Origin, review

Origin

UK release: 8 March 2024

Director: Ava DuVernay

Review by Kai Williams

Origin, released in the United Kingdom on March 8th, 2024, is a monumental film directed by the acclaimed Ava DuVernay. The film delves into the life and groundbreaking work of American journalist, author, and Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson and her journey writing Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents — a profound exploration published on 4 August 2020, illuminating how the caste system has shaped different societies: America, Germany, and India.  

The film opens with a tragedy that shook the nation: the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. Tasked by her colleagues, Wilkerson is asked to write an opinion piece about the incident. She refrains as she now only writes pieces where she can “live inside the story.” This refusal,  along with other personal life tragedies (the sudden death of her husband, followed by her mother), sparked Wilkerson to push the envelope and truly be in the story. 

We later follow Wilkerson through the film as she develops a thesis that puts viewers in a standstill. She believes that while race and racism are often labeled as the root of many societal issues, they barely scratch the surface of a more profound and harmful framework, known as the Caste system. Wilkerson describes this as a system that controls and influences the way people think and behave, creating a cycle of oppression. Wilkerson’s revelation sends her on a journey, in which she challenges and questions mainstream beliefs, unveiling that the societal divisions do not only stem from visible markers of difference but also in the structures of hierarchy that shape our perception. 

On her journey, the film flashes from the past to the present, from Nazi Germany to lynching in the Deep South to life as an untouchable in India, leaving the viewer with a clearer sense of the connection between each society. Viewers are given a history lesson on stories that are not widely known and with every scene, the viewer is able to follow Wilkerson’s thoughts and see the history she researched and the stories she’s been told unfold on paper. 

The film ends with Wilkerson’s overall solution to her research saying, “a world without caste would set everyone free.” The only world we’ve ever known has been upheld by these dysfunctional structures. The ending leaves the audience thinking, what next? She reminds those who think that these issues are a problem of the past or that they have no responsibility in its effects on today that “we are the heirs to whatever is right or wrong with” the cracks in the foundation of our system. If we continue to ignore these issues, we create more damage and stray further away from repairing the system. It is our responsibility to break the mold.