The Origin

In the Old Stone Age, a disparate gang of early humans band together in search of a new land. Following their leader’s promise of a better life, the tribe take their chances and embark on a perilous quest across unknown and treacherous terrains. But when they suspect a malevolent, potentially mystical, being is hunting them down, the terrified clan are forced to confront a danger they never envisaged. Shot in an isolation bubble in the Scottish Highlands during the pandemic, Andrew Cumming’s visionary survival horror is a masterclass in expansive world-building that belies its humble origins. With committed performances from its cast, who speak in a fictional prehistoric language (don’t worry, there are subtitles), this is genre filmmaking at its most breathtakingly ambitious. And it’s bloody scary too.