I Origins is a 2014 American science fiction drama film written, directed, and produced by Mike Cahill. The independent production premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. It is distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and opened in limited release on July 18, 2014. It won the Best Feature Length Film Award at the Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantà stic de Catalunya on October 11th, 2014.
Plot
A graduate student, Ian Gray, is researching the evolution of human eyes with Karen and Kenny, in order to discredit creationists by proving that eyes have evolved. At a Halloween party he meets an interesting woman, Sofi, and photographs her eyes. They start to have sex in a washroom, but she abruptly leaves without providing her contact information.
One day, Gray sees a number of elevens all at one time. He gets on bus number 11, but gets off when a guide-dog starts barking at him. He sees a billboard cosmetics ad featuring Sofi's unmistakable eyes, and uses it to track her down. Despite their different belief systems, Gray's and Sofi's relationship develops and they eventually plan to marry. On their would-be wedding day, Karen calls Gray, informing him of a species of worm that is blind, but has the DNA required to develop an eye. This is the breakthrough they have been searching for.
Sofi is upset, and suggests that humans are like the blind worm. Just because they cannot see light doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just because humans can't see God doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. Gray argues with her and grows impatient with her views. This creates a tension of energy between them and immediately changes their spiritual balance with each other. While this is happening they are on a broken elevator, and this shift of negative power causes a freak accident in which Sofi is killed. Gray blames himself and never forgets his last words to Sofi - calling her a child because of her belief system. He is distraught, and his lab partner, Karen, takes over much of his research. One evening, while Gray is still in mourning, Karen brings him a meal at his home. He breaks down, and she comforts him, which leads to a more intimate situation.
Seven years later, Gray has written a book slamming the creationists and their belief that eyes haven't evolved. Karen is pregnant with their first child. When the child is born, the hospital takes an iris scan of the baby. When it is entered into the database, they appear to match with another person's eyes. Initially the thought of this is tossed off as a glitch with the new system.
A few months later, a Dr. Simmons calls and suggests they test the baby for autism. The unusual test studies lead Gray and Karen to determine to do additional research on this scientist. This leads Gray to travel to Idaho, where he finds that the person whose eyes matched their baby's had died two years earlier, just before their baby was conceived, suggesting that their son may be some sort of reincarnation of the deceased man.
Gray's former research partner, Kenny, is the creator of the iris database. He helps Gray and Karen run some iris photos of deceased people through the database to see if there are any recent matches. Sofi's eyes match those of a young girl in India.
Gray travels to India to find her. He meets a preacher (a mysterious character in black who claims to be doing God's work and seems to have a more than passing interest in Gray and suggests they might meet again; he is also seen in the background in the lobby entering an elevator after the memory recall scene concerning the elevator accident) in his hotel elevator, but snubs his friendly approach. He finds the facility that did the scan, but learns from Priya that the girl is an orphan and will be hard to find. To aid his search, he places an ad on a billboard with a picture of Sofi's eyes and the offer of a reward to the person if they call. He later finds a little girl staring at the billboard, and her irises match Sofi's. He takes the girl, Salomina, back to his hotel and contacts Karen over Skype. With her help, he conducts a simple test on Salomina, hoping that she will select the images associated with Sofi. Although she correctly picks some images specific to Sofi, the results are inconclusive, falling within the "random" range, and he admits to Karen that he feels foolish. But when he prepares to leave the hotel with Salomina, she panics and cries at the sight of the elevator, and Gray seems to accept the idea that she may be connected to Sofi in ways that can't yet be proven through science.
A post-credits scene shows Dr. Simmons continuing her tests and scanning the irises of deceased famous figures for matches, with some success.
Cast
- Michael Pitt as Ian Gray
- Brit Marling as Karen
- Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Sofi
- Steven Yeun as Kenny
- Archie Panjabi as Priya Varma
- Cara Seymour as Dr. Jane Simmons
- Venida Evans as Margaret Dairy
- William Mapother as Darryl Mackenzie
- Kashish as Salomina
Production
I Origins was the second feature film by writer/director Mike Cahill after his earlier independent science fiction-drama, Another Earth (2011), also with actress Brit Marling. Cahill sold the film rights to Another Earth to Fox Searchlight Pictures at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. At that time he also sold a screenplay to what would be his next feature film titled I. Though during the development of I, after failing to "crack" some aspects of the story, Cahill instead decided to make an origin story for the film, in which he had a "rich back story for".
Although Fox Searchlight owned the rights to any prequels or sequels to the I script, Cahill decided to make I Origins independently. He intended to sell the film at the Sundance Film Festival, like he did for Another Earth. Fox Searchlight agreed and the film was produced by Verisimilitude and WeWork Studios in association with Bersin Pictures and Penny Jane Films. After the premiere of I Origins at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Fox Seatchlight ended up buying the rights to the film.
Release
I Origins premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. After its premiere, Fox Searchlight Pictures bought rights to worldwide distribution of the film. The film won the festival's Alfred P. Sloan Prize, which recognizes films that depict science and technology. The win was Cahill's second; his film Another Earth also won the prize in 2011. I Origins also screened at the Brooklyn-based BAMcinemaFest and at the Nantucket Film Festival, both in late June 2014.
I Origins began its limited theatrical release on July 18, 2014 in just four theaters. The following week, it expanded to 76 theaters.
Reception
I Origins received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 50%, based on 74 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Writer-director Mike Cahill remains an intriguingly ambitious talent, but with the uneven sci-fi drama I Origins, his reach exceeds his grasp". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Jordan Zakarin, of entertainment and media news website TheWrap, said that "The movie starts as a love story and then morphs into a thriller, propelled always by the push and pull of faith and logic, with tragedy shifting world views over time". He continued, saying that "The message is both micro and macro, aimed at the renewed war in the United States over issues like science education and contraception, as well as Cahill’s way of working out his own mixed emotions".
Sequel
I Origins was developed as an origin story of script, titled I, which Cahill sold to Fox Searchlight Pictures in 2011. Cahill intended for the sequel to take place 20 years after the event of I Origins, after the repercussions of Dr. Ian Gray’s discoveries take hold, as teased in the post-credits of the film.
During press interviews for the film, Cahill spoke of plans to go ahead with a sequel to I Origins, saying "There's a sequel in the works. It's not scripted. We're not in production yet, but we set up at Fox Searchlight".
