U Are The Universe by Pavlo Ostrikov
Ivan Magrin-Chagnolleau
The Beauty and Absurdity of a Cosmic Quest
U Are the Universe, the remarkable first feature film by Pavlo Ostrikov, is built on almost nothing—one actor, the voice of a robot, and a distant human signal floating somewhere between planets. And yet, from this apparent minimalism emerges a film of surprising fullness and mastery. Volodymyr Kravchuk, as Andriy, delivers a magnetic performance: precise, vulnerable, and quietly humorous, he inhabits his solitary ship with a presence so grounded that we feel the metal hull around him, the recycled air he breathes, the ache of his isolation.
Opposite him, though never seen, Alexia Depicker gives the voice of Catherine, the French cosmonaut whose transmissions break into Andriy’s routine and into the vast silence of space. Her voice carries warmth, wit, and an understated melancholy — enough to create a full character out of sound waves alone. And between them stands Maxim, the ship’s robot (voiced with wry levity by Leonid Popadko), who becomes far more than an onboard system. The robot exists as a true character, sometimes comic, sometimes almost tender, always unsettlingly present.
The quest that propels the film — simultaneously absurd and sublime — keeps us firmly on the edge of our seats. Ostrikov never insists on logic; instead, he leans into the poetry of the unknown. Meaning in this universe is fragile, provisional, maybe even imaginary, yet it is pursued with touching tenacity. That pursuit is what grips us: the stubborn belief that even in the cold void, something still matters.
Aesthetically, the ship is a marvel. Its industrial lines, softened by scattered personal artifacts, evoke both claustrophobia and unexpected beauty. The recurring presence of vinyl records — spinning softly in zero‑gravity domesticity — becomes a lifeline to a lost world, a tactile reminder of humanity amid machinery and cosmic silence. The cosmos itself is rendered with luminous restraint: nebulas blooming like quiet thoughts, distant planets glowing with impossible colors. Ostrikov frames the infinite not as spectacle, but as emotional geography.
And then comes the ending — a tremendous blow, a rupture that reverberates long after the screen goes dark. Not because it explains the journey, but because it leaves us suspended in its mystery, holding onto the emotional shock like an echo that refuses to fade.
For a debut, U Are the Universe displays astonishing command: of tone, of rhythm, of existential tenderness. It is a meditation disguised as a space odyssey, an intimate drama wrapped in cosmic silence, a film that lingers like a constellation behind the eyelids.
Absurd, beautiful, unforgettable.
Director: Pavlo Ostrikov
Screenplay: Pavlo Ostrikov
Producers: Anna Sobolevska & Vladimir Yatsenko
Cinematography: Nikita Kuzmenko
Editing: Ivan Bannikov & Oleksiy Shamin
Sound: Maria Nesterenko
Music: Mykyta Moiseiev
Cast:
Volodymyr Kravchuk (Andriy)
Alexia Depicker (Catherine – voice)
Leonid Popadko (Robot Maxim – voice)