Review: ‘Old’
M. Night Shyamalan was once heralded as the next great filmmaker. The “next Spielberg,” according to a 2002 issue of Newsweek Magazine. And for awhile, it seemed to be true, as Shyamalan released a string of films that were both critical and commercial successes, more specifically The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs, which are still heralded by fans today.
But then The Village happened and it seemed like any and all goodwill critics and the general public had towards Shyamalan completely disappeared. While it has since been re-assessed and is now generally regarded as a highlight of Shyamalan’s filmography, The Village was unfairly met with ridicule from critics and audiences alike. Shyamalan’s twist ending technique, once a signature of his films, became a source of grievance for audiences and his next films did little to reverse that trajectory.
While Shyamalan’s career has managed to somewhat recover since then, both critics and audiences still approach his films with caution, even though his past three films (The Visit, Split and Glass) were generally well-received both critically and commercially. His latest film, Old, based on a graphic novel by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, sees the filmmaker return to his genre-bending, twist ending roots, both for better and for worse.
Old centers on a family made up of Prisca (Vicky Krieps), her husband Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal) and their children Maddox (Alexa Swinton) and Trent (Luca Faustino Rodriguez). They seem like the picture perfect family, although that couldn’t be further from the truth. Prisca and Guy are headed for a divorce, a move that is further complicated when it is discovered that Prisca is suffering from a terminal medical condition.
They embark on one last family outing to a mysterious resort, where they are given access to a gorgeous private beach, which they end up sharing with three different groups: couple Jarin (Ken Leung) and Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird), doctor Charles (Rufus Sewell), his younger wife Chrystal (Abbey Lee), their daughter Kara (Kyle Bailey) and Charles’ mother Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant), and finally rapper Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre) and his girlfriend.
Things soon take a turn for the worse when a body washes up on the shore and the children suddenly find themselves rapidly aging. As the group desperately tries to find a way out of the beach, they begun to lose both their minds and their cognitive functions, as they realize that all of them are aging years in a matter of hours.
Filled to the brim with the pulpy shlock of The Happening rather than the restrained elegance of The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable, Old will have its set of detractors, who will take issue at its messy nature and underwhelming resolution. However, Old is elevated by the performances of its actors, all of whom deliver powerfully believable and natural performances as a group of regular people thrust into irregular circumstances.
Overall, Old will provide audiences with a fun, thrilling time at the movies, anchored by a chaotic second half that will leave viewers breathless in anticipation of what is to come next. Uneventful resolution aside (or maybe included), Shyamalan is finally comfortable in his own skin as a filmmaker and assuredly confident in his storytelling techniques. If that’s a good or a bad thing depends on who you ask.
Rating 3.5/5
Old will be released in theaters on Friday, July 23, 2021.