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
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
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
More From This Movie

57 Critic Reviews

7.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL