story’ named best documentary". Toronto Star, February 24, 2025. Canadian Screen Awards 2025 Best Motion Picture Sylvain Corbeil Nicholas Sokic, "Universal Language leads CSA 2025 film noms". Playback, March 26, 2025. Best Direction Matthew Rankin Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film Rojina Esmaeili Pirouz Nemati Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film Danielle Fichaud Mani Soleymanlou Saba Vahedyousefi Best Original Screenplay Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Ila Firouzabadi Best Art Direction/Production Design Louisa Schabas Best Costume Design Negar Nemati Best Editing Xi Feng Best Makeup Marie Salvado Best Casting in a Film Marilou Richer 8th Malaysia International Film Festival 2024 Best Cinematography Isabelle Stachtchenko Quebec Cinema Awards 2025 Best Film Sylvain Corbeil Fanny Bourel, "Une langue universelle en tête des nominations du Gala Québec Cinéma". Radio Canada International, October 8, 2025. Best Director Matthew Rankin Best Supporting Actor Mani Soleymanlou Best Supporting Actress Danielle Fichaud Revelation of the Year Pirouz Nemati Best Screenplay Matthew Rankin, Ila Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati Best Art Direction Louisa Schabas Best Costume Design Negar Nemati Best Cinematography Isabelle Stachtchenko Best Editing Xi Feng Best Original Music Amir Amiri, Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux Best Sound Pablo Villegas, Sacha Ratcliffe, Bernard Gariépy Strobl Best Hairstyling Nermin Grbic Best Makeup Marie Salvado Best Visual Effects Sam Javanrouh Best Casting Marilou Richer Most Successful Film Outside Quebec Sylvain Corbeil, Matthew Rankin, Ila Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati Prix collégial du cinéma québécois 2026 Best Feature Film Matthew Rankin Charles-Henri Ramond, "(PCCQ 2026) Les finalistes dévoilés". Films du Québec, January 14, 2026. Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma 2026 Prix Luc-Perreault Charles-Henri Ramond, "Une langue universelle primé par l’AQCC". Films du Québec, January 20, 2026.
See also List of submissions to the 97th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
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