The Universal Theory

The Universal Theory is a 2023 mystery thriller film directed by Timm Kröger, from a screenplay written by Kröger with Roderick Warich.
The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered on 3 September 2023. It was theatrically released in Germany on 26 October 2023.

Plot

In 1962, physicist Johannes travels with his doctoral supervisor to a scientific congress in the Swiss Alps. It is there that he meets Karin, a jazz pianist, who is suspiciously knowledgeable about Johannes. A series of mysterious deaths occur at the mountainous site, and the two venture to uncover the secrets hidden below. The story includes an Iranian guest, a strange cloud formation in the sky and quantum mechanics.

Cast

Production

The Universal Theory was produced by Germany's Ma.ja.de. Fiction and The Barricades, in co-production with Austria's Panama Film and Switzerland's Catpics AG. Principal photography began in January 2022 at the ski resort of St. Jakob in Defereggen, Austria. The film was shot in black-and-white using CinemaScope. Filming was projected to wrap at the end of February.

Music

Diego Ramos Rodriguez composed the film's score, with additional music from David Schweighart and Viola Hammer. Oscilloscope Laboratories released the soundtrack in December 2023. A limited edition vinyl was released in August 2024.

Track listing

Release

The Universal Theory was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 3 September 2023. International sales were handled by Paris-based company Charades. In early October 2023, it was announced that Oscilloscope Laboratories had acquired U.S. distribution rights. The film was theatrically released in Germany by Neue Visionen on 26 October 2023. Stadtkino Filmverleih released the film in Austria on 10 November 2023. Filmcoopi Zürich released the film in Switzerland on 1 February 2024.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 30 reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.