PLOT: A mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott face-to-face with her 39-year-old self. 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.
REVIEW: Whether it’s Weird Science or even a Freaky Friday, it can be fun in a film where logic takes a backseat to entertainment. Do I need a full-blown explanation for how a computer and a barbie doll resulted in one of the most beautiful women in existence? Of course not! This is a movie after all and if we’re able to suspend our disbelief that people can fly, I think a little lunacy for the sake of a story can be quite appealing. So I was intrigued by My Old Ass and its focus on a young girl meeting her older self and rethinking her future. But it doesn’t really feel like the movie that the trailers were selling.
Maisy Stella stars as Elliott, a teenage lesbian who is enjoying the last bits of her hometown until she leaves for the city. She’s a free spirit and so focused on the future, that she doesn’t appreciate the people around her. When her older self appears to her during a shroom trip, will she take her warnings or continue on her current path? I struggle with Elliott types in film as they often come across as self-absorbed and ignorant. While the writer is clearly trying to make her carefree and fun, there’s an inherent unlikability to her. Her friends are simply props and she treats them as such. There’s even a moment where she acknowledges that, even after getting what she wanted, she’s still left unsatisfied. Maybe if she wasn’t such a know-it-all, this would be a fun revelation to have. Instead, I was just annoyed we’re stuck with her as our protagonist.
Aubrey Plaza is great as older Elliott but she’s massively underutilized. There’s a constant charisma black hole when she’s not on screen. As funny as she is, she’s really the emotional anchor of the film. She provides all the most heartfelt moments and really brings the movie to life. But she hardly has ten minutes of screentime, so her absence is often felt. I also enjoyed Percy Hynes White (from Netflix’s Wednesday) as Chad, the boy that older Elliott warns younger Elliott to stay away from. He has great chemistry with Maisy and fits the role well.
I like magical realism but one thing I really need is an established rule for the strange happenings. Outside of the excuse of a shroom trip, there’s no real explanation for how Elliott can interact with her older self. It’s made all the more complicated when people outside of Elliott get involved as well. There’s no time limit or really any clear limitation. Plaza’s appearances are entirely plot-reliant and don’t feel very thought out. Giving some kind of parameters for it would have resulted in tension around the ticking time bomb of help. Instead it feels lazy.
As much as the movie wants to be about self-discovery, the message is completely lost by the end. The second half devolves into this strange Nicholas Sparks-style love story and it clashes with the prior tone. It also further frames Elliott as an unlikeable character, completely dismissing a girl she’s involved with, without any kind of proper acknowledgment. It’s one of many baffling decisions that Megan Park makes with her film.
I’m not sure there’s a single instance where a non-musical movie does a random musical scene and it works. It’s easily the worst part of the film and, had I been watching it on streaming, would have been the moment I shut it off. When it’s all said and done, My Old Ass is about a woman deciding the life she thought she wanted to live, isn’t as important as she thought. It’s a nice message about not planning out everything and living outside of your own expectations. Unfortunately it comes across in a very strange way with its very confusing LGBT messaging. I’m not sure what point the filmmakers were trying to get across outside of the obvious.
MY OLD ASS IN PLAYING IN THEATERS ON SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2024.