Universal (2025) Review: An Intriguing Conversation Piece!

Universal is a sci-fi dramedy written and directed by Stephen Portland. Set almost entirely in a remote, off-grid cabin, the film takes a deliberately small-scale approach to ideas that are anything but small. With a tight runtime and a three-character structure, the story unfolds through conversation rather than spectacle. Joe Thomas, Rosa Robson, and Kelley Mack carry the film as academics and Portland frames the narrative as an intimate chamber piece, allowing philosophical questions to emerge naturally through character interaction rather than genre tropes.

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The plot follows Leo, a burned-out geneticist, his girlfriend Naomi, an anthropologist, as they retreat to the countryside in an attempt to disconnect from professional pressure and reconnect with each other. Their isolation is broken by Ricky, an eccentric and socially awkward woman Leo knows only through online exchanges. Ricky claims to have uncovered a hidden code buried within Leo’s published research. What begins as mild curiosity quickly escalates into an all-night intellectual standoff and competing worldviews.

Where Universal immediately stands out is in its handling of scientific ideas. At its core, the film is circling the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, but it approaches that concept from an unexpected angle. Rather than spaceships, laboratories, or global panic, the revelation arrives through theory, dialogue, and uneasy logic. The idea that alien authorship could be hidden within our own biology feels both unsettling and strangely plausible. Portland keeps the science accessible without dumbing it down, presenting complex concepts in a way that feels conversational and grounded.

Because Universal is built almost entirely around scientific debate and philosophical back-and-forth, the experience ultimately depends on whether you are in the mood for a dialogue-driven film. There is very little in the way of physical action or narrative detours, with most of the runtime devoted to the three characters talking through theories, disagreements and personal beliefs.

While this approach suits the film’s intellectual ambitions and ideas, it also limits its dramatic momentum. The conversations rarely escalate in a way that creates sustained tension, and the story tends to move laterally rather than forward. At times, it feels like the film is circling its central idea instead of actively pushing it into more urgent territory.

This lack of narrative escalation affects immersion. The premise invites a sense of awe and existential dread, yet the screenplay does not always translate that weight into the dramatic structure. While the conversational style is clearly intentional, the film could have benefited from sharper shifts in tone or moments of conflict that challenge the characters beyond intellectual disagreement.

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That said, the performances remain steady throughout. Joe Thomas brings quiet frustration and fatigue to Leo, Rosa Robson grounds the film with measured skepticism, and Kelley Mack injects nervous energy into Ricky, preventing the exchanges from becoming completely static.

In the end, Universal is a thoughtful indie sci-fi film that values ideas over spectacle and intimacy over scale. Its strength lies in its premise and its willingness to explore world-altering concepts through ordinary human interaction. While the execution may feel restrained and occasionally underpowered in terms of tension and narrative drive, the film remains an intriguing conversation piece.

‘Universal (2025)’ Rating – 3/5