Review of I Origins (2014) by Philip P — 01 Jan 2015

There are no ideas or concepts that can push the mind too far for Brit Marling and collaborator/director Mike Cahill. The two first teamed-up on 2011's Another Earth which, while it wasn't what I expected, engaged me in a completely different manner that I found truly affecting.

The same could be said for I Origins, though I knew what I was getting into this time was likely beyond anything the advertising could capture. What sets this film and so many of Marling's choices apart from others are the conversations she likes to create and be a part of.

There is this ongoing, but seemingly buried battle of ideologies and facts that either directly support a point of view or lack solid evidence which in turn requires a certain amount of faith. In looking at the big picture of writer/director Cahill's story here it is about the competing schools of thought when it comes to science and spirituality.

Our scientist is out to disprove the existence of God when he meets a free-spirited and entrancing woman who steals his heart. It is easy to think of all the scientific evidence against intelligent design as the more favorable view, but it is certainly more compelling, more hopeful even to consider the fact someone is up there looking after us all.

I Origins never takes a cynical approach to the debate though, but instead asks unassumingly what you might do if something spiritual disproved your scientific beliefs and vice versa. The film is both creative in its major dramatic question and the places it goes while never losing sight of the wonder its premise naturally elicits.