A few years back, director Mike Cahill and actress/writer Brit Marling brought their low-key science fiction movie Another Earth to the Sundance Film Festival where it received rave reviews and standing ovations.
This year, Cahill is back with I Origins, a film he wrote and directed that once again co-stars Marling but also stars Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Pitt. Having released all of Marling and Cahill’s collaborations thus far, Fox Searchlight are rumored to make a play to distribute I Origins as well.
In the film that deals with reincarnation, Michael Pitt plays a PhD student who falls in love with a mysterious model played by Astrid Berges-Frisbey while Marling co-stars as Pitt’s assistant.
Reviews have generally been positive with a few exceptions, IndieWire’s Anne Thompson tweeting: I Origins is a brainy & atmospheric follow-up to Another Earth–w/ similar otherworldly vibe–also starring @britmarling, plus Michael Pitt.
Kate Aurthur tweeted: “I, Origins” is good-looking, well-acted, intelligent, original, and moving. The ending is religious nonsense to me. #Sundance
Josh Rothkopf of Time Out New York gave it a favorable three-star review stating Mike Cahill’s soulful sci-fi I ORIGINS requires an open mind, otherwise expect the giggles.
/Film’s Review said “‘I Origins’ Is the Best “Science vs. Faith” Film Since ‘Contact.'”.
Drew McWeeney of HitFix wasn’t as favorable with his review, calling it the “first real disappointment of the fest–Sci-fi and metaphysics make an uneasy mix.”
You can also read a review from The Hollywood Reporter here.
Fox Searchlight has confirmed the acquisition with the below press release:
Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that the company has acquired worldwide rights to the existential drama I ORIGINS. Directed and written by Mike Cahill, I ORIGINS is his second feature following ANOTHER EARTH which Fox Searchlight acquired at Sundance in 2011. The film stars Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Steven Yeun and Archie Panjabi with Cahill, Hunter Gray and Alex Orlovsky serving as producers. The film is scheduled to be released in 2014.
“Mike Cahill’s impressive second feature makes you question our very place in the universe by merging the scientific and emotional worlds in a deeply affecting way,” said Utley and Gilula. “The film boasts a superb cast led by Michael Pitt, and it is great to be reunited with Mike and Brit.”
“I am so excited to once again be home at Fox Searchlight, a place that I believe embraces creative passion and the future of cinematic storytelling,” said Cahill.
“I ORIGINS is a very special film for us at Verisimilitude. We know that Fox Searchlight is the perfect home for Mike’s innovative and utterly original work,” said Gray and Orlovsky.
Written and directed by Mike Cahill, and starring Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, I ORIGINS follows a molecular biologist whose study of the human eye points to evidence with far reaching implications about our scientific and spiritual beliefs.
