Ukrainian science fiction became a hit at the box office in 2025
24 December 06:12
The Ukrainian science fiction film You Are Space, directed by Pavlo Ostrikov, has set a record at the national box office. Over the course of five weekends, the film grossed UAH 53.4 million, becoming the highest-grossing Ukrainian feature film of 2025, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports, citing data from Dzyga MDB.
The film was released on November 20, 2025, and has been watched by 290,425 viewers since then.
In general, You Are Space became the second highest-grossing Ukrainian film of 2025, behind only Anton Ptushkin’s documentary Antarctica about Ukrainian polar explorers at the Akademik Vernadsky station. This film grossed at least UAH 75 million at the box office.
At the same time, You Are Space outperformed the previous leader among feature films, The Train to December 31 by Film.ua, which earned UAH 52.05 million.
The film’s producer Volodymyr Yatsenko noted that the film’s success destroys stereotypes about the alleged incompatibility of auteur and commercial cinema.
“The issue of the original dichotomy between ‘author’s’ and ‘commercial’ cinema can be considered closed. Because you can be represented at more than 60 film festivals around the world, win more than 20 awards, and become the highest-grossing Ukrainian feature film of the year,” Yatsenko wrote on Facebook.
Seven years of work and government support
The director’s team and the ForeFilms film company, headed by Volodymyr and Anna Yatsenko, have been working on You Are Space for seven years. The total budget of the film was $800,000, of which UAH 24 million was allocated by the Ukrainian State Film Agency.
Back in September 2025, the producers predicted box office receipts of UAH 40-50 million, but the actual figures exceeded expectations.
What the movie is about
“You Are Space is a sci-fi drama about Andriy Melnyk, a space trucker who transports radioactive waste to a Jupiter moon. During one of his flights, he witnesses the destruction of the Earth and believes that humanity has perished.
The situation changes when he is contacted by a French woman, Catherine, another survivor.
International recognition
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024. Since then, the film has won more than 20 international awards, including the Grand Prix at the Odesa Film Festival.
Variety praised the film for its “brilliant dialogues” and “poignant ending”, and the British Film Institute included the film in its list of the best films of 2024.
