My Old Ass

The future arrives unexpectedly in a superior coming-of-age romantic comedy.

Image courtesy of Curzon Film Distributors.

Be they comedies or dramas or a mixture of the two, movies about adolescents tend to form a common breed and especially so when made in Hollywood. The prime audience for these pieces may well be youngsters of that same age and many such works have a character that makes them relatively unappealing to audiences whose own youth is part of a now distant past. But just occasionally a film comes along which theoretically belongs to this category and yet has a quality and depth that give it a much wider appeal. This happened in the case of the 2016 film debut of Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen, and, despite a less adroitly chosen title, it occurs again here with My Old Ass. This is not the first but the second feature to be directed by the actress Megan Park, but the parallels between this and The Edge of Seventeen extend to two other factors of importance. Each has a screenplay of quality written by the director herself and both films have an outstanding young actress in the central role – in the earlier film it was Hailee Steinfeld and here it is Maisy Stella.

Stella is something of a phenomenon having been born as recently as 2003 but already well known for her TV roles, as a singer and as the author of a book. Her performance in My Old Ass is so fine that she can now be regarded as a true film star as well. Her role here is that of 18-year-old Elliott who is first seen with her two best friends, Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) and Ro (Kerrice Brooks). We meet too Elliott’s lover, Chelsea (Alexandria Rivera) who is a barista and in time two other figures, Chad (Percy Hynes White) and Elliott’s brother Max (Seth Isaac Johnson), will play major roles in the story. The setting is Ontario where Elliott's parents (Alain Goulem and Maria Dizzia) run a cranberry farm but for younger viewers part of the film’s appeal will be down to it involving people of their own age group. Much praise for the film is centred on the fact that Megan Park’s screenplay captures so well the outlook and speech of those who are part of Gen Z.

Having indicated that My Old Ass should also please older viewers, I do have to acknowledge that there is a second reason why such audiences might have doubts as to my being right. Park’s story is boldly centred on a notion which could put people off simply because it could so easily have seemed plain silly. On her birthday Elliott takes magic mushrooms and sees a figure who proves to be more than a hallucination although she initially takes her for one. Instead, this is Elliott’s 39-year-old self-played by Aubrey Plaza. Not only do they talk during this encounter but it turns out that their contact can be continued in phone conversations. Instead of seeming like nonsense, Park’s film treats this material in a way that brings out the quality of the piece. If newcomer Stella seems made for cinema, Aubrey Plaza is already a reliable and established film actress and the two of them play off each other beautifully aided enormously by the deftness of Park's screenplay. It enables them not only to find plenty of humour in the material (an early exchange finds the older Elliott challenging the younger self when the latter asserts that having reached thirty-nine, she must be middle-aged) but also to explore emotions in an involving way. In giving advice to her younger self, Elliott encourages the growth of greater rapport and consideration for her mother and for her older brother (in addition to Max the household also contains a much younger son, Spencer played by Carter Trozzolo). But, when it comes to what the future holds for someone who on reaching eighteen feels that her life is about to start, the desire to help and guide her is balanced by not wanting to reveal things that would distress her. Limited in the details she is prepared to give, the key message offered is to avoid somebody called Chad.

Wisely My Old Ass is not over-extended and comes in at just under ninety minutes. Even then, the narrative needs some tension and Park provides it adroitly. When given the advice from her older self, Elliott has never encountered a man called Chad but almost immediately does so. He is visiting the area and comes to do work on the farm. Because of what has been said, Elliott is decidedly wary of him but also finds him undeniably attractive. She is even drawn to question her belief that she is lesbian (might she be bisexual?) and as their rapport grows the audience continues to wonder if he is indeed a danger to her. That's a useful device for drama, but My Old Ass is also a film of ideas that raises questions. If we knew what life held for us would that be beneficial or not? Should advise from older people be regarded as wisdom to be noted even if it conflicts with one's own instincts? Is suffering always best avoided?

That such concerns come up here is a sign of the way in which My Old Ass offers much more than one would expect even if a few scenes are more conventional or indeed misjudged. As an example of the former, the film features a number of songs on its soundtrack and the latter is represented by a brief set piece of song and dance, again in the context of drug-taking yet seeming part of another film altogether. It's true too that the resolution of the piece which allows the older Elliott to be seen by another character as well is not its strongest point. There is rather more subtlety elsewhere and not least in the scenes that bring Elliott closer to her mother and to Max, scenes in which the writing and playing avoid totally the trap of sentimentality. There is also real feeling to be found in scenes about moving on and doing things with an awareness that one is doing them for the last time. My Old Ass may be mainstream cinema but it has plenty of qualities all too often absent from that sphere. And not least for Park but most of all for Stella this is a triumph.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Aubrey Plaza, Seth Isaac Johnson, Kerrice Brooks, Maria Dizzia, Maddie Ziegler, Carter Trozzolo, Alexandria Rivera, Alain Goulem.

Dir Megan Park, Pro Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara and Steven Rales, Screenplay Megan Park, Ph Kisten Correll, Pro Des Zazu Myers, Ed Jennifer Vecchiarello, Music Tyler Hilton and Jaco Caraco, Costumes Tasha Goldthwait.

Indian Paintbrush/LuckyChap Entertainment/Scythia Films-Curzon Film Distributors.
89 mins. USA/Canada. 2024. US Rel: 13 September 2024. UK Rel: 27 September 2024. Cert. 15.