Old (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review
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Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Alex Wolff, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, Kathleen Chalfant
Runtime: 108 min
Synopsis: A tropical holiday turns into a horrific nightmare when a family visits a secluded beach that's somehow causing them to age rapidly - reducing their entire lives into a single day.
If you’ve been following me for the past years, you know that M. Night Shyamalan (Eastrail 177 Trilogy) is one of my favorite filmmakers. I genuinely believe he’s one of the most talented directors ever, even though I recognize his own faults. It’s uncommon for Shyamalan to release a universally acclaimed or globally despised film. Overall, most of his career is packed with incredibly divisive films. His trademark impactful third-act plot twists aren’t always effective, often feeling more like a filmmaker trait than an actually necessary storytelling device.
When the shocking revelations work, the entire film gains a whole other layer, so much so that some of his movies deeply marked pop culture. However, when the twists become more of an obsession than something essential, his screenplays become packed with narrative and character inconsistencies hard to ignore. Unfortunately, Old falls into the latter category. Boasting an extraordinarily intriguing premise, the hundreds of remarkable ideas fall flat due to a frustrating, unconvincing execution.
First of all, the amount of disposable, hollow characters hurts the film’s attempt at exploring deeper themes, such as time as a healing mechanism. The Cappa couple arc holds a beautifully developed narrative about common relationship issues that affect so many people worldwide. Shyamalan demonstrates extreme care in mixing up forgiveness, love, and time. People give tremendous significance to problems and fights when they actually occur but after so many years, most look back and barely remember what happened, holding on to the one thing that perseveres: love.
Being Cappa the main family of the movie, their particular story is, unfortunately, the only one I felt invested in. Every secondary character either possesses unlikable traits or they’re just a complete pack of cliches. All serve as mere devices to explain the “rules” of this mysterious beach. From visually shocking deaths to surprisingly poor exposition delivery, some actors struggle to deliver a compelling performance. Until the one-hour mark, most of the interactions feel awkwardly fake, as if someone just told the actors to read the lines for the first time in that exact moment.
Consequently, there’s no emotional attachment to any secondary character, and even the protagonists aren’t easy to fully connect with. Then, there’s the massive problem regarding that first topic mentioned above about the filmmaker’s trademark. Once again, the third act boasts impactful revelations that change the understanding of the plot. However, not only it drastically changes the main theme of the film, undermining all the work done until then, but it creates too many logical inconsistencies to handle.
I genuinely dislike being “that guy” who complains about “movie logic” problems, but when films like Old come around, it’s almost impossible not to address the dozens of unanswered questions left by the movie. From the past of some characters to actual plot points, there’s an absurd amount of incoherent, hard-to-justify events that ultimately hurt the overall enjoyment of the film. Old raises too many questions throughout the runtime just to drop a disappointing revelation by the end, which is abruptly carried out through ridiculous final developments. it’s just too much to handle.
Casting-wise, impeccable job in hiring younger and older actors that look alike. Kids grow up, becoming their older selves due to some crazy sci-fi element, but it feels surprisingly realistic, which obviously demands praise from every viewer to the wonderful makeup department and casting director (Douglas Aibel). Technically, Shyamalan rarely lets his fans down, and Old has some sweet tiny little details concerning the time shenanigans - body decomposition, age-related health issues, feelings/puberty.
However, some technical elements from incredibly talented individuals negatively surprised me. Michael Gioulakis (Us), DP, employs some camera angles and lighting that can become visually bothersome to watch. Despite a pretty scenery, POV shots, extreme close-ups, and shaky cam aren’t what I’d call viewer-friendly due to the constant camera movement that doesn’t allow for easy, pleasant visibility. Nevertheless, the attention to detail and commitment to the craft must be commended. Some editing choices from Brett M. Reed (The Sound of Philadelphia) didn’t help the pacing, often giving that feeling of a few frames being missed between cuts. Trevor Gureckis’s (Servant) score sets the enigmatic mood quite well, though.
Final Thoughts
Old is one of those cases of a remarkably unique, intriguing concept failing to reach its potential due to an overall disappointing execution of too many ideas. M. Night Shyamalan delivers yet another divisive film, tackling deeper themes associated with our relationship with time and how the latter impacts people in distinct ways. The trademark final act revelation not only negatively affects the main theme of the movie but also raises dozens of plot and character inconsistencies, too many to handle. The acting is surprisingly as poor as some of the awful dialogues, despite great casting concerning the kid-to-adult transitions. The main family’s arc is one worth investing in, but there are too many disposable, irrelevant characters. The technically accurate, detailed cinematography might not be pleasant for every viewer, but the editing definitely lacks some finesse. Unfortunately, I can’t defend Shyamalan too much on this one…
