I Origins
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: July 18, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
20
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 26, 2014
I Origins is a bracingly venturesome, exploratory work that achieves an exceptional balance between the emotional and intellectual aspects of its unusual story. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigJul 24, 2014
An exploration of where science ends and spirituality picks up, this second feature from writer-director Mike Cahill (Another Earth) is captivating, suspenseful and thought-provoking. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerJul 24, 2014
Cahill has not only made a thoughtful and compelling movie about science, but he’s also given us an intriguing story that delves into the age-old debate of faith vs. hard proof involving the possibility of a higher spiritual power. Read full review
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 16, 2014
A true indie film roller-coaster ride, from moon-eyed romance to aching heartbreak, cerebral puzzle to incredibly moving, emotional resolution to that puzzle. In a season of the year where sci-fi is dumbed down and then dumbed some more for mass consumption, here’s a piece of speculative fiction that will stick with you long after the last Transformer’s battery has died. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 18, 2014
Brit Marling, who starred in and co-wrote Cahill’s debut feature, “Another Earth,” is very good as Ian’s lab assistant and eventual wife, and a young Indian girl named Kashish, a nonactress I would guess, is unforgettable. Read full review
83
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 26, 2014
I Origins is a fascinating examination of belief, spirituality and otherworldliness through the skeptical lens of science, however, it's not always perfect. Read full review
80
EmpireDamon WiseSep 22, 2014
Cahill's second feature film is another smart, inventive and engaging offering. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJul 25, 2014
Thought-provoking, making this a solid date movie science geeks and philosophy freaks alike. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJul 24, 2014
A film that aims for the stars and may have found one here on earth. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJul 18, 2014
It is a film that can sometimes frustrate in its supporting characters but Cahill and his talented cast are unapologetically willing to explore the kind of complex intangibles that filmmakers often ignore or merely turn into pretentious drivel. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithJul 17, 2014
The attraction between the resolutely empirical scientist and his “spiritual,” hippy-dippy girlfriend gives the film an unpredictable quality. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJul 16, 2014
It works its own sort of magic. After all, who doesn't want to believe that the soul does have a window, and that if it closes we might open it again? Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnJan 26, 2014
While still invested in grandiose swipes at big ideas and the epistemological babbling of a late night college dorm room conversation, Cahill generates an authentic sense of mystery by keeping a tighter lid on the secrets of the universe. Read full review
70
The DissolveTasha RobinsonJul 16, 2014
The hypnotic, clicky soundtrack, Bergès-Frisbey’s playful yet sad performance, and a few significant script moments laying out the film’s philosophy all aim toward a sleepy trance that helps put the biggest flaws into soft focus. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrJul 24, 2014
As a director, Cahill’s a capable and sometimes breathtaking stylist, and he accomplishes remarkable things on a modest budget, topping up the visuals with patterns, rhymes, and concordances. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 24, 2014
The film ends with an ambiguous, yet powerful conclusion. It doesn’t answer the question it raises, yet the way it’s asked keeps it echoing in your head. Except that Cahill can’t seem to leave well enough alone. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 17, 2014
Cahill, who did the equally heady, intriguing drama “Another Earth” (2011), keeps the tone consistent. He makes certain his cast walks a savvy tightrope, keeping things taut. Read full review
60
Village VoiceCalum MarshJul 15, 2014
The story proceeds with all the flighty unreality of a film unconcerned with real-world scientific rigor... but Cahill manufactures enough conspiracies, coincidences, and extraordinary turns of plot to keep his thinking audience too busy to care. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJan 26, 2014
Persuasive sci-fi tech talk, soulful romance and an earnest stab at metaphysics combine in director Mike Cahill's polished second feature. Read full review
60
Film.comJames RocchiJan 21, 2014
I Origins is about on-par with “Another Earth,” but it’s still disappointing that a film so obsessed with the eye has such a fuzzy, blurred vision of what it wants to do. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJul 31, 2014
Stories about scientists doubting what they know to be true — "Contact," for example — can be provocative and engaging, on an intellectual and emotional level. But I Origins challenges too little and ties up things too neatly for it to register as anything more than well-made, well-intentioned hogwash. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 28, 2014
Poorly paced with a tendency to veer into the pretentious and littered with contrivances and dramatic short-cuts, I Origins fails to provide a single three-dimensional character or compelling relationship. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJul 24, 2014
Although the film and the actors keep on looking good, this solemn, soppy, fantasy has nothing to say about science or faith. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 24, 2014
The struggle between faith and reason somehow gets sidetracked, resulting in a sometimes silly, too-obvious journey. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 24, 2014
I Origins is at its best when it's a personal story about relationships, and it has a strong first hour. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 23, 2014
Even when plausibility fails, I Origins is elegantly cosseted by its dreamy camerawork (courtesy of Markus Förderer) and pretty people. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJul 17, 2014
On the face of it, tackling the warring sides of science and the spirit seemed a good fit for the writer-director, who continues to be drawn to existential themes. There are occasional flashes of the exceptional, but the film's dodgy story can't sustain them. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasJul 14, 2014
It treats its characters as placeholders for philosophical arguments and spends the majority of its running time trying to "solve" existential mysteries without adequately exploring them. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jul 16, 2014
I Origins is an exercise in supreme obviousness, beginning (but not ending) with its double entendre of a title. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottAug 1, 2014
The problem is, the second half of the film -- when it's time for it to get down to business -- isn't nearly as compelling as the first. As a result, the impact of Cahill's story is muted as the payoff just doesn't feel rewarding. Read full review
40
TheWrapDiane GarrettJul 18, 2014
The final third of I Origins helps make up for much of the movie's earlier shortcomings, and while it does have a nice gothic look, it's not nearly as captivating as Cahill intends. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 18, 2014
I Origins really loses its oomph when Ian travels to India in search of a particular pair of eyeballs, and the movie closes on a note that would make even M. Night Shyamalan roll his own. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 17, 2014
“Another Earth” was a heartfelt entertainment that managed to infuse a tantalizing science fiction premise with thought and feeling. I Origins is too committed to explaining itself to repeat the trick and falls into the trap of taking its daffy intellectual conceits far too seriously. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 17, 2014
This new feature, though, sets up a dialectic between reason and faith and argues it insistently, with eye-rolling earnestness. Read full review
40
The TelegraphAmber WilkinsonJan 26, 2014
Despite his free and easy camerawork, which generates some lovely moments between Ian and Sofi, Cahill's narrative jolts along in fits and starts. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 26, 2014
The film amounts to a lousy sort of magic show, schematically pulling strings to prove its own points. Read full review
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