My Old Ass – Film Review
Reviewed by Damien Straker on the 28th of September 2024
Universal Pictures Australia and Warner Bros. presents a film by Megan Park
Written by Megan Park
Produced by Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, and Steven Rales
Starring Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza
Cinematography Kristen Correll
Edited by Jennifer Vecchiarello
Music by Tyler Hilton and Jaco Caraco
Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 90 minutes
Release Date: the 26th of September 2024
Megan Park’s second feature film (after 2021’s The Fallout) is a short, sweet, and likeable coming-of-age story. What more could you ask for? It also benefits from a charismatic, rock solid turn by Canadian singer/actress Maisy Stella in the lead role. She has appeared in a few television shows (Nashville, 2012) but this is remarkably her film debut. She and Megan Park have formulated a comedy-drama that might not be especially challenging to watch but still asks enough questions about whether people would change anything about their lives and if they will let setbacks define themselves and the trajectory of who they are. It also helps that the story is beautifully photographed too. The film is minor in stature but should have a solid following with the right age group.
The central premise is a funny and bizarre one. A young woman named Elliott (Stella) is living on a cranberry farm with her family and preparing to leave for college in Toronto. Her family is ready for a celebratory dinner together, but she keeps them waiting even as her mother (Maria Dizzia) feverishly texts her, and her dad and her two younger brothers (played by Seth Isaac Johnson and Carter Trozzolo) don’t know where she is. Instead, she opts to ignore them and hang out with her friends and her girlfriend (Alexandria Rivera) instead. When the girls take hallucinogens together something particularly weird happens. In the woods Elliott meets another woman (Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza) who tells her she is the older version of herself. While the initial feeling is disbelief and shock, the older Elliott soon tells her younger self about the future. She also encourages her to spend more time with her family. However, she is deliberately cryptic about a key detail. One of her crucial pieces of advice before disappearing is that Elliot must avoid someone named Chad (Wednesday’s Percy Hynes White). When she finally meets Chad while swimming in a lake together, he proves resourceful and kind. She tries her best to keep him at arm’s length but his affability is unshakeable. Chad’s presence also begins to test Elliot’s sexuality, which until now has always been an uncontested subject.
The film’s biggest surprise is that its technical feats belie what looks like a relatively simple coming of age parable. This is a surprisingly handsome film, mostly due to the excellent framing by Parks and her cinematographer Kristen Correll. They have captured the setting of the cranberries farm beautifully. The lakes Elliott swims in are stunning to behold, even more so when she drives a motorboat across them. The colour grading also has a lush, green palette that gives the film an airy, relaxed, and naturalistic feeling. Shooting the film in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Canada is one of the best decisions the filmmakers have made. Its surprisingly cinematic and one asks if the wide-open spatiality infers the deep uncertainty of Elliot’s future. It also helps that Parks balances the story’s tone so well. The dialogue is kept dry and funny, and the humour is drawn from a few visual gags. One is that Elliot’s little brother is obsessed with actress Saoirse Ronan and has a wall full of her pictures. There is also an unexpected scene involving a parody of a popular male pop singer too. The film is careful about not becoming overly sentimental though. One nice scene where Elliott and her mother talk about her decisiveness from a young age hits the right note. The cinematic presentation and the selection of deft humour shows Megan Parks has skilfully assembled this comedy-drama.
My Old Ass’s performances are charismatic and comically astute. One shortcoming is that even though Aubrey Plaza is on the film’s poster she only has a small role. She appears at the beginning and the end, and her voice can be heard on Elliot’s phone intermittently. She puts herself under the name ‘My Old Ass’. It is a shame she isn’t more present because her comic timing continues to be incredibly sharp. In a packed cinema, the audience responded joyfully to her dry wit and sarcastic line readings. Maisy Stella proves herself to be an adept substitute in the lead role. Elliott might not start as the most enjoyable or pleasant character. However, Maisy Stella adds various modes to her performance that make her engaging. She is standoffish at first and brittle towards Chad but gently softens as the film continues. Throughout the story she grows to be funny and more attentive towards the people around her, including her two brothers.
Some might object to Elliot upending her sexuality from lesbian to straight as her romantic feelings for Chad inevitably grow. However, the change its thematically consistent with the rest of the movie. It is the same with her suddenly caring about her brothers or being upset about her parents selling off the farm, something she was never interested in pursuing. Her perspective on life is shifting just as she is preparing to live an adult life where she can make her own pivotal choices. Percy Hynes White is a solid inclusion as Chad too. It’s a smart choice not choosing an overly flashy young actor for the role. White’s approach to making Chad quietly self-assured and resourceful is right because it leaves us asking why the older Elliott continues deterring her younger self from approaching Chad. The answer to this question is not what you’re expecting either. The casting works on both a comedic level and in strengthening the dimensions of these young characters who are continuing to mature throughout the story.
While the script is not earth shattering or innovative, it is still designed and acted with an enormous amount of skill. Watching the film on a large screen is a pleasure too because of how glorious the location shooting is. It’s nice to see a small-scale comedy photographed in such an attractive, sophisticated manner. Similarly, the cast is adept at showing the changes in their characters before reaching a stark revelation. It becomes not just about what advice you would give your younger self but the opposite. If at a young age you knew what lay before you, would you dare to change anything or be brave enough to live with the challenges waiting for you? That sounds daunting, but one should not forget the movie is funny and easy going. Young viewers in particular will love the film for these qualities and more.
Summary: Megan Park’s second feature film is a short, sweet, and likeable coming-of-age story. What more could you ask for?
3.5
Solid
About the Author
Damien Straker is a freelance writer and film critic. He studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with an Arts Honours degree in Film Studies. He is a pop culture aficionado and enjoys talking about all films, 90s TV shows, ninjas and watching Rugby League. His favourite film directors are Alfonso Cuarón, Clint Eastwood and Alexander Payne.
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