Movie Reviews
Film Review: “Origin” — A Map of Human Suffering – The Arts Fuse
By Peg Aloi
The breadth and intimacy of Origin‘s vision — the personal becomes the historical — is stunning, a searing portrait of collective trauma and the dark ideas that propel them.
Origin, written and directed by Ava DuVernay. Screening at Coolidge Corner Theatre, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Kendall Cinema, and other cinemas around New England.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in Origin.
Based on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, Origin leaps beyond a conventional attempt to bring an ambitious, sprawling, and insightful study to the screen. The film’s screenplay boldly melds Wilkerson’s rigorous historical and cultural exploration with a semi-fictionalized narrative about the author herself. Director DuVernay sensitively dramatizes Wilkerson’s personal journey in creating her book, a quest undertaken in the wake of enormous personal loss and grief. There could hardly a better filmmaker to pull off this kind of cinematic challenge: DuVernay’s exploration of traumatic trajectories in African-American culture and history has yielded such electrifying, enduring films as 13th and Selma, as well as the award-winning series When They See Us.
Before introducing Wilkerson’s personal story, the film takes a broader foray into recent historical events. The opening scene unfolds with a curious calm, until we recognize its heart-stopping context. An African American teenage boy is out walking; he’s talking to a friend on the phone and laughing. He pauses the call when he goes into a convenience store, takes a drink from the fridge and, almost as an afterthought, grabs a packet of candy from the display by the counter. Some may already know what’s happening here, others will soon catch on when this young man exits the store, sees that it’s raining, and pulls the hood of his grey sweatshirt up over his head. This is seventeen year old Trayvon Martin; within the hour he will be gunned down in cold blood on his way to the home of his father’s fiancée in Sanford, Florida.
How do people of good will make sense of the cruelty, brutality, and needlessness of this killing? As Martin’s story dominates the news, Wilkerson grieves the boy’s death. Her editors (Blair Underwood and Vera Farmiga) urge her to write about it. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Lovecraft Country) ‘s Wilkerson is a down-to-earth but complex woman who is balancing a successful career as a writer with a happy domestic life she has shared with a loving husband (Jon Bernthal). At first, Wlikerson can’t quite find her way into the material; the implications of Trayvon’s murder are overwhelming, almost unfathomable, but they are also horribly familiar. Soon Wilkerson suffers two grievous personal losses; the weird, liminal emotional stasis that often follows such shocks stimulates her to pursue the underpinnings of racist violence. She lays the groundwork for a new book, one that will renew her sense of purpose and, perhaps, soothe her battered spirit.
But Origin is not just about Wilkerson’s writing about racism; it is a searching, inspiring sojourn that traverses the globe. She delves into researching a project that dovetails personal passion and cultural urgency: the book becomes a way to deal with her own grief by way of illuminating the source of so much human pain throughout history. Along the way, Isabel discusses ideas and conceptual tangents with her sister (Niecy Nash-Betts, who just won an Emmy for Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), as well as friends and colleagues. Her quest eventually leads Wilkerson into an illuminating discovery: racism’s ancient origins lie in the establishment, evolution, and maintenance of a caste system.
As Wilkerson refines her theories and connections, we are given a sense of her creative process through illustrative flashbacks located in the cities she visits. The rise of the Third Reich serves as a backdrop for a forbidden love affair; the undercover mission of two married couples, one white, one Black, to collaborate on research in the Jim Crow South; and the harrowing yet uplifting struggle of a boy — born into the “untouchable” caste in India — who defied the odds to become a respected scholar. These narratives are executed with letter-perfect historical detail and they are interlaced with Wilkerson’s uplifting memories of recently-lost loved ones. The breadth and intimacy of Origin‘s vision — the personal becomes the historical — is stunning, a searing portrait of collective trauma and the dark ideas that propel them.
DuVernay has deftly avoided a common misfire in adapting non-fiction works to the screen: this is far from being a dry, academic experience. Editor and longtime collaborator Spencer Averick and cinematographer Matt Lloyd (2019’s Captain Marvel) have infused Origin with considerable visual energy. Ellis-Taylor triumphs as Wilkerson — this is a rich, subtle, career-defining performance. She is backed by a well-chosen cast (including Nick Offerman, Audra McDonald, Connie Nielsen, Finn Wittrock, and Victoria Pederetti) that serve the heightened demands of a multifaceted film of deep emotional intelligence. Some viewers may wish that a more definitive answer or solution had been supplied for the questions raised here. For others, it may be enough that the conversation has been elevated — and enriched — with such grace and power.
Peg Aloi is a former film critic for the Boston Phoenix and member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Alliance for Women Film Journalists. She taught film studies in Boston for over a decade. She writes on film, TV, and culture for web publications like Time, Vice, Polygon, Bustle, Mic, Orlando Weekly, and Bloody Disgusting. Her blog “The Witching Hour” can be found on substack.
Jordan Firstman‘s buzzy Cannes UCR title Club Kid has been the talk of the festival and market this past 24 hours.
Multiple suitors are in for the movie and what’s interesting is the size of those suitors. Multiple major studios have kicked the tyres on the project. Contrary to reports, the offers are already in the eight-figure range. They were there last night, we heard at the time.
Many have assumed this will be an A24 title come the final reckoning but there is strong competition for a movie one studio buyer just told me at an event is “the most commercial movie at the festival by far: it works on a number of different levels to different age groups”. Another festival regular I spoke to said they see it as an awards movie “for sure”. The domestic credentials are certainly strong. Some international buyers we’ve spoken to were a little cooler but ultimately who doesn’t want a heartfelt good-vibe movie.
UTA Independent Film Group is in the middle of the deal. Charades handles international.
Club Kid follows a washed-up party promoter who is forced to turn his life around when an unexpected visitor arrives. Reviews have been strong.
During the film’s seven-minute Cannes ovation yesterday, lead actress Cara Delevingne teared up. Firstman, who also wrote and stars, picked up costar Reggie Absolom (who plays the son of Firstman’s character in the film) and started a chant in his honor. It was a continuation of the hijinks the two got up to at the film’s photocall earlier in the day.
There are multiple projects in the market also drawing good offers. Things should become clearer in next 48 hours.
2.5/5
02 Hrs 30 Mins | Action Fantasy Comedy | 15-05-2026
Cast – Suriya, Trisha Krishnan, RJ Balaji, Indrans, Anagha Maaya Ravi, Natty Subramaniam, Swasika, Sshivada, Mansoor Ali Khan, Supreeth Reddy, George Maryan, Deepa Shankar, Namo Narayana and others
Director – RJ Balaji
Producer – S. R. Prabhu & S. R. Prakash Babu
Banner – Dream Warrior Pictures
Music – Sai Abhyankkar
It’s been a very long time since Suriya scored a unanimous theatrical hit. Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim were good films and received very good appreciation, but both skipped theatrical release and were released directly on Prime Video. Interestingly, the director, R. J. Balaji’s directorial debut, Mookuthi Amman, was also released directly on OTT. At a time when both of them need a theatrical hit, the hero and the director duo, teamed up for, Karuppu (Veerabhadrudu in Telugu ) a fantasy action drama film. The addition of Trisha, as female lead and Sai Abhyankkar, as music director, helped the film to generate good hype among fans and audience. After resolving the last-minute financial hurdles, the makers released the film today (i.e. a day later than the scheduled date). Did Suriya finally score a hit at the box office? Did R. J. Balaji utilise the opportunity to direct a star hero and deliver an engaging film? Did Sai Abhyankkar come up with chartbuster music yet again after, Dude? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.
What is it about?
Baby Kannan(R. J. Balaji), a cunning and corrupt lawyer, runs a mafia and controls the Metropolitan Magistrate court in Chennai. He and his team intentionally extend the court hearings, to get fees from clients for a long time. They even turn judgments in their favour by bribing the Magistrate. What happens when a father(Indrans) and his daughter(Anagha Maaya Ravi), travel to Chennai from Kerala, with a bag full of gold? Why did the father carry a lot of gold in his bag? How did the deity(Suriya), Karuppuswamy, help the father and daughter, when they lost their gold? What challenges did the deity face while dealing with corrupt public officials? Forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
It’s good to see Suriya in an out-and-out commercial film after a long time. It looked like he thoroughly enjoyed playing the role of Karuppuswamy in the film. His screen presence and performance were top-notch as always. Trisha Krishnan in the role of Preethi, an honest and young lawyer did a good job with her performance. And yes, the age is catching up with her and it was very evident on screen.
Indrans and Anagha Maaya Ravi, in the roles of a helpless father and daughter, did an excellent job with their performance throughout the first half. The scenes on them in the first half are one of the major positives of the film. R. J. Balaji in the role of a corrupt lawyer did a good job with his performance but it would have been better if they had gone for an actor who has enough experience in doing antagonist roles. Interestingly, he had more slow-motion shots in the film than the hero, Suriya.
Natty Subramaniam in the role of Magistrate did well too. Especially, his performance was very good during his sequence in the film. The film had many notable actors and bearing one or two, most of them delivered good performances.
Technicalities:
Sai Abhyankkar’s work as a music director is a huge letdown. He failed to come out with good songs and apart from a couple of BGMs, his background score for the film was very loud, especially in the second half. G. K. Vishnu’s cinematography is good as always. Particularly during the fantasy episodes, the colour palettes and the frames he used, deserve appreciation. R. Kalaivanan’s editing was very tight and engaging in the first half but he should have done a better job in the second half. Production values by, Dream Warrior Pictures, were adequate. Let’s discuss the writer and director, R. J. Balaji’s work in detail in the analysis section.
Positives:
1. First Half
2. Suriya’s Screen Presence
Negatives:
1. Second Half
2. Loud Background Score
3. Over The Top Action Sequences
Analysis:
The directors, Shankar Shanmugam and Atlee in Tamil and Koratala Siva in Telugu, are a few of the directors in India, who are known for making socially relevant commercial entertainers, engagingly and entertainingly. These three directors along with a few other directors, made many commercially viable social drama films with different backdrops in the past. Just like the aforementioned dire tie, the director, R. J. Balaji, chose a socially relevant storyline and blended it well with socio-fantasy, with ‘God Vs Corrupt Public Official’, as a conflict point. Sounds existing, isn’t it? It indeed is exciting and up until the end of the first half, everything seemed to be working very well.
The emotional drama in the first half is the major highlight of the film. Unfortunately, after finishing the first half on a very good note, the director and his writing team, lost the track completely in the name of fan service and commercial mass moments. Right from the word go in the second half, everything appeared too loud and over the top.
It takes a good thirty to forty minutes for the protagonist to appear on screen but we as the audience never miss the protagonist during this period because of the gripping emotional drama. Right from the very first sequence, the director pulls us into getting connected with the father and daughter duo, their struggle and helplessness.
The director deserves appreciation for making the audience feel the pain of the father and daughter and we eagerly wait for someone to come and help them. And, when the protagonist, finally enters the screen and takes charge of the proceedings to help the father and daughter, every sequence was appreciated with loud cheers by the audience. The emotional drama, the initial conversation between God & the corrupt lawyer, the subsequent courtroom drama and the pre-interval sequence, made the first half end on a good note and raised the expectations further in the second half.
Unfortunately, for some reason, the director decided to take a different route in the second half and relied completely on mass commercial moments. It is where the film completely lost track. After letting God win, although on a sad note, at the end of the first half, the director seemed to have run out of ideas to come up with gripping drama further. Is it really possible for a corrupt human being to win against a powerful God? No way, right? The antagonist character appeared so small and insignificant in front of a ferocious God. It appeared like the director too is aware of it and included the dialogue – ‘Is it really required to use the powers of so many Gods’, just to stop a small-time corrupt lawyer’. That’s exactly what we as the audience feel while watching the second half. Since there’s no story or ideas to drive the film further, the director filled the second half of the film with commercial high moments one after the other. But, most of them appeared over the top, including the forced appearance of Suriya in his crowd favourite, Durai Singham getup. Another drawback of the film is that R. J. Balaji, took the role he played in the film too seriously and ended up giving a lot of screen space to his character with unnecessary slow-motion shots, punch dialogues, etc. It would have been better had he concentrated on writing, particularly in the second half.
Overall, interesting backdrop, socially relevant storyline and engaging emotional drama, in the first half worked out well but the film lost its track in the second half with a not-so-engaging screenplay and over the top action sequences. However, Karuppu, is a much better film among Suriya’s theatrical releases in the recent past. You may give it a try watching but keep your expectations low, particularly in the second half.
Bottomline – ‘God’s Magic’ Worked Partially
Rating – 2.5/5
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