Grade: B
There’s a long-standing convention in the movies, that comes up often. I’ll describe it, and you could probably name examples of where it’s happened. Two or more characters are exploring or investigating. They split up, and one finds something scary or disturbing, which leads them to yell out something to this effect: “Hey, [name of other character(s)]!!! You’re gonna wanna come take a look at this…” The other(s) in the scene run over, react, and we abruptly cut to the scary/disturbing thing while the score might give a loud boom.
This convention shows up a few times in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, but it never quite plays out the way we’re accustomed to. Shyamalan is smart enough to know that nothing he can show us would compare to the horrors we could imagine in our heads. So he often holds off on that payoff shot, or we get it gradually, or not when we think we will.
Old is the 6th M. Night Shyamalan movie I have seen. I have previously seen The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, and The Visit. There is much to admire in Old. Based on a novel called Sandcastle, Old tells the story of a vacationing family who gets an invitation from the manager of the resort. This family, and a couple others, are brought to a super-exclusive private beach on the property. There is no phone reception, and it is surrounded by towering rocks, who start to feel like characters in the movie. Before the audience and characters are completely aware of what’s happening to them on this beach, there is already a sinister off-kilter feeling about the location. I was not surprised to learn that the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock was an influence for Shyamalan here. That film, and this one, had a hypnotic lull.
We know from the trailer – and the characters eventually catch up to us to find out – that the beach has an odd supernatural power that is making everybody on it age rapidly. The children, under the age of 10 at the beginning of this day, are 20-somethings in a matter of 5 hours – and depending on how old you were when you first arrived, you might not make it to sunset. If you try to walk off the beach the way you came, you get excruciating headache pain, black out, and come to – back on the beach.
One thing that struck me was how great a play this would be, provided you have a group of actors who are up for that emotional workout a few nights a week. The chemistry between these actors is top-notch, and there are a surprising amount of laughs to be had along the way. My two favorites: the sequence of events that leads to the punchline “I don’t know what happened! We were just playing” – and the doctor who almost literally drives himself crazy trying to think of what movie Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson starred in together. Said doctor is played by the eternally-welcome Rufus Sewell. I have a soft spot for him because he’s the star of Dark City – my favorite sci-fi film. He did memorable work with Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins in The Father earlier this year as well. Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps – as the parents of the family we follow through the movie – are solid anchors, even if their old age makeup isn’t consistent. It’s inevitable that different actors would have to step into the roles of the older versions of the kids. Taking us from 15/16 and beyond is the marvelous Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) and Alex Wolff (Hereditary, Pig). Regardless of the age they appear by the end, they are able to maintain their childlike playfulness and make it easy for us to remember their mental ages.
Shyamalan is famous for his twist endings. The twist in Old is far-fetched and confusing, but will appease the people who prefer to be spoonfed a tidy explanation. I do have to say I was very satisfied with the ending. Old is an ably-made, funny, absorbing film that will adequately entertain.
In a stroke of serendipity, and a poignant extension of the themes of Old, I recognized an employee of the theater I attended as we passed each other in the hallway as I left. He had a dustpan, broom, and a smile on his face. I almost said hi, because I feel like I know him. This isn’t the first theater he’s worked at. For him to be in the business this long, he must be passionate about movies, service, making people like me happy, or all of the above. He looked about 24 years older than when I first saw him, in 1997.
Grade: B
Film Reviews by Mark 
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