Review of Old (2021) by Rebecca31 — 26 Jul 2021

The lesson you can all take from Old is if you find yourself en route to a secluded location and your driver is M. Night Shyamalan maybe you need to rethink your decision and get the hell off the bus. I'll give it one thing, I definitely wasn't bored.

A family travel to a tropical island for a holiday and discover that the secluded beach they are relaxing at for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly. Naturally everyone freaks out and tries to find a way off the beach before they literally run out of time. I think I can speak for most people when I say the aging process is a real fear many of us have. No one wants to get old. So to base a movie on the premise of aging rapidly is a scary concept. Well at least I thought so. Based on a graphic novel, M. Night has taken an already scary idea and ramped it up to the max. When Prisca (Vicky Krieps) and Guy (Gael García Bernal) realise their children have aged by years in just a few hours panic ensues. It's ridiculous, cringey and the dialogue seems disjointed and a bit like everyone is just reading their lines. There's also the strange editing and close ups that just start to annoy you after a while. I feel Old has a great idea and it's well executed to a point but the more it drags on the more silly it becomes. It doesn't have the same "oh **** moments that some other M. Night films have. There are a few laughs scattered throughout, only I'm not sure if you're really meant to be laughing at them. I didn't love Old but I didn't hate it either. It has its moments but overall it's not great. The performances from most of the cast seem bland and wooden. I feel this was close to being top tier Shyamalan but Old ends up being somewhere between The Happening and Split.

Shyamalan is one of those film makers who really divides audiences, most of you will either love or hate his movies. Old isn't exactly his best but it's not his worst either. Look you get what you expect, the trailer sets it all up so all you have to do is get yourself into a nice air-conditioned cinema, sit back and enjoy this intense thriller. And if you didn't like it, that's fine, and if you loved it that's also fine. Like I said, Shyamalan's movies can be hit or miss, the only way you're going to find out is if you see it for yourself. Recommended for all the M. Night fans.