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The topic of racism in America has been a volatile subject since the country’s founding. But in Origin, writer/director Ava DuVernay explores a different perspective on race, following a writer’s journey to explore human division not just in America but throughout history.
Origin stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson, a former journalist who’s still celebrating her Pulitzer Prize win for her first book when she’s approached with a new topic that intrigues her. After suffering two great losses within a year, she returns to her work and begins traveling the world to explore the connections between America’s systemic racism and the caste systems of places like India and Nazi Germany. In the process, she uncovers stories of those who endured and overcame those systems and those who fought to break the cycle of hierarchy and hatred.
In following Isabel’s life and work while conceptualizing, researching, and writing her best-selling non-fiction book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, the film walks an intriguing line between biography and documentary. It tells an emotional story about a woman who’s mourning both her husband (Jon Bernthal’s Brett) and her mother (Emily Yancy’s Ruby) while also witnessing the rapid decline of her beloved cousin (Niecy Nash’s Marion). But while Isabel’s personal journey is a heartbreaking one, that’s merely the film’s framework.
Really, the film focuses more of its attention on Isabel’s research: following her on her travels, sitting in on her meetings, and learning more about the history of caste and its connection to racism in America. And it’s here that it takes on more of a documentary tone, presenting stories and studies and meeting transcripts to support the premise of Isabel’s book. What Isabel finds during her travels is definitely eye-opening, presenting a different perspective on racism by exploring different systems of human division in different cultures throughout history and examining the striking similarities. And the scope of Isabel’s findings is truly devastating.
Though Isabel’s story may sometimes feel underdeveloped, that’s because it isn’t the film’s real purpose. Its purpose is to present Isabel’s findings in a way that’s less scholarly and more approachable than a detailed documentary or a 500-page book. And while the blend of biography and research findings may seem strange for a narrative feature, it definitely gets its point across in a way that’s clear and compelling.
With Origin, Ava DuVernay goes beyond the usual method of storytelling to explore history and race and human relationships in a way that’s eye-opening and challenging. It’s a film that will spark discussions long after you leave the theater.
You can join Isabel on her journey when Origin arrives in theaters nationwide on January 19, 2024.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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