Filmed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, U are the Universe is a tender, low-key beauty that stuns with its immense humanity and poignancy. For much of the runtime, it’s a two-man show, led by Volodymyr Kravchuk, who plays our hero, Andriy. Opposite to him is the disembodied voice of Leonid Popadko, playing Andriy’s snarky robot Maxim.

Andriy is on a routine job to dump nuclear waste onto one of the moons of Jupiter. It’s a crummy gig that takes years, but at least the work is easy. Andriy doesn’t seem to mind, and he spends most of his time cutting corners and passing the buck. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

Then, just as he’s about to return home, Earth explodes. Suddenly, Andriy is alone, and everything he was anticipating to happen — or not happen — upon his arrival, is gone. He’s the last human in the universe, and he doesn’t know how to cope with that information.

From there, U are the Universe detours into an odyssey of connection and finding someone, anyone, who understands you. It makes the most of its high concept and builds into a satisfying and often deeply moving conclusion. How it does this is best left unsaid. While the turns aren’t steep enough to be called twists, discovering the roundabout ways U are the Universe unfolds is a delight in itself.

None of this would work without the beautiful leading performances. Kravchuk is mesmerizing in the lead, effortlessly balancing between prickly humor and deep-seated trauma. There’s a moment where his petty joy over outliving those who wronged him turns into a fragile and despondent realization of what that actually means. Kravchuk says so much with a simple expression. We like him even at his nastiest because we understand where he comes from.

The smart directing makes the most out of the low budget. This is a film that doesn’t require big effects shots to work. Instead, the worn out dials and old-school technology, especially in Maxim’s digitized “face”, allow us to insert our own experiences with dated gear into the story. Everyone knows the frustrations of working with less-than-perfect equipment, especially when your company has done the bare minimum on their part.

U are the Universe is not a big film, but it is a grand experience. It’s so full of emotion that it lingers long after the credits have rolled. We’ve seen isolated stories of space travel before, and know the best ones are all about the inner rather than outer space in the end. U are the Universe is an exploration of what it means to be alone, and one can’t help but read into it some semblance of what is happening in Ukraine right now.

It’s a delicate metaphor, beautifully told, that deserves to be seen by everyone, everywhere.