The gimmick at the middle of Megan Park’s dramedy My Old Ass is grabby: On the night time of her 18th birthday, a young person blows off her household birthday celebration to go do medication in the woods. There, she encounters an grownup model of herself, and promptly proceeds to rag on herself for being so outdated. (The opposite model of her is simply 39.) Seeing a assured teenager and her older self playfully butt heads over future job prospects and appearances is already humorous. However woven via the Oh my God, is that this what I’m going to be like after I’m OLD?! back-and-forth is a robust movie about rising up.
Author-director Megan Park (The Fallout) makes use of a high-concept plot to drill in on particular feelings and experiences, whereas dodging style trappings and specifics about time journey. Skimping on the sci-fi mechanics whereas leaning into the feelings created by the scenario lets her craft My Old Ass right into a contemplative coming-of-age story — one that completely encapsulates the feeling of that one final carefree adolescent summer time at the start adjustments.
[Ed. note: This piece contains light setup spoilers for My Old Ass.]
Maisy Stella (ABC’s musical drama Nashville) performs Elliott, a assured younger girl with large desires of leaving her household’s cranberry farm behind when she goes to College of Toronto in the fall. Whereas tripping on hallucinogenic mushrooms, she’s visited by an older model of herself (performed by Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza), who presents her some recommendation about this very transitory time of their life. The 2 handle to be in contact by way of mobile phone, with older Elliott making an attempt to information youthful Elliott with out giving freely too a lot about the future. Her largest warning: Keep away from Chad (Percy Hynes White), the charming boy who’s working at her household’s farm over the summer time.
All through the movie, it’s a bit ambiguous about whether or not precise time journey is going on, or Elliott is simply experiencing a facet impact of her psychedelic journey. However that blurry line means Park doesn’t should sweat over paradoxes or in any other case waste time laying out the guidelines of time journey. To younger Elliott, chatting up her 20-years-older self is only a random, bizarre factor that’s taking place, and he or she’s rolling with the punches. They by no means actually interrogate the bigger space-time penalties of the expertise, or fear that they may break actuality by touching. Which is a good factor, as a result of Park makes use of the time-travel aspect as a device to actually hammer house the bittersweetness of rising up.
Younger Elliott is assured about her place in the world, and Stella imbues the character with a selected brash brightness. When she begins to query what she’s taken with no consideration about herself and her household, and what meaning for the future, her efficiency comes with a tangible vulnerability. In the meantime, Plaza nails the older, extra world-weary model of the character — however one who’s by no means too jaded or cynical. The 2 of them share some fantastic banter: It’s a testomony to their chemistry that plenty of their interplay occurs by way of cellphone, and but it by no means feels stilted or shortchanged.
Older Elliott doesn’t share particular particulars about the future with her youthful self, with good reason: She needs to let youthful Elliott expertise shock at all the things life has to supply. Her obscure phrases of recommendation — successfully, decelerate and spend extra time with her household whereas she will — may very well be overused adages. However as a result of they’re so common, they will additionally apply to Elliott’s particular scenario, like how she looks like she’s too good for her household’s cranberry farm. And the nebulous warning older Elliott delivers about that cute boy additionally may very well be a cliché — besides that till she meets Chad, Elliott has solely been attracted to women. It’s a refreshing tackle a coming-out story, and it makes older Elliott’s warnings much more intriguing, particularly as youthful Elliott and Chad clearly hit it off.
Past the time-travel setup, My Old Ass’s most quick hook is the leads and their straightforward rapport. This movie may have simply been a set of hijinks and jokes about touching your older self’s butt. However Park makes use of the timey-wimey parts to craft a narrative about these unheralded final moments, the ones we don’t notice can be watersheds on the technique to rising up. Youthful Elliott is keen to depart all the things behind and transfer on to her subsequent nice journey, however older Elliott is ready to provide some perspective. At the similar time, older Elliott will get to savor her bygone youth and faucet into the days of being a fearless teenager who may conquer the world. My Old Ass is about rising up — the pleasure, the ache, and people little moments that resonate with us far longer than we expect they may — and Park well pulls it off by drawing on Elliott’s views of each the previous and the current.
My Old Ass is out in choose theaters beginning Sept. 13, and all over the place on Sept. 27.
