I Origins

I Origins, Mike Cahill’s follow up to his impressive début Another Earth (2011), is another gripping and intelligent spiritual contemplation disguised as science fiction. Michael Pitt (The Dreamers, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) stars as a grad student studying the evolution of human eyes. Brit Marling (Another Earth, The East) plays his latest lab assistant, who has far more going for her than any of her predecessors. And Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey (The Well Digger's Daughter, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) plays a beautiful, ethereal woman who causes the skeptical scientists to question their atheism. But the science vs. religion thread is not what drives the film. It’s an absorbing human story about sensory and intellectual experience that’s far more interested in asking questions than finding definitive answers. What Cahill and the other standout graduates of micro-budget sci-fi filmmaking understand so well is that you can successfully hook an audience with little more than a few solid actors engaged in stimulating situations and interesting ideas. And if your subject matter defies logic, or is inherently ambiguous or mysterious, you don’t need to write a script that explains away implausible happenstance or adds up to a complete thesis.

Cahill capitalizes on this low-budget ethos for his more expansive sophomore effort, and the result is mostly successful and satisfying. Unfortunately, the turn into I Origin’s third act features a few too many coincidences that aren’t related to the story’s metaphysical exploration--its not supernatural synchronicity that Pitt’s former roommate (Steven Yeun) just happens to be one of only five people with access to a database they need right at a critical juncture in the plot. This fortuity is not completely unrealistic but it’s not well set up and therefore feels like it comes out of nowhere. This damaging moment occurs right when the film should be building to a new level of excitement, but instead it initiates a sequence that almost derails the picture with strained, on-the-nose dialogue that Pitt and Marling can’t make convincing, much as they try. Fortunately, the rest of the picture is handled expertly, with a confident and involving progression of plot and subtext. The three leads are solid and attractive, and each makes unexpected choices over the course of the film. Cahill’s visual style is a cut above most of his contemporaries; his overuse of handed-held close-ups is interspersed with solidly inventive camera moves and some arresting images. I Origins marks another success for Cahill and Marling and I look forward to more of their collaborations.