Old (2021) Universal/Horror RT: 108 minutes Rated PG-13 (strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity, brief strong language) Director: M. Night Shyamalan Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan Music: Trevor Gureckis Cinematography: Mike Gioulakis Release date: July 23, 2021 (US) Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, Alexa Swinton, Nolan River, Gustaf Hammarsten, Kathleen Chalfant, Kyle Bailey, Francesca Eastwood, Matthew Shear, Luca Faustino Rodriguez. Box Office: $48.3M (US)/$90.2M (World)
Rating: ** ½
Let it never be said M. Night Shyamalan is a consistent filmmaker. His work runs the gamut from excellent (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) to execrable (The Last Airbender, After Earth) with some good ones (Split, Glass) in between. His latest Old falls into the good category just slightly under Glass and slightly over The Village. It’s a genuinely creepy thriller about one of man’s greatest fears, aging. We all fear the inevitability of getting old, but what if the process was accelerated? What if you were in a situation where the whole rest of your life went by in under a day? It’s a freaky premise with possibilities. Sadly, Shyamalan too often diverts from the surreal in offering rational explanations for the mysterious goings-on. It mars what could have been a truly unsettling cinematic experience.
It all starts with a family vacation. Of course, the family in question has issues out the wazoo. Not only are Guy (Bernal, Amores Perros) and Prisca (Krieps, Phantom Thread) on the verge of divorce, she has a tumor that might be cancerous. They’re keeping it all to themselves for now for the sake of their two young children, 11YO daughter Maddox (Swinton, Billions) and 6YO son Trent (River). They want to give them a “last trip” before they deliver the double shot of bad news.
They go to this resort that Prisca found on-line. The place is beautiful. Their room is gorgeous. The staff is friendly and accommodating. Their first morning there, they’re approached by the manager (Hammarsten, Bruno) who tells them of a secluded beach inaccessible to all but a specially selected few honored guests. They take him up on his offer and jump on a van (driven by Shyamalan in one of his customary cameos) with a few other guests- arrogant cardiac surgeon Charles (Sewell, Dark City), his vain trophy wife Chrystal (Lee, Mad Max: Fury Road), their 6YO daughter Kara (Bailey) and his elderly mother (Chalfant, Hereditary). They’re met at the beach by another couple, Jarin (Leung, The Night Shift) and Patricia (Bird, Avenue 5). On the beach, they find famous rapper Mid-Sized Sedan (Pierre, Krypton) who’s behaving strangely.
It’s an awesome place this private paradise with its beautiful beach, blue water, crashing waves and the high rock wall surrounding it. Its beauty is almost threatening. The weirdness starts when the body of a dead woman comes floating by. Things get progressively stranger when Maddox and Trent age about five years in a matter of a couple of hours. For whatever reason, this place makes people age at a rate of about a year every half-hour. While the kids eventually turn into adults, the adults become old people with the usual health issues- heart disease, vision problems, dementia, etc. There’s no escape from this heavenly hell either. Those that try either end up right back where they started or dead.
That’s all I’m willing to say about Old and it isn’t anything that you haven’t already seen in the trailer. For the most part, I like it. It’s eerie and thick with atmosphere. The natural beauty of the surroundings is offset nicely by the pallor of doom that hangs over the proceedings. The cinematography by Mike Gioulakis is especially clever with how it plays with POV and perception by way of interesting angles and fluid camerawork. If you think about it, Old is better viewed as an experience than a traditional film with plot and narrative. The fact of the matter is that it’s slow-moving and not scary. It didn’t cause me to jump out of my seat like I did with The Sixth Sense and Signs.
Not being scary is NOT the movie’s biggest problem. No, the problem with Old is that it over-explains itself in the end. Again, I don’t intend to give anything away so I’ll try to keep my comments here vague. There’s a certain point where the movie could have ended (about ten minutes sooner than it does) and it would have been a more effective piece. It would have given audiences something to debate and discuss. Ambiguity can be quite effective; just ask John Carpenter. As for the explanation, I’ll only say it was one of a few different scenarios that crossed my mind while watching.
The acting is Old is pretty good. I especially liked the performances from Thomasin McKenzie (JoJo Rabbit), Alex Wolff (Hereditary) and Eliza Scanlan (Little Women) as teen/young adult versions of Maddox, Trent and Kara respectively. It’s interesting that their brains developed along with their bodies. I would have thought that they’d still think like little children, but okay. Sewell hams it as the doctor whose deteriorating mental state prompts him to keep asking the name of the movie starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson*. Bernal and Krieps are also very good as the parents understandably freaked about their kids literally growing up too fast.
I have to hand it to Shyamalan; he comes up with some interesting ideas for movies. To be fair, Old isn’t his brainchild. It’s based on a Swiss graphic novel by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. I might have to see if I can get my hands on a copy. It’s a great idea for a tale of terror. It’s a very real fear that can be mined for truly unsettling thoughts and ideas. It’s too bad the film adaptation didn’t turn out as great as it could have, but at least it’s not another dog like The Happening.
* = The Missouri Breaks (1976) is the title.
