[TIFF 2023] ORIGIN -- Ava DuVernay's Extraordinary Exploration of Oppression Will Leave No Viewer Unmoved

Review by Sean Boelman

Image Courtesy of TIFF.

Ava DuVernay is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers working today, so the surprise addition of her new movie, Origin, to the Toronto International Film Festival was an exciting development for cinephiles and attendees. Origin is often not an easy film to stomach, but its powerful message and effective execution will leave no audience member unstirred by the time the credits rolled.

Origin is based on Isabel Wilkerson’s nonfiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, but it’s also the story of Wilkerson as she wrote the book and dived into its themes. The film profoundly connects issues like the caste system in India, antisemitism in Hitler’s Germany, segregation, and violence against people of color in modern-day America — and it’s wonderfully profound.

It was an ambitious swing for DuVernay to turn this book into a narrative film rather than a documentary, but it paid off extremely well. Exploring this message through the story of the journalist investigating it adds another layer of emotion and humanity to the movie — which helps the audience connect more with these stories of people being dehumanized.

The first hour and a half of the film is strong, following the protagonist on her soul-seeking journey around the world looking at the systems of oppression in various cultures. The portion of the movie that explores the subject’s life does get a tad melodramatic at times, but the performance and direction have such an undeniable tenderness to them that it never feels inauthentic.

However, it is the last 40 minutes of the film that bring everything together brilliantly. This is the portion that is the “adaptation” of Wilkerson’s nonfiction book, bringing to life through re-enactments several stories that illustrate the central thesis. It’s powerful and emotionally affecting, and although it’s predictably didactic, the stories are so harrowing and the filmmaking so extraordinary that most audience members will find themselves moved to tears by the time the credits roll.

One of the most impressive things about the movie is how wonderful Aunjanue Ellis’s performance is. One normally expects a narrator character like hers to be somewhat neutral because of the nature of the role, but Ellis has such an undeniable screen presence that she’s absolutely captivating. Niecy Nash-Betts is also an unexpected highlight in a powerful supporting role.

There are a few aesthetic decisions in the film that don’t exactly work. For example, the anthology sequences that take the audience back in time are shot with a very soft light. Although the writing leaves no room for viewers to mistake this for a feeling of warmth or nostalgia, everything does look a bit too crisp.

Origin is a good movie from its beginning, but the final act is a total knockout in a way that will send chills down your spine. This is not just one of the finest films of the year, but also the filmmaker’s best since the highly acclaimed Selma. 

Origin is screening at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 7-17 in Toronto, Canada.

​Rating: 5/5