Old

M. Night Shyamalan's latest film, Old, is a supernatural horror thriller with themes relating to the concept of aging. Initially focusing on a family on vacation at a tropical resort, when they and other groups of people are brought to a secluded beach, all of them realize that the area is causing them to age rapidly. Unable to leave from where they entered due to suffering from blackouts and someone from afar spying on them, the families must figure out how to escape the beach before they die from advanced aging or any illnesses that they may be suffering from. The movie, itself based on a Swiss graphic novel called Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, has an interesting story in it and while Shyamalan's writing does succeed in making the premise frightening as it is, some of it fails due to a lot of awkward dialogue and certain things that the characters do that make no sense. What helps in keeping you in your toes when watching is the combination of Mike Gioulakis's cinematography and the score by Trevor Gureckis. For the most part, the actors involved all give great performances despite some of the odd dialogue and Shyamalan's penchant for very subdued and quiet performances. Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps, who play the main couple Guy and Prisca, both have fantastic chemistry and make the arguments between them and their eventual forgiveness that much believable. But the biggest standouts are Alex Wolff and Thomasin McKenzie, who play the teen versions of Guy and Prisca's children, as they make the idea of young kids forced to age up so realistic. As standard for M. Night, there is a twist to this movie, though it is small as it's less about revealing what actually causes time to move so fast and more about how this is used by the people heading the resort, which is silly but actually has some good motivations behind it. Old, while having an interesting premise and strong performances with a mysterious mood, a lot of it is bogged down due to some of Shyamalan's creative choices. Over all: 72%

2021 top list so far:

1. In the Heights

2. Nobody

3. Black Widow

4. A Quiet Place Part II

5. Raya and the Last Dragon

6. Cruella

7. Wrath of Man

8. F9

9. Old

10. Space Jam: A New Legacy