My Old Ass

It's perhaps something that is living underneath the surface at the moment, but I'm approaching a pretty distinct new chapter in my life. I'm sure many people could relate to that, whether or not they're about to have their first child, maybe their change is much different. 

My Old Ass is a movie that reminds me why I've loved doing this for so many years. It's one that recalls all the times I've been surprised by a film I was only mildly excited for, or perhaps had even written off. 

On top of that layer, My Old Ass connected with me in the "right now". It's posed as an "Aubrey Plaza coming of age comedy where she meets her younger self and hijinks ensue!" but is much deeper than that, and it has a lot on its mind. Honestly, I had a whole paragraph written here about how the film spoke to me at this crucial juncture in my life, but it gave away too much. So take the 8 sentences I just deleted as evidence that My Old Ass is a film that is far better than it has any right to be, will stick with you long after the theater, and connect with almost everyone in the audience. 

And oh yeah, it's one of the best films of 2024. 

The premise of My Old Ass would lead you to believe one thing - very intentionally. An 18 year old girl, Elliot, is excited to leave her Canadian farm for college in the city and wants to have a final night of fun with her friends. Elliot and her girlfriends, Ro and Ruthie, take shrooms and have trips. During Elliot's drug trip, she meets her older - sorry, "young adult" self - in Aubrey Plaza. Elliot young and Elliot old are able to communicate with each other still, so during the last week she's at home, young Elliot (Maisy Stella) receives advice from older Elliot. That's all I'll give you because there's not more you need to know and no, if you're looking for a sci-fi time travel epic that follows all the rules, you're not going to find that here (but I know somewhere you could...). Some of it's rules, you just have to roll with and there's no glimpse into the future outside of small, ominous-yet-funny jabs from Plaza about the state of the world.

What follows is both a very funny film, a touching coming-of-age story, and a thoughtful "what if" scenario drama. It's one of the funnier films of the year, really only outshined by Deadpool & Wolverine in that regard. My Old Ass is endearing and authentic as hell, which makes some of these pieces all the funnier. Aubrey Plaza clearly has great comedic chops, while semi-newcomer Maisy Stella makes Elliot a character easy to root for and care about. She can be a jerk - she's 18 - but is a good kid at heart and her comedic timing and delivery earns a lot of great laughs. One scene in particular had my audience rolling for a solid 2 minutes and was maybe the final puzzle piece for all of us to fall in love with her. Percy Hynes White plays a key character - a summer worker on the cranberry farm - who also is so genuinely goofy and awkward, yet endearing, that you can't help but smile at him. He and Maisy have the same energy, so their interactions feel truly authentic. Other characters are great too, but woefully underserved. Given My Old Ass is only 88 minutes - I find this is one of those rare occasions I wish we could have gotten some more time with other characters in a sub-2-hour movie.

One of the year's most endearing characters

Between the comedic moments, and sometimes interlaced with them, My Old Ass is gut-punchingly deep. I'd hate to elaborate on this much more as it gets spoilerish and ruins the experience, but the fact it's still the main thing on my mind the morning after seeing it says a lot. Given that it was written and directed by Megan Park, this is a massive accomplishment of hers. Not only has she directed a great film, but she's crafted an even better story with fully-realized characters that achieve satisfying arcs, making us laugh and think along the way.

There's probably a post within in me that wants to talk about all the finer details of My Old Ass and reflect on how it thinks about life, but just go see it for yourself. This is an original film that's less than 90 minutes, and at the very least will make you laugh. Your risk is low and the upside is very high. For me? It hit me right between the eyes because of the current juncture of life I'm at, and will certainly be high on my Top 10 list at the end of the year. 

CONS

• Actually wish it was a tad longer so that other characters could have had room to breathe
• Some moments in the script (or maybe the performances rather) use "like" far too much ("Like I think that like..."). But perhaps that's my grumpy old ass talking :-)  

PROS

• Megan Park's direction is impressive, but her storytelling is even more so. These characters are genuine, feel real, and are ones we connect with
• One of the funniest movies of the year
• Endearing, authentic, genuine...pick your adjective and it'll match
• The advertising was perfect to throw people off the scent of how deep this film goes and how much it has to say
• Not a weak performance in the bunch, but Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza are the stars with memorable scenes (some emotional, some funny). Percy Hynes White is right behind them
• Gorgeous setting in the lakes of Canada
• Easy to connect to the story and characters because their chapter-turning is everyone at some point in life. The thoughts My Old Ass provides will stick with you
• An expert blend of humor, romance, sci-fi-lite premise, and commentary on life

Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10