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Thursday 22 July 2021

Review: Old

Considering M Night Shyamalan's biggest hit - The Sixth Sense, which is now decades in the rear view mirror - was all based around showing not telling, it's surprising how little faith he shows in his concept in Old. Based on a fairly straightforward idea, and surrounded by a couple of solid developments, it still never quite manages to feel anything like a natural piece of storytelling.

Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal) and wife Prisca (Vicky Krieps) head off for a family holiday with 11 year-old Maddox (Alexa Swinton) and six year-old Trent (Nolan River), with the parents well aware that this will be their last outing together. They're going to get a divorce, obviously - why, did you think something creepy was waiting for them at the resort?

Twist! Obviously yes, there is something creepy waiting for them at the (creepy) resort, though it takes a while to get there. First we have to see Trent planning out the rest of his life with a slightly unnerving new friend, Prisca saying an unnamed medical condition doesn't change anything, and the rest of the resorts' guests being surprisingly annoying when they're not saying their name and occupation. Shout out to rapper Midsize Sedan.

It turns out that spending time on the isolated and private beach on the nature preserve side of the island ages you rapidly ("something is going on with time on this beach"), you can't leave without blacking out, and some of the guests have more time to spare than others. It also rapidly heals any wounds you might have, which leads to a gruesome moment or two. All that clunky dialogue along the lines of "it'll be our last time together" was there for a reason after all.

(and yes, there is a third act twist of sorts, though it doesn't upend everything we've seen)

Shyamalan (who makes a cameo here as the bus driver of doom) has had a recent run of decent films (Split, Glass), which makes this misstep - or return to form, if you're a fan of mid-career efforts like The Happening - especially disappointing. He's never been a particularly naturalistic film-maker, but his usual bombast and one-note characters are especially ill-suited here. This needed a more subdued vibe to really dig down into the many horrific avenues the central concept opens up. Instead there's a lot of clunky dialogue and performances that are clearly straining for something they can't quite reach.

Old ages into a film that seems to be struggling against itself. Shyamalan's approach to the material aims to unsettle, with offbeat shot choices striving for an off-kilter mood amplified by his decision to hint at the horrors rather than show (many of them) outright. But the performances and dialogue undercut this subtlety, constantly shifting gears back down to the clunky and obvious.

It's hard to call this an outright misfire; Shyamalan's definitely made worse. The concept - Old is based on the graphic novel Sandcastles by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters - has a lot of scope for a great film. Sadly, this isn't it.

- Anthony Morris

 


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