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Origin Movie Review

Origin is a 2023 biographical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. It’s a superbly made, but conceptually deeply flawed movie.

While grappling with tremendous personal tragedy, writer Isabel Wilkerson sets herself on a path of global investigation and discovery. This film functions as the biography of the aforementioned author as she writes her novel about the origins of the caste system. This is the first film that Ava DuVernay has made since her blockbuster misfire ‘A Wrinkle in Time’. With this movie, she went back to the issue of racism.

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Stylistically, Origin is such an interesting experiment. This is a daringly unique, atypical film in many areas, most importantly in the blurring of the fiction and documentary filmmaking. Yes, I would counter that this story would have been better off as a full documentary, but there is no denying the artistry behind this experiment and the authenticity of it all. The mixing of the two mediums was exceptionally well realized and the ambitious nature of the story is commendable.

But the ingenuity of the technical aspects can only take you so far as the basic idea behind Origin is not only deeply flawed, but downright false. This author purports that somehow Nazism in Germany was closely related to slavery in the United States. What we have here is a typical leftist idea of all-encompassing interconnectedness existing in all societies and I simply have never bought this argument and I certainly did not buy it here.

There is a point in the film where a German woman debunks the protagonist’s idea by pinpointing that the goal of Nazis was entirely different from the goal of American slave owners. This was the point where the movie shot itself in the foot basically, but afterward it continued to walk on this strenuous path, making for a frustrating viewing experience. Furthermore, this is yet another film that entirely ignores class as the biggest divider of people today and that was my biggest grievance with this story.

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Origin is still worth seeing for the superb central performance from Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Her work here ranks among the best and most underrated performances of the year. She was constantly riveting, memorable and particularly fantastic at her more emotional scenes where she elevated both her character and the movie at large. There are a couple of dramatic family scenes that genuinely moved me here. Origin is also quite engaging despite its very long runtime, which is a testament to strong storytelling abilities from DuVernay, excellent pacing and terrific cinematic qualities exhibited throughout. I just wished that the third act was less preachy and more subtle.