Upstart distributor NEON had a big year in 2023. Between Infinity Pool, How To Blow Up a Pipeline, Foreign Language Oscar frontrunner Anatomy of a Fall, and Michael Mann’s Ferrari, the studio has been booked and busy all year, especially regarding awards season. So imagine my gleeful shock when learning one of my favorite directors, Ava DuVernay, is back with her latest film, Origin!
Then, imagine the heartbreak when I missed said film during its early December one-week limited run. THEN imagine my surprise when I peeped out an AMC Theater’s Monday Mystery Movie a couple of weeks ago and was blessed with Origin.
Directed by Academy Award-winner DuVernay and starring Oscar-nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Origin is inspired by Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson. For those unfamiliar, Caste is an award-winning nonfiction book that discusses the interconnectivity of caste systems across the world, from American Slavery to the Holocaust to the centuries of caste systems in India. Heavy stuff, right?
However, instead of translating this material in a traditional documentary format, DuVernay brilliantly adapts the New York Times-bestseller into a personal narrative that follows Wilkerson’s extraordinary journey in writing this book. The authorship of Caste is just as compelling as the subject matter itself. Representing this story narratively allows the audience to learn about Ms. Wilkerson and her theories about caste simultaneously. Throughout the multi-year writing process, Ms. Wilkerson lost many of her closest family and friends. So, watching Isabel overcome so much tragedy to finish her work is awe-inspiring in and of itself.
That’s why Ellis-Taylor in Origin is my favorite performance of the year. She portrays Wilkerson with so much poise and intelligence while not being afraid to let her pain leak out occasionally. In contrast to Wilkerson’s hyper-intellectualism, her loving husband Brett (Jon Bernthal) and her quick-witted cousin Marion (recent Emmy winner Niecy Nash-Betts) bring her back to Earth. Filling out the rest of the cast are more remarkable cameo-level appearances from Vera Farmiga, Blair Underwood, Nick Offerman, Finn Wittrock, and many more. Some play roles in Isabel’s contemporary world, while others play minor characters in serialized subplots throughout the film.
As eluded to before, Origin’s narrative format also opens the door to several historical anecdotes that further humanize the sprawling story of caste worldwide. Through these stories, we get glimpses into Nazi-occupied Germany, sundown towns in the American South, modern looks at Dalit communities in India, and more. These are complicated subject matters, so prepare to be emotionally tested by specific sequences. One scene near the film’s beginning, where a recent real-life tragedy is re-enacted, completely crushed me. Tears flooded from my face uncontrollably when the moment was over. It genuinely took about 20-30 minutes to recover fully–that’s one element that will divide people about this film.
In the story’s context, this experience was the inciting incident that motivated Isabel to write Caste, so watching it unfold is crucial to understanding the heart of Ms Wilkerson’s work. Still, the triggering nature of this scene is challenging to circumvent. In fact, for a chunk of the movie, I questioned whether this sequence was included purely for exploitation shock value. But then I realized this is Ava DuVernay – the director of Selma, 13th, and When They See Us. (Also, Queen Sugar if my mom is reading this) If there’s ANYONE in Hollywood we can trust to keep it real, it’s her. As Ms. DuVernay chronicles the author’s international examination of race, the auteur channels her earnest journey of discovery through the eyes of Isabel. You get a sense that you’re unraveling the mystery alongside Ava, Aunjanue, and the Origin crew, making the discovery process evermore enriching and relatable.
In dissecting the diaspora of caste, Isabel embarks on a globetrotting expedition to Germany and India. DuVernay and cinematography Matthew J. Lloyd craft a gorgeous visual landscape that engrosses the viewer in breathtaking locations. The most eye-opening segment of the film is Wilkerson’s trip to India and talking to different “Dalits.” Historically, Dalits – formerly known as “untouchables” – have been the lowest on the Hindu caste hierarchy. As a result, many Dalits in India are subjected to discrimination, poverty, occupation, demoralizing jobs like cleaning shitholes, and so much more. As Americans, we learned a little about caste systems in middle school/high school, but reading it in a history textbook versus seeing the conditions of some marginalized Dalits was mind-boggling.
The Hindu caste hierarchy has been so deeply ingrained into millenniums of Indian history that you’d think it’s impossible to equate that with what’s happening in America or WWII Germany. But somehow, the film seamlessly parallels the Black American struggle with the Dalits by highlighting speeches and writing from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s time in India. Similarly, the film boldly links the struggles of Jewish and Black Americans through engaging debates and thought-provoking (and occasionally heartbreaking) juxtaposed imagery. But how does that connect to Isabel’s journey? How does her internal evolution reflect her external deconstruction of “caste”? Again, you MUST see this profoundly complex, humanistic movie to understand how all these threads tie together.
To me, Origin is undoubtedly the best movie of 2023. Writer/director Ava DuVernay composes a riveting and erudite movie that insightfully tackles the unjust divisions that caste systems create around the globe. With indelible subplots gracefully interwoven into Isabel Wilkerson’s odyssey, the film strikes a perfect balance of informative and emotionally resonating storytelling. I watched Origin a little over a week ago, and I haven’t been able to let go of it since. It’s a THINK piece with a capital T-H-I-N-K, but you will be enthralled the whole time…unless you’re willfully ignorant.
Rating: 9.5/10