M. Night Shyamalan is known for making thrillers with a twist — it’s pretty much all he has done in recent years. Contrary to the fact that he’s been making movies for years, I only recently got introduced to him through his movie Split. I understood some criticisms of it due to the subject matter, but overall I thought it was a well-made film with some interesting cinematography. I had high hopes for his most recent film Old, but after it was almost universally panned, I was unsure if I even wanted to go see it. In the end, though, I was pleasantly surprised. So if you’re ready to age about five years in the time it takes to read this article, let’s dive into Old.
The main plot is that a group of people (adults and children) are trapped on an island where they age extremely rapidly. I believe they mention towards the end of the film that an entire lifetime would take a little under a day to complete. The concept as a whole was interesting, but where the film struggled most was the script. One of the first lines of the film was a mother saying to her daughter, “I can’t wait to hear what you sing like when you’re older.” So from the very beginning, they were really shoving the idea of time and age into the audience’s faces. In my opinion, the theme would’ve been much better received if it was done a little more subtly. Likewise, some of the dialogue written for the children seemed haphazardly thrown together, creating a confusion for the audience about the timeline of when the children had been raised.
The issues with the writing continued throughout the film, particularly during some major plot points. For example, even though the idea of escaping through the rocks surrounding the beach was brought up several times, it was never actually pursued. And I thought that would be the first thing they would try. Additionally, the way that the final two children ended up escaping was by swimming through a randomly placed coral reef which was never explained during the film. There are countless more instances of inconsistencies, plot holes, and just confusing scenes that really dragged the story down.
There were also a few strange aspects of the film, and I wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be funny, unnerving, or both. For example, one of the people trapped on the beach was a rapper named “Mid-Size Sedan.” And every time someone said the name super seriously on-screen, my friends and I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m not entirely sure his character was supposed to be comic relief, but it just sort of happened that way. Additionally, over the course of the film, two of the children around the age of six or seven, age up until they’re in their teens. Then, not five minutes later, some stuff happens off-screen and the girl becomes pregnant. This is supposed to be this big shock and turns into them trying to help the girl as she gives birth but the audience is still disturbed by the fact that two people with the mentality of six-year-olds completed the action that led to a baby. It didn’t add anything to the film and was just plain weird. So there were definitely a few scenes in the film that were, in my opinion, gratuitous.
Even though I had quite a few gripes with it, I’ll admit that Old was an enjoyable film. It was an interesting concept that, although not extremely well-written, kept the audience engaged throughout the majority of the film. It had some laughs, some cringey moments, and a few scenes that were generally really captivating. Overall, I don’t think it was one of Shyamalan’s best, but I do believe it’s a good addition to his collection of thrillers.
Spoiler Alert is an Opinion culture column used to give reviews for movies, television shows, or other related media.
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