Old
Old
Starring Vicky Krieps, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
When you ask people what their biggest fear is, you're bound to expect the classic answers: heights, spiders, enclosed spaces, your in-laws. There's another answer that many people answer with when asked this question: getting old. Its not the thought of aging that's often the fear, but the regrets that comes with getting older. You look back when you age and think of all the things you didn't get to do, the missed opportunities, the valued time you should've spent with loved ones before they passed away. "Old" should've been a film filled with intense dramatic moments such as this, but instead it stays to the typical Shyamalan model of showcasing absolutely no emotions but everyone acting like robots as they blindly, blandly traverse the meager script handed to them as the film itself feels so long you'd think you aged a few years by the end of it.
The Cappa family - father Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal), mother Prisca (Vicky Krieps), son Trent (Nolan River), and daughter Maddox (Alexa Swinton) - decide to head to a tropical resort for summer vacation, and once they arrive they're instructed by the resort director of a small, desolate island that no one else goes to where they can share a once-in-a-lifetime experience. They jump at the chance, but learn that they're not alone - they're joined by doctor Charles (Rufus Sewell), his trophy wife Chrystal (Abbey Lee), his mother Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant), and young daughter Kara (Kyle Bailey). When they all arrive on the island, they find it's also occupied by rapper Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre), and soon joined by couple Jarin (Ken Leung) and Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird) Carmichael. Despite the company, the Cappas plan on having an enjoyable day on the beach.
Soon, however, things begin to go array. First Trent discovers a dead body in the ocean, belonging to Mid-Size Sedan's girlfriend. Then Guy and Prisca are shocked to discover that their once young children have aged to teenagers in just a few hours, along with Kara. Now teenagers, Trent (Alex Wolff), Maddox (Thomasin McKenzie), and Kara (Eliza Scanlen) don't seem to understand what's happening to them, and the others also realize that they're aging quickly as well. When they try to escape, they find themselves disoriented and pass out only to re-awaken on the beach. As the day progresses, their aging intensifies, and they soon begin dying one-by-one, with no seemingly way of escape.
"Old" is one of those rare opportunity films to really highlight the deep philosophical issues of aging and life choices at an accelerated rate, as the characters discover they're aging years within hours, but instead the nearly two-hour runtime is spent with repetitive expository dialogue, where it seems that no one seems to care that they're all rapidly dying. There's a few emotional moments, but they're very few and far between, as the remainder of the film consists of random characters saying things like "why is this happening?" "What's happening?" "How do we get out of here?" "We're getting older!" The mystery surrounding the rapid aging is intriguing, but also incredibly weak by the end of it all, when the film switches from a survival movie to a "Cabin in the Woods" style knock-off, where we're introduced to the characters for long stretches of time as they act stupidly left and right before the writers remember that they're supposed to die, and begin dropping like flies every five minutes or so.
This should've been a film about living with the regrets that you'll never get to accomplish. It seems impossible that anyone will make it out of this age-forwarding island alive, and they spend their last moments on earth bantering between one another and mindlessly staring into the abyss. There should've been moments - at least with the Cappa family - where they come together and talk about their lives, about the love they have for one another, or anything, but instead it's nondescript dialogue especially with the older Trent who acts like everything is normal when it's obviously not. Even as people start dying, their loved ones left behind don't seem to care. If the "Loki" meme was a movie, this would be that movie:
Dialogue goes in circles, as does the cinematography, which I have to admit I was slightly impressed with. There's moments where we seem to be included in the group, as a scream from somewhere far away turns the camera to that direction in a jerking manner that seems like something we would do if we were there in the process, along with the camera moving fast-paced up and down the beach to catch up on the goings on that occurs out of camera shot. Still, it doesn't add to an enjoyable experience when the dialogue is so haphazardly written and lazily performed, as it goes around and around painfully slow before it escalates in extreme fashion where it's almost laughable.
When the mystery finally comes together, it's supposed to make the audience think it makes sense, but it still doesn't. Not entirely. It leaves you with an empty, hollow feeling after watching it, like there was something more that should've been done rather than what we were given. Something that could've added more oomph, more emotion, more forbearance, but none of that is there. This should've been a film discussing the fears of old age and life regrets, but it seems like it's just another day on the beach for these people, like their very lives weren't on the line. It doesn't provide the tension that a movie like this should be, but all feels very simplistic and ordered, when it should've been ultimate chaos - and that's the most frustrating thing about this whole experience: the wasted opportunity.
Boasting a unique mystery and the concept of aging at an accelerated rate, "Old" should've been a fantastic blend of horror and family drama, but instead it's a meandering path of mediocrity, circular dialogue and elongated runtime that makes you feel like you've aged years yourself when it finally ends.
The Score: C-
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