‘The only thing you can’t get back is time...’
My Old Ass has a lot going for it. Writer-director Megan Park’s follow-up to her decent 2021 debut feature The Fallout has a great concept, a great cast and some sharp dialogue. While I will always go to bat for an original idea in the world of cinema, My Old Ass is never quite as good as the sum of its parts…
After taking a heroic dose of mushrooms, teenager Elliott LaBrant (Maisy Stella) has an encounter with her 39-year-old self from the future (Aubrey Plaza). Despite becoming more and more exasperated with her younger counterpart, the older Elliott attempts to offer some life advice anyway.
It’s an intriguing concept. As someone pushing forty myself, there is plenty of advice I would love to give to my teenage self (Don’t waste your time watching Angel. Just watching Buffy is enough) and there is a lovely moment here in which young and old Elliott share a hug around a campfire that serves as a reminder that we mustn’t hold on to the things we did when we were younger. We were just a kid then. Give yourself a break. Indeed, the scenes in which both Stella and Plaza appear together are far and away the best moments of the movie. The issue is the romantic subplot between Elliott and local ‘cool guy’ Chad (Percy Hynes White). Everything from their meet-cute onwards is trite, predictable and frankly dull. And so, we are left with half a great movie rather than what could’ve been had Park taken the story in a more interesting direction.
My Old Ass is a breezy watch that boasts a typically compelling turn from Plaza but it could have been so much more.
