Old the movie has M. Night Shyamalan written all over it, but is that necessarily a good thing? Let’s break it down in this review.
Credit: Phobymo/Universal Pictures
M. Night Shyamalan’s Old is very clearly one of his movies. Almost from the first few minutes it has his signature feel, and that only intensifies as the film goes on. The story as a whole is intriguing, with the direction and score bringing it to a whole new level, but unfortunately the writing and forced dialogue pulls the audience out of the movie quite a bit. Of course there is a twist ending in true M. Night Shyamalan fashion, which almost saves the movie.
Based off of the graphic novel The Sandcastle, Old mostly takes place on a private beach where time moves differently. Everyone seems to age rapidly, and no one can leave, no matter how hard they try. As these strangers try to work together to figure it all out, things get more intense as they all deal with it in their own way.
What Works With Old
There is certainly a fair amount of Old that works, starting with just how intense it gets at certain moments. In true thriller fashion there are moments that will have viewers on the edge of their seats, while their hearts are pounding, and they are trying to figure out exactly what is going on. This is largely in part because of the great directing and the incredible score.
Most of this film takes place on the beach, which is a bit of a downfall because the scenery rarely changes. The positive side to this is that it is stunning to look at and will have viewers ready for vacation — just maybe not to this private beach. The cinematography provides lots of low, sweeping shots, that help to make the audience feel more on edge, and really work in Old.
Knowing that this is an M. Night Shyamalan movie, the audience knows that there is a twist ending coming. So a lot of the film can be spent trying to put all the pieces together and while it does seem obvious once revealed, it is a tough one to figure out.
Speaking of twist endings, this one is good. Like, really good. Of course it is all taken from the source material, but it is fit into the movie well. The timing for it is perfectly placed, and M. Night Shyamalan spends enough time on it to really explain it, and allow it to breath as a reveal. All too often surprises like this are glossed over before the movie comes to a close and so this ending was handled perfectly.
The standout actor here is Alex Wolff. Luckily viewers will get to spend a good amount of time with him as Trent.
What Doesn’t Work With Old
It is very clear that M. Night Shyamalan is giving this movie his all. Everything that he does best he is putting into this one, but the stiff and forced dialogue brings it down several notches. Whenever the characters try to have honest conversations, it doesn’t feel real, which can pull the audience out of the film very quickly.
Since anyone who has watched the trailer, or paid attention to the name of the film, knows what is going to happen, the first 20 minutes or so feels like a lifetime (no pun intended). The time spent to get to know the characters goes on a bit too long, and it would have been best to start the strange events and aging at about the ten minute mark. The runtime is about 1 hour and 45 minutes, which could have been cut down to 90 minutes by tightening things up at the start.
One of the biggest issues with Old is something that occurs toward the end of the film. It seems like the point of this event was to be scary – even terrifying. Instead it induced a lot of laughter because of how, simply put, ridiculous it looks. There was potential there, and I see what the point was, it just wasn’t pulled off well. In the interest of remaining spoiler free I will not reveal what that moment is, but you will know it when you see it.
Something to mention about that twist ending that doesn’t work is the effect that it could have on some viewers. While it is not predictable, and is a really great reveal, it doesn’t feel like this is the time for it because of what is going on in the world right not. Nothing that M. Night Shyamalan can do about it at this point, but it just felt a bit off to have that happen.
Overall Thoughts
Old tries really hard to be good, and it is clear that M. Night Shyamalan put his all into it. I can see why any source material even remotely resembling the story that was told got his attention. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that fall flat for this one. From poorly written dialogue, to something that is clearly supposed to be scary looking absolutely ridiculous.
That being said, the intensity and edge of your seat moments are there, some of the actors stand out and do their very best with the script they are given, and the surprise twist ending totally delivers. If you like thrillers and M. Night Shyamalan in general, this one will likely be a decent watch for you. Go into it wanting to have a bit of fun and don’t expect to be completely wowed and you should be good.
Not perfect, but still worth watching if this is your thing. And don’t worry, M. Night Shyamalan has his signature cameo appearance — and actually has a pretty great role in Old.
About Old
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.
Old hits theaters on July 23rd.
