Old Review

Certificate: 15

Running time: 108 minutes 

Starring: Vicky Krieps, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rufus Sewell, Thomasin McKenzie, Alex Wolff

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan 

The story: An idyllic day on a secluded beach turns into a nightmare for one family when they realise that the beach is somehow causing them to age rapidly.

The verdict: I think it’s really interesting to know that Old is based on the graphic novel by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, a fact that I was not originally aware of when I saw the first trailer. However, Shyamalan has completely changed the outcome and ending from the novel, so there is a nice mixture of originality and adaptation here. 

Shyamalan gets short shrift from a lot of audiences and is seen as a reasonably divisive filmmaker. Personally, I feel that is a little unfair and whilst not all his films have hit the spot, even his misfires have had their positives. One undeniable fact though is that audiences do eagerly await his films.

Old pulled me in straight away. Regardless of what your final thoughts on the film end up being, it’s indisputable that Old is not thoroughly intriguing and engaging. Throughout I was glued to the screen, pondering the mystery that was unfolding and eagerly awaiting the outcome. 

I have seen some negative comments towards the performances in Old and I don’t agree with them at all. I enjoyed the performances and liked the ensemble cast.

Old brings up some really interesting issues. The idea of time passing, what it means to be old and how we spend the time we do have. These issues were bubbling under the surface beneath the outright horror of what was happening and there may be some who feel that Shyamalan doesn’t explore those issues deeply enough, instead focusing on the characters and their situation. I liked that these issues weren’t blatant and that the audience were given the freedom to take away their own notions and concepts. Old certainly made me consider my own mortality.

Horror wise, Old builds an atmosphere of unease and tension before going in with some pretty effective body horror. The horror is also amplified by the cinematography with the use of extreme close ups and slow panning shots often used to reveal. I wasn’t a fan of all the cinematography however. Whilst I loved the reveal shots, there are some shot choices that seemed slightly strange, shaky and out of place. However, in an entire film of hundreds of shots, they did become negligible. 

Old is a fascinating, intriguing and entertaining film and in spite of its often slightly schlocky qualities, it’s a film that I rather enjoyed. There is one big caveat to this though - I hated the last 10/15 minutes. There are some films that require a certain sort of ending and some that don’t, and without spoiling Old in any way - I think Shyamalan misjudged the last few minutes of the film. 

However, the constant engagement that Old commands and the audaciousness of the film means that I wouldn’t need to be persuaded to watch it again and I’m going to throw caution to the wind here by giving it four stars anyway. They’ll undoubtedly be many who’ll be falling over themselves to tell you how bad and laughable this film is - the same people who were no doubt captivated throughout.

The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️