About the film (courtesy of Universal Pictures):
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.
M. Night Shyamalan always takes his viewers on wild twisting ride with his storytelling and directing. Sometimes your mind is blown, but in a good way (The Sixth Sense (1999)), while other times you’d rather run into a tree repeatedly face first (The Happening (2008)). Either way, you never EVER know what you’re going to get when it comes to his movies from a likability standpoint. Fresh off of his success with the Apple TV+ series, The Servant and the conclusion of an almost-two decade long trilogy, Glass (2019), Shyamalan is eager to get people talking again with newest release, Old.
It typical M. Night Shyamalan fashion, a fairly large portion of Old is waiting to see where the unconventional twist is and how it will affect what you think you already know. Realizing the style of his films, one should not be surprised with the same ole rough formulas playing themselves out. The first portion of the movie is to introduce the various characters and set the table, so to speak. From there it’s the slow burn as whatever mystery begins to reveal itself. Then there’s the sprinkle of hectic pace followed by the conclusion aka explanation.
Having been through this already, I can say that sitting there while seeking out clues and formulating the end result was for a short while, but then it gets to the point where you’re like, “can I somehow fast forward this thing?” Old drags too long in a few too many spots to keep your interest. I can respect wanting to give the illusion of suspense and all, but when certain things are painfully obvious, needless waiting will just irritate people such as myself.
Old is slow-paced, awkward and a bit clumsy. I understand the attempt at building intrigue but it was more of a building of frustration. There are just too many things that this film is, “yeah just accept this for what it is” and that isn’t going to bode well for audience enjoyment. I will say that once you do finally get to the reveal of the bigger picture, it is rather enjoyable for the 10 minutes that you know what you know. The issue is that it doesn’t balance out the other 100 minutes you’ve invested.
Some may appreciate Old for what it attempts to accomplish, but it just takes too long to get there. And some of the characters are downright annoying. This could all be a byproduct of editing, however, there are many other spots where cuts could have been made and replaced with more substantial, meaningful moments. The acting is adequate for what needed to get done, but it’s not like you’ll leave the theater thinking that anyone person gave a memorable performance.
While not his worst work, I has hoping that M. Night Shyamalan would give audiences something that would stick with them long after the lights came on. If curiosity gets the best of you due to vague commercials and trailers, you can check out Old in theaters Friday with some early evening showings on Thursday.
