150 Word Review: ‘Old’ (2021)
Is this a gray hair? Do I have wrinkles? Ow, my back!
By the time the credits roll on M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, you’ll feel like you’ve aged decades, which is also sort of the plot. In this new supernatural thriller, vacationers are trapped on a cursed beach where children grow into adults before the eyes of their wrinkling, greying parents.
The scare scenes include the wildly creepy pregnancy of a suddenly teenage six-year-old and a bonkers sequence I call “Quasimodo, Instagram hottie.” The movie doesn’t always add up: not everyone ages at the same rate and when they do age, they look like theater kids wearing old-age makeup. The reveal wants the audience to think, but my only thought was “oy.”
The cast is committed, including Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, and Alex Wolff. Shymalan never has problems attracting top-notch talent. It might be unfair to make fun of M. Night Shyamalan. He’s like anchovies, some people just can’t get enough.