Origin was one of those late stage Oscar entries from 2023 that seemed poised to stage an upset. The problem is that Neon bumbled the release. It had a qualifying run, and then the few people who had seen and loved Origin tried to get the word out about it. I’m fairly certain not enough people saw Origin, because its lack of nominations is quite frankly baffling.
For me, I already went back and looked at my Top 25 from 2023, and it definitely would have made that. As far as the Top 10, I’m pretty sure I could justify its presence. I believe it is the best thing that Ava Duvernay has directed, besting her terrific documentary 13th, and Selma. It is such an odd and totally incomparable film that words will not do it justice. Origin, is a fictional story essentially wrapped around the broad thesis of an Adapted Screenplay. I know last year’s Screenplay list was insane, but Origin easily could have taken a spot. Then again, it also seemed like the perfect category for All Of Us Strangers.
The narrative plot revolves around an academic (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) who is trying to understand caste, and how that applies to racial divisions, recognizing that in some places there has been a strong divide even when everyone is seemingly the same race. She has a white husband (Jon Bernthal), and her family and friends give her grief for that as well, even though he seems to be deeply supportive of who she is in all her intelligence.
It’s how Duvernay weaves this main story with so many other stories, and uses actors, but also finds ways of bringing in actual scholars to comment or bring life to the message. there’s an excellent, yet incredibly difficult chunk of the film devoted to Trayvon martin, which serves almost as a jumping off point for this film.
It’s just stunning. It feels like someone figured out how to make a documentary without actually making a documentary. There’s no hiding the message of the film, so in many ways it feels like film activism, but it also stands out as this thing that previously would have seemed unattainable before, that is deftly tackled with Duvernay’s expertise. I felt touched by this, and not only did the narrative thread of Ellis-Taylor’s character interest me, but truly the film felt like it brought attention and light to things I wasn’t paying attention to before. Despite the often difficult subject matter, it is also the most entertaining lecture.
Rarely do I end a film knowing “I will watch this again.”, but I found so many layers in all the stories, that I think a second viewing of Origin could actually improve the experience. Oddly, there was no credit given at the end of this to a company or narrator. I did watch this on Hulu, and I did get all the way to the end. Nothing. That was so weird. However, for a film that is so focused on the conversation of race and caste systems, it does a nice job. The only thing I thought was weird, was the first time we meet Ellis-Taylor, she’s described as having big eyes. That’s such an odd thing to pick out about a person, especially the lead, because if I were to notice about someone that makes you think… how big are those eyes? Is this like little Red Riding Hood? I’ve seen this actress, and there are other features about her. Or at least, find another way of describing her eyes other than big. Big suggests abnormally larger than other eyes, which is such an odd choice. Other than that, it was fine.
Watch this film. that is all I need to say. Watch it. Absolutely worth the experience alone.
Final Grade: A