What it is

"Old" is a movie written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was released in July of 2021, and is one of the trending "thriller/horror" movies right now (though I don't really consider it either of those things, it just needs a parent). As of November 29th, 2021, it is the 59th most popular movie on IMDB. It runs for 1 hour and 48 minutes. The premise of the movie is that a family goes on vacation, and the beach that they're on causes them to age very rapidly; the movie is essentially an exploration of the psychological "horror" that they experience from aging rapidly.

My thoughts

This was the review I posted on IMDB:

Well done, but slow to the point of being pretentious. Spoiler-free review.

If you zero in on every element in the movie, each element is very well executed. The cinematography is well-done, as is the acting. The plot has substance, the premise is unique. When you put them all together, however, there's simply not good synergy. The entire time I was watching the movie, I couldn't help but feel that something was off - and not in a deliberate tense/eerie way, but simply the composition of the movie was off a little.

The cinematography was beautiful and there were some really good shots; it wasn't that generic pseudo-artistic pretentious background blurs and random shots of the landscape. It was decent.

The characters' personalities were pretty well done and well-rounded considering there's ten (unless I am forgetting someone) main characters all introduced at roughly the same time. They didn't feel two-dimensional or generic.

The plot and premise is unique. Not original, but unique, and well-executed. It's not chalked with endless clichés and needless tropes. It is interesting. Not gripping or captivating, just interesting. The entire movie, however, feels just like a concatenation of events; this happened, then this happened, then this happened, with no real "arc" or "plot structure" to the story. It simply chronicles the physical and psychological stress the characters go through as they age. For an hour and a half, you watch simply a concatenation of events. The characters go through various traumas and issues as they age rapidly, constantly shifting the social dynamic.

I won't say any more so as to avoid spoilers; it's a good movie if you go into it without expecting there to be an "arc" or "structure"; it's a well done chronology of events and an intriguing exploration of the premise, but it simply not a good story in the sense that it does not "grip" you, it does not leave you on the edge of your seat. I give this movie a 6 out of 10. I want to give this movie a higher rating, I really do; it's well done and the acting is really good, but I can't.

 

Links

Old on IMDB

Official trailer

Old on Letterboxd

Old on Rotten Tomatoes