This article explores how architecture functions as a liminal space in Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language, drawing from Abbas Kiarostami’s minimalist aesthetics to examine themes of displacement, identity, and cultural hybridity. Through an analysis of the film’s spatial design, narrative structure, and visual composition, we investigate how architectural and cultural in-betweenness mediates the tension between homeland and motherland, dissolving rigid boundaries and enabling a fluid negotiation of personal and collective histories.

Focusing on the parallel stories of a young girl’s search for a frozen 500 Rial note and a bureaucrat’s attempt to reconnect with his mother, this article examines how Universal Language employs nonverbal expression, spatial movement, and visual framing to create a poetic meditation on belonging and identity formation. By situating the film within the broader discourse on liminality in cinema, this study highlights how Rankin’s engagement with space extends beyond aesthetic choices, becoming a narrative and psychological device that reshapes memory, perception, and evolving cultural identities.