An employee at a postal office finds a very strange piece of correspondence. Curiosity gets the best of him, and through his eyes, we take a journey down a bizarre tale where reality and fiction blend without any pattern. It’s the story of Mott, an angel who was sent to Earth in order to accomplish three important tasks before the end of the world. Up until that moment, you would think that the premise easily flows into a film about self-discovery. Or perhaps, Mott’s mission is more violent and he must accomplish some balance. Nevertheless, that would be too easy, and writer/director Richard Melkonian apparently doesn’t like easy.
Melkonian’s storytelling style calls for a sober depiction of an ambiguous character arc. Mott could be an angel. But he could also be an ordinary man. “A normal and ordinary man,” he says at some point when he discovers that things in our realm are tasteful, exciting, and organic. The revelation of Universe25 arrives late in a film that feels like an artistic rendering of a fever dream, but Melkonian likes to keep the mystery ongoing.
Sometimes answers help, but sometimes, the lack of them also helps in making the experience a little more interesting. Suspension of disbelief is essential to make the Tarkovsky-esque movie a bit more compelling. It does drift away from its narrative a few times when it tries to justify other characters, but fortunately, Mott stays in the center all the time. He’s the engaging one—the robotic angel without feelings who gets distracted from his mission and puts everyone at risk.
Nevertheless, I must insist that Universe25 doesn’t run on the same rules as other films of this nature. This existential drama features no fancy special effects or strong antagonists that indulge in exposition dumps. It is a movie about becoming human against all odds. Mott is a religious representation of the morally complex nature of man. He gets “corrupted,” but it’s all for the best. His journey is filled with inevitable encounters with everything that makes us human.
Universe25 is beautifully shot on 16mm film. It has a grainy quality that makes Mott’s journey all the more authentic and mysterious. Its intentionally cryptic premise fits well with the gritty setting that is the European underworld where Mott has decided to mingle and become an ordinary man.
Some films are good to help find the answers to your own existence. And others will make you question what it is that makes us human, emotionally complex, and extremely vulnerable to those same emotions. Universe25 stands in the middle, and Melkonian remains firm in not letting his film tilt to any side of the conversation.
Film critic. Lover of all things horror. Member of the OFCS. RT Approved Critic.
