Origin

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ava DuVernay directs. Matthew J. Lloyd behind the camera. Kris Bowers scores. Spencer Averick cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 2Released 3 years ago.
• 3Directed by Ava DuVernay, shot by Matthew J. Lloyd. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Kris Bowers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Spencer Averick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Niecy Nash-Betts and Jon Bernthal carry the top of the cast.
• 7IMDB entry: tt13321244 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Only 85 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 9Classified under 17 themes, including "based on novel or book", "based on true story", "racism", "period drama".

The technical file

Cinematography

Matthew J. Lloyd

Original score

Kris Bowers

Editing

Spencer Averick

Production design

Ina Mayhew

Costume design

Dominique Dawson

Sound

Pete Horner

Runtime

141 min · 2h 21m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$38,000,000

Box office

$4,474,931

Return

12% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Origin (2023) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

82% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

75/100

IMDB rating

7.2/10 · 8,493 votes

MPAA

PG-13

Also by

Ava DuVernay

• 
  When They See Us

  2019 · ★ 8.2
• 
  13th

  2016 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Queen Sugar

  2016 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Selma

  2014 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Colin in Black and White

  2021 · ★ 6.7
• 
  Middle of Nowhere

  2012 · ★ 6.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Thrilling 30"

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  Acclaim 30"

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  ORIGIN 2023 Rewind

  Behind the Scenes · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  'Origin' with Ava DuVernay, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash-Betts & more Academy Conversations

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  How Ava DuVernay and Paul Garnes made ORIGIN as an Independent Film | TIFF 2023

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Manuel São Bento2023-09-08
  ★ 7/10

  FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/origin-venice-film-festival-review-a-must-see-educational-story/ "Origin brilliantly transposes the pillars of caste from Isabel Wilkerson's book to the big screen through an incredibly revealing, genuinely fascinating narrative, despite becoming clear that the source material is better suited to a documentary. The exceptionally human performances of the entire cast, especially Aunjanue Ellis, compensate for some lack of balance between emotionally personal dialogues and weighty lectures. Impactful imagery and an extremely stirring score make the audiovisual experience even more captivating. It's not without issues, but it's one of the most important stories to watch/read this century." Rating: B

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2024-03-14
  ★ 7/10

  The acting is all really quite adequate here, but it's not really that important to the fascinating underlying premiss that underpins the theory that race, in itself, might not be the reasons for the hierarchical nature of a society that always manages to create sub-classes. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor offers her own engaging perspective on author Isabel Wilkerson who is invited by a publisher to offer a more considered and less reactionary appraisal of race relations following the murder of a young black man who just happened to be in the wrong place (a white neighbourhood) at the wrong time. The audience know full well from the outset what has happened here, so that's not especially important to the plot either - it's her search for a rationale. That search attempts to draw parallels between the plight of the African American citizenry with the victims of Holocaust and of the system of caste that prevails in India. By spending a section of the film in Germany and then in India, we are exposed to a more internationalist view of just why society is made up of the have lots, the haves and the have nots - and at just how little much of that has changed for centuries. The comparison she develops works surprisingly convincingly, if not without it's flaws, and Ellis-Taylor acts well as a sort of sponge for the philosophies that emerge. The one element that it rather studiously avoids is religion. That isolation does rather compromise the authenticity of any conclusion as it doesn't acknowledge that so often the behaviour and structures of cultures are dictated by those atop them in some form of priesthood - whether they be Brahmin or Cardinal. There are a few familial sub-plots to add a bit of drama to the story, but I found them a little unnecessary as the theory elaborates more. It does come from a very specific American perspective - I'd be interested to see how it might turn out if it were to be remade from a Jewish or Indian point of view, but as it is - it's a thoughtful exercise in what makes human strata function and endure.

  Read full review ↓
• Brent Marchant2024-03-17
  ★ 8/10

  Those who believe that institutionalized systemic racism is fundamentally an American problem should probably give a serious look to this latest offering from writer-director Ava DuVernay, best known for the superb historical drama, “Selma” (2014). Based on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by best-selling author Isabel Wilkerson, the film examines how organic prejudices are actually a worldwide phenomenon that may or may not have anything specifically to do with race but are more readily attributable to matters of caste. While the picture indeed examines this practice from an American perspective, it also addresses it from the standpoint of the dictates employed in Nazi Germany and in the longstanding Indian caste system, where race was/is not an inherent issue. Rather, the institutionalized discriminatory practices in these locales (as well as in others) were (and in some cases still are) driven by the implementation of artificial distinctions that have been established and perpetuated based on other characteristics but that have had the same kinds of negative impact as those driven by race-based policies. The filmmaker explores how author Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis Taylor) went about researching and writing the book on this subject, a project undertaken at a time when she was dealing with the fallout from a series of personal tragedies involving her mother (Emily Yancy), husband (Jon Bernthal) and cousin (Niecy Nash-Betts), giving her a reason to pick herself up and carry on with her life. Admittedly, the multiple story threads involved in the narrative and the way in which they’re organized could have used some tweaking for greater clarity and smoother connectedness, and the author’s theories could have stood to be presented a little less overly intellectually at times. However, in the end, the movie’s themes successfully come together to create a captivating and eye-opening hypothesis that we’d all be wise to consider seriously. What’s more, the depiction of Wilkerson’s personal story is filled with a series of strongly emotive moments that are sure to tug heartily at the heart strings, so keep the hankies handy. The film also features an array of fine, small-role supporting performances from the likes of Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood, Audra McDonald, Finn Whitrock, Vera Farmiga, Myles Frost and Lennox Simms. In the end, the revelations exposed here could well make you sad for the needlessly sorry state of humanity. But the picture also provides a deeper, more insightful understanding of what’s fundamentally wrong with humanity, providing us with a key that just might help us find our way out of the current social morass with a solution that could potentially help us finally fix things for good.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  ARRAY Filmworks

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerLaurene Powell Jobs
• Executive ProducerMelinda Gates
• Executive ProducerAunjanue Ellis-Taylor
• Executive ProducerTilane Jones
• Executive ProducerAnne Wojcicki
• EditorSpencer Averick
• Executive ProducerRegina Miller
• CastingAisha Coley
• Executive ProducerKimberly Steward
• Production DesignIna Mayhew
• Art DirectionAudra Avery
• Supervising Art DirectorMark Dillon
• Assistant Art DirectorTrish Navarro
• Art DirectionJohn Sanchez
• Set DecorationJacqueline Jacobson Scarfo
• CG SupervisorWyatt Winborne
• Costume DesignDominique Dawson
• Sound Effects EditorCoya Elliott
• BookIsabel Wilkerson
• ProducerAva DuVernay
• ProducerSarah Perlman Bremner
• ProducerPaul Goodwin Garnes
• Apprentice Sound EditorDoug M. Thomas
• Supervising Sound EditorSteve Slanec

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• based on true story
• racism
• period drama
• caste system
• woman director
• historical drama
• 1940s
• 19th century
• 1960s
• 1990s
• female writer
• 2010s
• disrespectful
• biographical drama
• biopic
• systemic racism / systemic discrimination

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2023-12-08PG-13· New York City, New York & Los Angeles, California
• Theatrical (limited)2024-01-19PG-13
• Digital2024-03-12PG-13
• Physical2024-06-11

Also known as

International titles

• CasteUS
• Origin - Desigualdade e PreconceitoPT