I Origins (2014) Full Movie
A molecular biologist and his laboratory partner uncover evidence that may fundamentally change society as we know it.
Director : Mike Cahill
Writer : Mike Cahill
Stars : Michael Pitt, Steven Yeun, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey
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. Seven years later, when the hospital takes an iris scan of his son and enters into the database, they appear to match with another person's eyes, which suggested that their son may be some sort of reincarnation of the deceased man.
Reviews
Spoiler alert. I was apparently at the same showing as the previous reviewer who did not enjoy this movie. I was one of the 150 wait listed and just barely got in to the sold out show. Only ten on the wait list got in. I am so glad I did because this turned out to be my favorite film at Sundance - I liked it even better than Whiplash which won the Grand Jury Dramatic prize and Audience award.
It had a similar impact on me as did the movie, Contact. It asks what if? It explores the intersection of the spiritual and science - just as Contact did. The science of biometrics is relatively new and I can imagine a growing data base of biometric eye scan data where supposedly, there can only be one signature per person just like fingerprints. If that is so, then what might it mean if duplicates are found? What might it mean if a duplicate is found of a deceased person? What if a person who has a duplicate of a deceased person's eye scan also has a deep, unconscious memory of things in the deceased person's life?
This was not a perfect movie - left hanging was what should be done about a severe breech of ethics on the part of a medical doctor who wanted to examine the protagonist's child on the "pretense" of following up on early signs of autism. Also, the protagonist had a serendipitous experience with the number 11, the meaning of which was never resolved.
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