When Kulap Vilaysack was 14, she took her father's side in an argument and her mother replied, "Why are you defending him? He's not your real dad." Twenty years later, she's finally ready to learn what that means. ORIGIN STORY is a feature-length, international quest with stops in Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Laos to meet the biological father she never knew. On the road, unforeseen revelations strike as hilarious or heartbreaking, rarely in between. An avid comic book reader with a vigilante character named after her in the DC Comics universe, she must summon the courage of Katharsis, because each question is another step out on a limb. ORIGIN STORY is a deeply personal but universally relevant tale of immigration, conflict, addiction, and personal responsibility. Interviewees in the film include extended family, husband Scott Aukerman, and close friends, like Sarah Silverman, Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael and Howard Kremer.
Direction
Vilaysack turns her life into genuine comic book panels.
Writing
Balances gut-punch reveals with legitimately funny friend banter.
Director
Kulap Vilaysack
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kulap's DC Comics character Katharsis actually appears in the Batgirl series — she asked for a Southeast Asian hero and got one.
The film quietly documents a specific Laotian-American refugee experience rarely seen on screen, centered on the Secret War's invisible survivors.
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