This summer, visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan unveils a chilling, mysterious new thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly … reducing their entire lives into a single day.
COMMENTARY: I always try and write commentaries that are completely spoiler free. Sadly the trailer for OLD pretty much spoils most of the film already. Even the official synopsis above lets you know what is going to happen. Granted you do not know what happens from point A to point B but for me the fact that they age rapidly would have been a cool surprise when watching.
The film is directed and adapted for the screen by M. Night Shyamalan. he has always been hit or miss in my book. He has released films that to me are some of the best in history, but has also caused me to leave the theater infuriated more times than not. I had written him off until THE VISIT (2015). That film reminded me of what Night can do. I was not expecting that level from OLD, especially after seeing all the spoils in the trailer, but I was excited to see how it all played out.
PROS: I liked the limited cast and the seclusion of having it all take place in a small area. This added to the tension and fear factor. Many will be frustrated with the weird camera angles but I actually liked that. It was the off balance and strange shots that was another layer. The story is simple and you know what is going on early. So it needed the setting and shooting style to make up for the lack of script surprises. Please note that there are a lot of shocking things that do happen so don’t think that it is boring. But the things that do happen a pale in comparison to the fact that they are aging.
The cast is decent too and the chemistry is workable. You have three families thrown together in a horrific situation. Obviously personalities and emotions are going to butt heads. Also the casting was superb. The younger actors look very much like their older counterparts.
CONS: As much as I liked the characters there was a lot that felt like too much. I am in the camp that if you give us something about a character then you have to use it and make is work with everything else. Don’t use it for fluff. There was a lot of fluff. I would rather a character not show up on screen for a while than to make them do something random so we see them.
As mentioned earlier, more times than not the ending of an M. Night Shyamalan films is a con for me. I usually feel cheated. Ok, almost always feel cheated. But not this time. The reveal was not jaw dropping but was sensible and spurred some post credit conversations with those I watched it with.
OLD is rated PG-13 for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language. It has some dark moments and they come on fast. It is certainly not for the squeamish or your younger family members. I would stick with 16 and older for sure. But you do you.
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