Origin is two films trying to be one bold film

In 2020, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Isabel Wilkerson published her second book. It’s called Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, and it takes a unique view of the problem of systemic oppression in society. Instead of looking at systemic racism as the central problem of oppression, Wilkerson posits that racism in all forms is merely a tool of the real problem, which is caste. That refers to a societal system of divide based on work and duty that was created and utilized in India, but one that is always set based on an individual’s birth. One can never leave their caste, only enjoy the benefits of it or suffer its conditions.

Origin is a very unique film, one that is clearly inspired by the argument of Wilkerson’s book. Directed by Ava DuVernay (the director of A Wrinkle in Time and 13th), the film stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (from King Richard and the Color Purple) as Isabel Wilkerson. The film depicts her going through a time of immense personal trauma and recovering by writing the book this film is based on. Finding herself surrounded by people who disagree with her or don’t understand her thesis, this film depicts her attempt to show everyone the patterns that have existed for centuries and have constantly reinforced systems of oppression up to the modern day.

What is most unique about this film is it takes a book ripe for a documentary treatment, and instead creates a conventional filmic narrative around the book’s creation. Ellis-Taylor is a fantastic actor, who plays this character as someone who leans into her trauma as a means to move past it. It’s as if we’re watching her come back to life through her search and studies of the oppression in life, breaking through the barriers of trauma.

But is this a film necessary for a performance as good as hers? While showing her travels and her studies, the film also dives deep into a lot of the novel’s arguments. Caste is shown as a system used in oppression all over the world, from the Dalit caste in India to the separation of Jews and Germans during 1930s Germany. There are sections that show flashbacks of these stories, whether it be a German man trying to hide his relationship with a Jewish woman, or Black academics conducting experiments on black-and-white interaction in the south.

And in seeing Wilkerson’s journey of this investigation, does it succeed in spreading the message of her book? A book like this feels like it shouldn’t tell a narrative but instead be an essay. Explaining its arguments with research and case examples seems more natural for this story, which makes its decision to tell Wilkerson’s story as an adaptation of this so bold. It’s a fascinating storytelling decision from DuVernay, one that feels new, at least to this critic.

Many scenes in the film show Wilkerson meeting with people who are experts in various forms of oppression, and them all essentially denying the worldview of her thesis. They argue that their racism is unique, their oppression unparalleled. But from the incident that begins Wilkerson’s interest in the relationship between caste and oppression (which is the death of a young black teenager called Trayvon Martin), the film shows her as being one of very few who see the same tools being applied century after century.

Should Origin have been a documentary about the history of oppression and caste’s relationship to it? Should it have dived deeper into the life of its subject? Origin is a film that is pushing a boundary, and while it might not hit the mark for most audiences it is impressive in how daring it is and is certainly worth checking out. I give this film a 3/5, you can watch it in cinemas now.