Origin, an award-winning film by prolific filmmakerAva DuVernay, will debut on June 10 on Hulu. Fans unable to watch it at the Venice Film Festival, during its theatrical run, or on Video-on-Demand will now be able to stream it on the streaming platform next month. DuVernay adapted Origin from the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning reporterIsabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestsellerCaste: 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.
StarringAunjanue Ellis-Tayloras Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson, the film features a roster of acclaimed actors who bring DuVernay’s script to life. The cast includesJon Bernthalas Brett,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, andMyles Frost.
On the film circuit,Originhas recently been awarded Best Drama,Best Directorfor DuVernay, and Best Actress for Ellis-Taylor 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 Ava DuVernay Has Created Before
DuVernay wears many hats in film and TV. InOrigin, she serves as the writer, director, and producer alongsidePaul Garnes. Beginning her career in the 2000s, her breakthrough came inSelma, a 2014 film she directed inspired by the life ofMartin Luther King. She later rose to greater heights after creating the Netflix limited seriesWhen They See Us. The series told the story of the Central Park Seven, a group of young boys of color accused of a heinous crime and spent years in jail serving time for a crime they were innocent of.
While covering the film festival whereOrigindebuted, Collider’sRoss Bonaimehighlighted the film’s strengths and weaknesses. While the cast’s performances are impressive,Originstruggles with maintaining a gripping flow, with the first part of the film failing to capture the viewer’s attention. Everything pays off in the end, as the film offers an impactful conclusion, but someone might not get to that part.
ReliveOrigin’s astute exploration of society-relevant themes when it streams on June 10 on Hulu.
The unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
