I Origins (2014 Sundance capsule)

I Origins overflows with pseudo-profundities. The movie is built around lofty concepts of the soul, reincarnation, the Meaning of Life and their relation to science, but its ideas don’t stand up to scrutiny. Writer/director Mike Cahill has a gift for intriguing, mysterious moments, and gives the story an exciting urgency until it collapses under its own vapidity. Michael Pitt plays a scientist who is trying to evolve eyesight in a lab while he searches for a mysterious girl with beautiful eyes (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey). Those eyes, we’re told in the opening voice-over, will “save the world.” There’s plenty of promising material, but Cahill trips himself up with clumsy, obvious dialogue and lack of follow-through on his most promising notions.

Director: Mike Cahill
Writer: Mike Cahill
Starring: Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Steven Yeun
Production Details: WeWork Studio, 113 minutes