OLD (2021)

A Gripping if Not Entirely Memorable Thriller from M. Night Shyamalan

Grade: B+

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**Possible Spoiler Alert!!**

Old is the latest film by M. Night Shyamalan, who has had a very uneven career. His most popular movie by far is the 1999 Bruce Willis vehicle The Sixth Sense, which was a major critical and box-office success and sported a twist ending that went down in cinematic history. Since then, Shyamalan has tried to replicate his success, but the results have varied wildly. Some did well, (i.e. Unbreakable [2000], The Visit [2015]), some did not (The Lady in the Water [2006]), and some were universally panned (The Last Airbender [2010], After Earth [2013]). Old is a well-crafted movie with some incredible suspense and scares, but the final act keeps it from reaching the same timeless heights as The Sixth Sense.

Old follows a family of four on a remote island resort-Guy Cappa (Gael Garcia Bernal), his wife Prisca (Vicky Krieps), and their children Maddox (Alexa Swinton) and Trent (Luca Faustino Rodriguez). Guy and Prisca are preparing to have a divorce and want to give their children one last vacation before breaking the news. During their stay, the resort owner suggests they visit a remote beach surrounded by cliffs. They arrive there along with several other people and enjoy the solitude and natural beauty.

Then strange things start to happen. A dead woman washes ashore. The grandmother of another vacationing family (Kathleen Chalfant) suddenly dies. And Maddox, Trent, and another girl named Kara (Kyle Bailey) inexplicably become several years older. Soon they deduce that the beach is somehow causing them to age rapidly, and they cannot escape since crossing a certain point makes them black out and stumble back to the beach. Panic starts to set in as they are all faced with imminent death.

For most of the runtime, Old is a terrific exercise in unrelenting intensity. The screenplay provides incredible suspense in the form of the premise as well as moments of sudden violence and disturbing imagery, including knife attacks and a rapid infection by rust. The characters react to the aging process in different ways, both physically and psychologically: a man’s schizophrenia increases and turns him into a murderer, a beautiful and vain woman doesn’t want to be looked at as she gets older, and a couple gradually lose their eyesight and hearing, respectively. Most of them struggle endlessly against their circumstances and pay the price, and some eventually accept their fate and enjoy what little time they have left. During the characters’ plight, the cinematography takes on a shaky-cam approach that reflects the frantic performances of the cast and adds to the movie’s frightening tone.

Because of The Sixth Sense, twist endings have become a major trademark for director Shyamalan, and Old is no exception. While the twist here is not terrible, it ultimately hurts the movie for a number of reasons. First, while not 100% predictable, the twist can be put together by the audience about halfway through the movie. Second, it provides a scientific explanation for the phenomenon, essentially demystifying it. Finally, and most crucially, the film wraps up on far too solid and satisfying a note. While it is natural for audiences to want things to turn out a certain way, horror movies and psychological thrillers usually don’t fulfill that hope, often going for a more downbeat or cliffhanger ending. This isn't to say, of course, that all the best horror movies should end this way, but to do so would arguably have the greatest impact on the viewer. However, the ending of Old seems to go in a safer direction; as a result, when audiences leave they might simply think, “Okay, that’s that. Moving on.”

Old is a genuinely scary thriller and just about everyone in the cast and crew does a terrific job. But years from now, people will not remember it nearly as well as The Sixth Sense, largely because its final act does not have the same impact or staying power as that earlier film. Still, it is very well-made and definitely worth a look.

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Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan (Based on the graphic novel "Sand Castle" by Pierre Oscar Levy and Fredereick Peters)

Producers: M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock

Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal (Guy Cappa), Vicky Crieps (Prisca Cappa), Rufus Sewell (Charles), Alex Wolf, Emun Elliott (Trent Cappa), Thomasin Mackenzie, Embeth Davitz (Maddox Cappa), Abby Lee (Chrystal), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Patricia Carmichael), Ken Leung (Jarin Carmichael), Eliza Scanlen (Kara), Aaron Pierre (Mid-Size Sedan/Brendan), Kathleen Chalfant (Agnes), Alexa Swinton (11-Year-Old Maddox), Luca Faustino Rodriguez (6-Year-Old Trent), Kyle Bailey (6-Year-Old Kara)

Rated: PG-13 (for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language)