'Origin': Ava DuVernay's Film Explores Caste as the Root of Systemic Injustice

Based on Isabel Wilkerson's 'Caste', the film interweaves historical events and personal life, making intellectual endeavor dramatically captivating.

Ava DuVernay's new film 'Origin' is based on Isabel Wilkerson's book 'Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents', and turns the journalist into a character who examines oppression.
The film explores the concept of caste as a more accurate descriptor of the systemic injustices borne by Black Americans, Jews in Nazi Germany, and Dalits in India.
The narrative interweaves historical events, personal life, and intellectual endeavor, making the activities of research, contemplation, and writing dramatically captivating onscreen.
The film begins with the lead-up to the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, which becomes the catalyst for Wilkerson's thesis about caste.
Despite the complex narrative framework, the film's emotional power is straightforward and, at times, overwhelming.