Directed By Ava Duvernay

Starring – Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Nicey Nash

The Plot – While grappling with tremendous personal tragedy, Isabel (Ellis-Taylor) sets herself on a path of global investigation and discovery. Despite the colossal scope of her project, she finds beauty and bravery while crafting one of the defining American books of our time.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving racism, violence, some disturbing images, adult language and smoking.

Origin – Official Trailer (2024) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Even today, racism still stands as one of the world’s most compromising cancers to universal unity, but often one that is improperly used to define prejudice between two people of the same nationality or color. This is where “Origin” makes its loudest case unraveling the realities of the Caste system, in which an overwhelming majority will appraise themselves superior over weaker minorities, creating one superior breed of human to rule and dominate. Considering I knew very little about the Caste system prior to the film, Duvernay does a remarkable job of illustrating its distinct differences from misconceived racism, alluding to Caste remaining prominent even within a race of similar people and backgrounds. This is lifted masterfully from the novel that the film chronicles, titled “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson, which not only sifts through many unique forms of social prejudices, past and present, that help construct how we as a world have gotten to the overwhelming disconnect that we currently reside in, but also leads towards some fascinating conversations that, while a bit heavy handed and obvious in how they’re articulated, really evokes an internal awakening that will inevitably change how you look at the world, for better or worse. Duvernay’s finest quality as a storyteller has always been her fearlessness and resiliency to rock the boat, brandishing an unapologetic approach to uncovering history and contemporary social stigma’s in ways that will undoubtedly make some audiences uncomfortable, but beyond this her value and appreciation to evocative imagery that makes the material hit all the more emotionally in its reflections of the overhead narrative. This could pertain towards Ava’s ability to tap into character psychologies with fantastical imagery that in this case speaks volumes towards the feelings of grief or disappointment that represent so many of Isabel’s own conflicts, but also in her decision to craft the presentation with handheld camera movements that puts us up close and personal with the devastation, proving that catharticism only happens when we face adversity head on, through some dark and haunting moments in the depths of world history. It’s aided remarkably in this cause by the extent of the gifted ensemble, which brings more than a surprise or two towards meaningful cameo appearances, but particularly Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Nicey Nash, whose cousin dynamic evolves into the heart and soul of this movie’s emotional resonance. Ellis-Taylor hands in what I believe is easily her best work to date as this jaded author at the crossroads of her own life and that of her next literary challenge, and considering Aunjanue supplants such sincerity and bravery to the defining characteristics of Isabel, we can’t fight the feelings of investing into the personal and emotional growth of the character, which materializes from the elements she uncovers about the Caste system. Nash wisely commands more of the movie’s humorous moments, but her character isn’t defined by simply being comic relief, but rather Isabel’s comforting arms that continuously pull her out of the proverbial fire, helping to supplant this lived-in brand of chemistry between them that serves the movie well between scenes of prejudicial remorse. Lastly, if you watch this film for one distinct reason, make it the final thirty minutes, where the summarized aspects of Isabel’s commanding thesis comes together towards a riveting climax that ties its many threads of story points together. Not everything is perfect in execution, primarily comparing Trayvon Martin’s murder to Caste, instead of the obvious racism that it is, but a third act sequence involving a black boy being banned from swimming in a pool is heartbreaking in ways that highlight how prejudice doesn’t suffer from ageism, and considering the craft behind it seamlessly ties together the past and present in ways much of the previous editing doesn’t manage, it hits the audience the hardest during the most precise moments, leaving them with impactful life lessons that I hope and believe that each of them will take with them beyond the safe sanctimony of a theater’s enclosing walls.

NEGATIVES

Considering the meaningful material and Duvernay’s previously documented range in narrative storytelling, it’s unfortunate that “Origin’s” most defining characteristic is that it’s ultimately a disappointing execution, and one filled with frustrating creative and executive decisions that hinder its accessibility, especially during the film’s inferior opening half. For starters, I feel greatly that this story would’ve worked a lot better as a documentary, especially considering Duvernay, a documentarian in her own right, supplants so many unique framing devices to the engagement that practically already view it in the same light. In fact, there’s a real problem with time management here, in which the historical narrative focuses on as many as four different timelines throughout the proceedings, with each surmizing their own bullet point within the Caste realities that work cohesively with Isabel’s thesis. This would be fine enough on its own, but that narrative is balanced with a biopic approach of sorts towards Isabel’s own life, full of reflective prejudicial glances, as well as untimely family deaths that quite literally come out of nowhere in the context of some awful editing that make their passings feel like spontaneous tonal shifts to smother more drama into the proceedings. For that drama, most of the storybeats work towards materializing it, but some are overwhelmed by a melodramatic meandering music score that overrides the influence and integrity of the scenes and sequences that they are accommodating, reaching annoying levels of reality that shouldn’t have led to the unintended laughs from my engagement that it did. Such an example pertains to a scene involving cops driving by a group of white kids in a white neighborhood, where the music is warm and wondrous, which is then followed by the same cop driving into a black neighborhood, with black children, where the music tones go dark and ominous. It’s silly for the sake of hammering home the same points that the material does a damn fine job of outlining, all the while obliterating the nuance of Duvernay’s execution, which the production can’t help but continuously intrude upon. “Origin” also feels like a documentary for its exposition and interactions between Isabel and quite literally everybody that she comes across, during the duration of the film. Whether in conveying the aspects of Caste to her cousin, in which questions between them are conjured in methods that aren’t believable or natural, or scenes where she interviews guests, in which their dialogue feels didatic in ways that forcefully summarize the intention towards audiences. With a documentary, these interview scenes can breathe in being anything that the interviewer and experimentation of the project needs them to be, but in a narrative-driven story, with a corresponding protagonist driving many of the developments, they dominate the landscape of time allowance, leaving Isabel’s familial drama feeling like the outcast in a film that literally surrounds her. Finally, at 130 minutes, the film is a test of patience as a result of the aforementioned disjointed editing, which collides respective timelines in ways that forcefully overrides them with one another. This obviously makes it difficult to remain focused to what part of the story the narrative is exploring and expressing from one scene to the next, but beyond that convolutes the execution in ways that rarely, if ever, introduces them seamlessly to the rhythm of the storytelling, creating a tonal and frenetic whiplash that I truly believed could’ve worked itself out without a protagonist narrative being attached to the explorations of Caste.

OVERALL
“Origin” impresses and astounds with the kind of thought-provoking insight and paralyzing social commentary that aims to fix the future, even when it’s already too late for our pasts. Though Duvernay conjures an ambitiously daring exploration, the pieces as a narrative-driven film don’t come together in ways that could and should make it one of the best films of the year, instead finalizing this frustrating engagement that often feels at war with itself, when it should be practicing the kind of unity among its production that it preaches towards its audience with its message.

My Grade: 6/10 or C+