Origin

Origin
Starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy
Directed by Ava DuVernay

Racism is something that's prevalent in the world today as it has been throughout history, yet sometimes events occur that people deem as "racist" but are actually something far worse. Writer Isabel Wilkerson discovered this while investigating the shooting death of Tayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in 2012, when she asked a simple question: "why would a Hispanic man kill a Black teen in a misguided attempt to protect a white neighborhood?" This is something that's not normally addressed and the event can be glossed over as simple racism, but there's something more to it than that - it sheds light on a caste system that has existed for decades that take different forms in different countries, but all ends up the same: crating a "us versus them" mentality that marginalizes one group of people in favor of another, even though both sides know that they're truly equal.

Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wants to relax with her husband Brett (Jon Bernthal) and try to find a new home for her ailing mother Ruby (Emily Yancy). She's approached by her publisher to do an article on the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, but she refuses because she would want to really be inside the story, and that would take time. She agrees to listen to the audio 911 call and in doing so comes to a realization: why would a Hispanic man kill a Black teen to protect a White neighborhood? This is something more than racism, and it leads Isabel on a worldwide quest to connect the class system in America with the history of Nazi war crimes in Germany and the terrible conditions that the Dalits in India where they're treated as less than human. Her studies find that there's a connection between all three - a caste system that separates and degrades one group of people over another.


The Good:
Director Ava DuVernay uses her medium to tell impactful stories of the marginalized and downtrodden, and "Origin" is her crowning achievement to date. An epic tale about the caste system that's existed in different countries under different names, but all ends up the same: separating and dividing people based on one difference (in America it's color, in Nazi Germany it's religion, and in India it's social class). It's a unique film in that it sometimes feel like a documentary, with Isabel Wilkerson interviewing different people, but it's entirely framed in a typical movie motif that generally doesn't lend itself particularly well to a documentary style. Yet here it works somehow, crafting an intricate, carefully designed story that is downright powerful and unforgettable.

The story of Isabel Wilkerson is a deeply troubling and depressing one, as the real-life woman has endured so many hardships it's almost impossible to fathom, and those tragedies are set front-and-center in the film. Yet instead of shying away from her work, she delves deeper into her quest to unite the bonds between racism, Nazism, and India's class system to show that all are interconnected by the theme of caste that has existed for centuries. "King Richard" star Aunjeanue Ellis-Taylor is more than capable for the job, and she excels in this challenging, thought-provoking role. She balances melancholy with determination that is uplifting and inspiring, and despite constant barriers she pushes forward to find the connections and craft an excellent novel called Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.

Jon Bernthal also excels as Isabel's white husband Brett, whom has an effortless charm that makes him endearing from the first scene he's in. Always a professional, Bernthal plays Brett with an innocence mixed with sincere love and appreciation for Isabel and the work she does and serves as the perfect helper mate. Emily Yancy plays Isabel's mother Ruby with a sincerity and openness that's also endearing, and Niecy Nash-Betts continues to spread her wings beyond the comedy circuit as Isabel's ailing cousin Marion. There's a slew of other supporting characters who also dominate the screen in their minimal roles, leading to an overall perfectly acted piece.

The cinematography is top notch, as the film expertly zooms in on performers' faces up close to catch the careful nuances in their performances that you wouldn't see otherwise, especially in a flashback scene where Isabel first meets Brett and you sense the flirtation among them from the first moment. The movie also blends from modern day to past events seamlessly by not changing the format but instead letting it happen naturally.

Yet all this would be for naught if the story wasn't impactful, and "Origin" has one of the most spellbinding stories I've seen on screen in awhile. I was hooked from the first moment and as Isabel connects the parallels it becomes more and more intriguing leading to her powerful off-screen monologue about her findings and how it all connects together. I found myself watching in breathless anticipation as she put the pieces together in language I could understand, and in the end it actually made a lot of sense. Sometimes things go way beyond racism and instead it's the caste system that serves as the bones, while race is the skin. What divides us isn't color, intelligence, religion, or wealth, but rather it's the eight pillars of the caste system Isabel discovers in her research that divides us, and will continue to as long as we allow it.


The Bad:
The film is a little over two and a half hours, so it's something you have to be prepared to go into before watching, otherwise you might be bored or zone out of the story when each sentence is vital in its moving forward.


The Summary:
While telling a powerful story though the eyes of the talented Isabel Wilkerson, Ava DuVernay's "Origin" is an epic tale of the caste system and how it's been dividing people for decades, performed with perfection by the great Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.


The Score: A+