Directed By Megan Park

Starring – Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White

The Plot – A mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott (Stella) face-to-face with her 39-year-old self (Plaza). But when Elliott’s “old ass” delivers warnings to her younger self, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about her family, life, and love.

Rated R for adult language throughout, drug use and sexual material.

My Old Ass | Official Trailer (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

The most unique kind of plot ideas usually are saddled with the condonation that they were written on drugs, but in the case of Park’s ‘My Old Ass’, it’s a sentiment that is wholeheartedly embraced in concept, where the wisdom of age clashes with the fearlessness of youth, to craft an experience that truly snuck up on me in more ways than one. For starters, the plot is surprisingly only utilized as an introductory point into the rest of the film, where from there, with Elliott’s curiosity for her ambiguous future, then articulates a mysterious element for the rest of the film that treads carefully into aspects of her life that her older self has warned her against, making her question if she can fight fate with the knowledge that it’s for good in the bigger, better picture. On top of this, the film’s second half gives way to a meaningful queer sexual exploration arc in the shoes of a bi-curious protagonist, which could easily become table scrap fodder for the unique idea at the forefront of the story, if done wrong, but the script approaches the conflict with maturity and meaning that make it feel like a key contribution to Elliott’s development, leaving her not only to question things about herself that she initially thought was set in stone, but also representation for demographics within the audience, who are finally seeing their kind of stories played out in an industry that has roughly ignored them for decades. Tonally, a film with this ridiculous title and plot would typically be aligned with a raunchy brand of humor that makes this just another crude comedy for the pile, but Park’s direction effortlessly supplants elements of heart and humanity to the engagement that coincided sentimentality and sincerity wonderfully, making it all the more believable to vividly tap into some of the feelings of regret and longing that it shares at the feet of an audience, who will inevitably use their own life memories to immerse themselves in the plights and garnered life knowledge of the youthful protagonist. This brush within the urgency of life definitely garnered a dramatic air in atmosphere that aged the material gracefully, but as it becomes a fully fledged romantic comedy by film’s end, it’s only then that the film forcefully tugs at your heart strings, and because I invested firmly into the originality and upfront personality of these character designs, the script definitely suckered me in to an undertowing climax during the film’s finale, which with the answer revealed to our 85-minute mystery, throws the future into a tailspin, where the collision between past and present inspire such gut-wrenching feelings that make it difficult to believe that it came from a movie that began with a character abusing drugs for her own selfish escapism. As a director, Park gives the film the much needed maturity that evolved the material without sucking out the fun factor, but as a writer, she makes perhaps her most impressive strides, crafting characters and engagements so grounded in authenticity that I truly appreciated how she was able to naturally convey exposition without it feeling so on-the-nose and forced, unlike most movies. For the humor, Park uses it more as an underlining, instead of entirety, and the results are these punchlines that are mostly effective, but subtly in ways that refuse the pacing and structure to slow or stall the integrity of the scenes they accompany, instead leaving vitality on connection of interaction that I truly couldn’t get enough of. This is even mirrored accordingly during the romantic elements of the movie, which could easily get weighed down in the sappiness of the shift, but Park instead indulges in the awkwardness of blossoming love, and it outlines not only a dynamic between two characters that is effortlessly endearing, as a result of their impeccable chemistry towards one another, but also tender moments of vulnerability for Elliott, which is rewarded with intimate cinematography from Kristen Correll, who with the backdrop of the pacific northwest as her canvas, paints permeating passion between two characters that never requires exaggerating or embellishing to spice up the pot. This takes me to the setting itself, featuring some of the most gorgeous backdrop in visuals that you’re sure to see this year. While I myself am a bit biased towards the greens of surrounding forests, or overhanging fog slightly off in the distance, the isolation factor of the setting definitely plays into the inescapable phenomenon of fate making it difficult for Elliott to escape her male suitor, and during those moments of internal reflection, gives us plenty to chew on visually while the characters conspire psychologically. Lastly, I would be doing a grave disservice if I didn’t discuss the dynamic duo at the forefront of the story, as Stella and Plaza are a delicious dish best served fried. Plaza is undoubtedly the biggest name in the ensemble, but surprisingly only featured in two scenes throughout the engagement, but despite this limitation, Aubrey impactfully reminds us of her range as both a comedic and dramatic actress, with a fragility during the aforementioned climax of the movie, as well as longing during introduction, that made me tremble for all of the pain and regret that she contextualizes in a single look. As for Maisy Stella, she’s a superstar in the making, with radiant charisma, on-spot comedic timing, and a connective ability to make you feel the weight and complexity of the wide range of experiences that her character takes while on this road to enlightenment.

NEGATIVES

Though Park’s sophomoric effort is a smash that even exceeds her riveting debut for ‘The Fallout’, it isn’t without momentary lapses in judgment that limit some of the appeal of this uniquely compelling gimmick, primarily in the rules of the science, which are never even attempted towards being explained. While some will look at this as intentional, as the film is essentially about time-travelers who are connected through their chemical exploits, for me, the time-traveling gets a little convoluted and further distracting by the third act climax, where now without even drugs at her disposal, Elliott can interact with her older self, as a result of her being high. On top of that, now other characters can suddenly see and interact with this older side of Elliott, and between this and the inconsistencies of their phone conversations, it leaves me wishing Park would’ve taken slightly more time to flesh out this generational connection, even if it still wouldn’t line up seamlessly to what we would expect from easy-to-follow time traveling movies. That idea of rushed execution is kind of everywhere with this film, as an aforementioned 85-minute run time definitely breezed a bit too forcefully during the opening act, where more time should’ve been spent inside of Elliott’s rambunctiousness, in order to earn a greater emphasis in transformation, as well as more time spent with Plaza’s character, whose disappearance from the rest of the film feels like it never takes full advantage of what she brings to the table. It doesn’t require much, but I think smoother pacing inside of the opening act, with possibly ten minutes more added to this and the dynamic between Elliott and her mother, which the script never wholeheartedly commits to, could’ve elicited a far more realistic consistency to the development of these subplots, which instead resolve themselves as fast and accordingly as a half hour sitcom. Finally, while the film mostly does a great job of casting actors and actresses who bare a genetic resemblance to one another, the biggest comparison at the forefront of the story required more suspended disbelief than I would’ve liked, as Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza don’t look even look alike after a couple of tokes to a joint that some of you may or may not be smoking, while watching this movie. This won’t be a big deal for everyone, but for me it’s one of the most glaring distractions that I have in a movie featuring two actors playing different ages of the same character, and in the case of ‘My Old Ass’, it might be among the worst of these that I’ve ever seen, which kept me from effortlessly investing in these two portraying the same person simultaneously.

OVERALL
‘My Old Ass’ is one of the year’s greatest surprises, and a refreshing spin on the queer coming-of-age subgenre that has attained more attention and representation with time. Park’s sophomoric effort proves that there’s no substitute for experience, as tonally and creatively her film is like a cinematic cocoon that sheds its expendable layer between every act, and despite few answers in the science of the gimmick, or rushed pacing to the storytelling that abruptly oversteps some of the compartmentalized aspects of Elliott’s family life, the personal and psychological exploration of her journey comes with an experience that is every bit entertaining as it is emotional, made more grippingly believable by the range and radiance of Maisy Stella’s breakthrough performance.

My Grade: 8/10 or B