MY OLD ASS (2024)
Starring Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Maria Dizzia, Seth Isaac Johnson, Carter Trozzolo, Al Goulem and Alexandria Rivera.
Screenplay by Megan Park.
Directed by Megan Park.
Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios. 89 minutes. Rated R.
Despite having one of the worst titles of the year – perhaps the very worst one – My Old Ass turns out to be a sweet and charming coming-of-age film with a slight supernatural bent.
The film’s high concept – that a teen girl named Elliott (Maisy Stella) is smoking mushrooms with friends in the woods and somehow comes into contact with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) and ends up being able to continue to communicate with her future self and learn about what is coming for her life, for better or worse – is a fascinating and intriguing idea. Yet, at the same time, this plot thread is mostly dropped for long periods of the film, and honestly, it’s not missed all that much.
This seems like a strange statement to make because Aubrey Plaza is terrific as adult Elliott and every time that she is on screen the film perks up. Still, I could see a variation of this story without the whole idea of the older Elliott, and it probably still would work out pretty well.
Elliott is a high school senior, comfortable in her lesbianism, who lives in a gorgeous farm by a lake in the wilds of Canada. She hangs out with her friends and girlfriend and can’t wait to go off to Toronto for college and leave her small town behind.
During the mushrooms episode, adult Elliott tells her a certain amount about what will happen to her and how her life will turn out. She also has one specific piece of advice for her younger self – to stay away from a boy named Chad. Of course, she meets him soon after that, and to her surprise, Elliott – who had never even considered that she may be bi or even straight – finds herself having feelings for him. This puts her in an awkward position, she has been warned away from this guy but finds herself drawn to him.
In the meantime, other parts of her world start to fall apart when she finds that her father is planning to sell the family farm. While Elliott felt that she was desperate to leave the place behind, she never imagined that it wouldn’t still be there for her if she ever wanted or needed to return. This puts strain on her relationships with her father, mother and brothers.
To make things worse, suddenly she is unable to contact her older self to talk it all over and get advice about what she could and should do with her life. So, she tries haltingly to figure it all out for herself.
My Old Ass turns out to be a sweet and charming look at growing up, surprisingly funny and heartfelt. It’s definitely worth giving a chance, despite its title.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: September 12, 2024.
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