Old Movie Review by Stephanie Chapman : Pop Culture Leftovers

Old Movie Review by Stephanie Chapman

October 10, 2021 4:20 pm |

M. Night Shyamalan is the kind of filmmaker that has left a mark on us all. For most, it was his breakout film “The 6th Sense” that left audiences enthusiastic and ready for more thrilling rides with jaw dropping endings. Shyamalan’s reputation in film has hit peaks and valley’s since he burst onto the scene and unfortunately “Old” (based on the novel “Sandcastle” (written by Pierre- Oscar Levy & Pierre-Oscar Levy) lands in a treacherous valley.

“Old” takes an intriguing premise that had the potential to grow and land with an impact and plays it safe with its characters and ending. Throw in a bit of cheesy CGI and you’ve got a wasted opportunity for a film that could have had a large impact for audiences and theatres, especially as audiences were making their way back to theatres.

The premise starts off strong. 2 parents, “Prisca” (played by Vicky Krieps) and “Guy” (played by Gael García Bernal) take their children, “Maddox” (played by Alexa Swinton age 11, Thomasin McKenzie age 16, and Embeth Davidtz as adult Maddox) and “Trent” (played by Nolan River age 6, Luca Faustino Rodriguez age 11, and Emun Elliott as adult Trent) on one final vacation before delivering devastating news about the mother’s health. The resort they have booked takes them on an excursion to a beautiful beach with other families who they soon discover also have medical conditions that seem to be progressing at an increased rate. The location is rapidly aging everyone on it, thus accelerating their medical conditions and they slowly begin to die.

Interestingly enough this is not where the film looses its way. There is still quite a bit of intrigue around the cause of this phenomenon, how to escape and why these particular families were chosen. However, “Kara” one of the members of the accompanying families (played by Eliza Scanlen) who started out as a toddler rapidly ages to 15 within the span of a few hours and becomes pregnant by “Trent” who has also aged at an increased rate. They both seem to have fallen in love with each other all while maintaining their toddler/child-like mental capacity…kind of sick.

A degenerative bone disease in a member of one of the other families takes a strange turn with ridiculous CGI and an absurd premise, which left me as a viewer wondering what was happening to cause such a downward spiral for a film with such promise.

The ending (which I will not spoil) is lackluster and unimaginative at best and lazy and pedestrian at worst. It feels as though a majority of the thought and effort for this film was put into the casting and location scouting.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note the great acting performances by the children in this film (both at their youngest ages and as they continued to grow). They carried much of the film and brought life to many moments where the dialogue by the adults did not deliver. Surprisingly I would recommend this film because I think it shows promise but I would ask audiences to manage their expectations and prepare for disappointment.

PCL Rating: Low Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ROTTEN