“Origin” Review
Starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Pultizer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson, “Origin” depicts how Wilkerson explored the issues to injustice that became the basis for the best-selling book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents”.
Amidst the chaos, protests and cries for justice in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, many Americans sought answers for the tough questions they were asking themselves and each other. For these answers, some turned to books which included a newly published nonfiction title called “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” which took American racism in its many forms and made the connection to the caste systems of Nazi Germany and India. It was a best-seller, critically acclaimed and has now been adapted into a film by writer/director Ava DuVernay. But how do you take a nonfiction book that spans lengthy periods of time across three continents and turn it into a feature film? Well, in the hands of a talented filmmaker like DuVernay, she has taken this challenging assignment and has made the first great film of 2024 with “Origin”.
Functioning as a biopic of the book’s author, Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who has just published her first book when she’s approached by a friend about writing something about the recent shooting of Trayvon Martin. Wanting to write a deeply explorative piece about prejudice, Wilkerson begins to dig deep into the history of systems of oppression all over the world and makes several discoveries about how all of these infamous hierarchies have connective tissue. As Wilkerson continues to write and research, her personal life is hit with multiple tragedies that push her towards turning this idea into the acclaimed book we now know.
What makes “Origin” such a smart film and so mesmerizing is that, despite tackling incredibly complicated issues that require much nuance, Ava DuVernay has taken the compelling ideas of “Caste” and melded them with an intimate portrait of a phenomenal writer. DuVernay is no stranger to making nonfiction films dealing with race, as seen in the incredible documentary “13th”, so she could have easily just turned “Caste” into a documentary. Instead, DuVernay chose to do a narrative film and I applaud this choice in form. By focusing on the life of Isabel Wilkerson as she’s writing the book, we see the world through her eyes and her passion for what she’s discovering becomes ours.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s leading performance is engaging from start to finish as she navigates this complicated history while also dealing with her own personal troubles. So much of what made “Origin” such a great film was how well Ellis-Taylor captures the viewer’s attention and keeps them locked into the complex issues that Wilkerson is examining.
With DuVernay, who wrote the film’s screenplay, she has found the right balance with the film being an excellent representation of “Caste” layered over this compelling biopic of the author. “Origin” deals with so much information but DuVernay never dumbs it down. Instead, she always looks for the humanity at the center and focuses on that. In the case of the explanation of how America’s treatment of black people is strikingly related to Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews and India’s treatment of the Dalets, we not only discover this at the same time as Wilkerson but she also finds the human stories at the center of these struggles. While researching all three of these caste systems, she finds these incredible stories of people who were victims of the caste hierarchy and also became resistors. I knew that “Origin” was truly inspiring something in me when I became so emotionally involved with the lives of the people that Wilkerson was researching for her book.
With complicated subjects like the history of systemic oppression in America, it seems like the room for nuance and complicated discussion has been shrinking since it’s hard to sum these things up in a single Tweet. What I like about “Origin” is how it never compromises itself and treats its audience with the intelligence and dignity that they crave. Generally, I think people want films that will make them think and can teach them something valuable while also providing a powerful narrative to follow. With this film, I think that it will not only inspire more introspection about the history of this country but will also make you want to read the book and every other writer and work that was referenced in the film. When you want to explore as much as you can about the film you just watched, that’s a sign it has done its job to a spectacular degree.
In the past two decades, Ava DuVernay has made an incredible mark across multiple forms of media including documentary, narrative film and television. So much of her work has explored issues related to social justice and “Origin” not only rests well alongside “Selma”, “13th” and “When They See Us”, but has taken non-fiction book adaptations to a whole new level. This is the kind of film that I sincerely hope audiences check out because it is most definitely worth the price of admission.
