Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home

Ava DuVernay‘s critically lauded film Origin is now available to watch anywhere at home. The premiered at the Venice Film Festival to an outstanding ovation from the audience and was widely released in theatres through Neon. As of today, viewers can rent the film on various digital stores including Amazon, Apple TV+, and Google Play, among others. DuVernay adapted Origin from the New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents, which explores the cultural roots of American racism from slavery to Jim Crow and beyond in a whole new and gripping way, linking it to the caste system in India and antisemitism in Nazi Germany, in a story and interwoven with personal loss and love.

The film features a cast of acclaimed performers led by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson and Jon Bernthal as Brett. Other cast members include Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Isha Blaaker, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Connie Nielsen, Blair Underwood, Nick Offerman, Stephanie March, and Myles Frost. DuVernay serves as the writer, director, and producer alongside Paul Garnes. Collider’s Ross Bonaime reviewed the film at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, noting that while it offers a great conclusion, the journey to that conclusion is bumpy, and the first part of the film is not captivating enough.

Origin has recently been awarded Best Drama, Best Director and Best Actress by the African American Film Critics Association, also securing NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Motion Picture, Directing in a Motion Picture, Actress in a Motion Picture, and Youth Performance in a Motion Picture.

What Has Ava DuVernay Made Before?

DuVernay is known for creating movies and TV shows that critique society, especially in issues relating to race, gender, and class. She began her career as a writer-director in the 2000s. Her breakthrough came in 2014 when she directed Selma, a film about Rev Dr Martin Luther King. The film was nominated for several categories in the 87th Academy Awards and was the only film nominated hailing from a director of color. She later partnered with Netflix on the limited series When They See Us based on the stories of the Central Park Seven.

Origin

The unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

Release Date

2023-12-8

Runtime

135 minutes