‘My Old Ass’ Review: A Heartfelt, But Conventional, Coming-of-Age Tale
Megan Park’s sophomore feature, My Old Ass, is a comfortable and heartfelt coming-of-age dramedy, even if its beats feel all too familiar.
After blowing away the South By Southwest crowd with The Fallout in 2022, Megan Park returns for a completely different directorial effort in My Old Ass. Set in rural Ontario (it’s a story that feels decidedly Canadian that only a filmmaker who spent part of her life there could bring to the screen with such vivid detail), the movie focuses on Elliott (Maisy Stella), who, at the turn of her 18th birthday, receives a visit from her old self (Aubrey Plaza) after tripping on some mushrooms.
Older Elliott, 39 years old and with a complete personality opposite to her younger self, warns her not to take her family for granted and to enjoy her remaining youthful days before heading to the University of Toronto in a few weeks. Not wanting to tell her much about the future, she still gives her one piece of advice to remember: don’t hook up with a guy named Chad. “Who’s Chad?” Elliott asks. Her older self does not want her to know and keeps details on their relationship at a strict minimum, only telling her younger counterpart to avoid him entirely.
However, it doesn’t take long for Elliott to find out who this elusive Chad is, and he is played by Percy Hynes White. He will work at his father’s (Alain Goulem) farm for the summer and, as a result, actively becomes a part of their family life. As much as she wants to make true to her older self’s advice, she quickly falls in love with him, and a conflicting push-pull between her present and future self begins to occur inside of Elliott.
Plaza is not in the movie for much time, but her impact on Elliott’s story can’t be overstated. She’s the complete polar opposite to her Wow Platinum in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, joyfully opening herself to 18-year-old Elliott, not as a ‘conscience,’ but as a part of her she does not know yet. Turning 18 is a milestone in one’s life, especially when there’s so much to discover that we don’t know yet. Doing shrooms with her best friends, Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler, who also starred in Park’s The Fallout), seems like a significant first step to independence and a freer life away from the shackles of her family.
But through her singular interaction with 39-year-old Elliott (NOT 40!), she begins to appreciate the value of family and living in the present. Spending more time with her mother (Maria Dizzia), and brothers Max (Seth Isaac Johnson) and Spencer (Carter Trozzolo), Elliott grows closer to them in ways she never thought would occur in her current emotional state. But she’s far too intrigued by Chad’s good looks, insatiable charm, and attractive personality that the piece of advice her older self told her not to do feels impossible.
Unfortunately, Percy Hynes White can’t sell Chad’s qualities to how Elliott perceives him. His line delivery is frequently stilted, and he possesses zero chemistry with the bubbling, energetic Stella, who delivers a fearless and impassioned breakout turn. If there’s one actor to watch in the wake of any ‘breakout’ turn released this year, it’s Stella, whose portrayal of Elliott is so emotionally complex and cuts deep through slight shifts in micro-expressions. This complexity begins as soon as she ‘trips out’ and sees an entirely different version of herself on the cusp of turning 40.
As different as the two are, they know how to communicate and find exactly what their other self wants them to remember. In the case of older Elliott, it’s for her younger part of herself to spend more time with her family and enjoy her youth, while younger Elliott…well… you’ll have to see the movie to find out. Truth be told, this critic did not expect the movie to psychologically devastate its present/future characters with such raw feeling in its climactic scene like this. Many have discussed how Aubrey Plaza has broken her deadpan typecasting with roles like (a career-best turn in) Ingrid Goes West, Emily the Criminal, Legion, and, most recently, Megalopolis, but none see herself in such a vulnerable position quite like in My Old Ass.
It's honestly coup-de-grâce to see Plaza open herself up like this, whether through mediating on the fears of reaching 40 (she is indeed that age in real life) or in reminding her younger self what the best parts of her youth should be. With such a short amount of screentime, she reminds not only Elliott (by way of Stella) but us why living and attaching ourselves to the world we’re in is so important, even if it will, very much so, throw us as many curveballs as possible. It perhaps threw Elliott the biggest one of all, which is why it’s essential for her to tell her 18-year-old self to enjoy what she has now before things start moving at a breakneck pace, and life becomes a series of fleeting memories.
Perhaps its final section gets into mawkish and conventional territory (one can predict exactly why Elliott does not want her younger version of herself to hook up with Chad with absolute clarity). Still, its jaw-dropping, warm photography of bountiful Canadian landscapes from cinematographer Kristen Correll and a riveting battle of self from Stella/Plaza keeps us engaged. If anything, My Old Ass isn’t necessarily a coming-of-age tale on learning to become a better person once we’ve reached milestones in age, but to enjoy the present, as it is now, no matter what the future holds. Even knowing why 39-year-old Elliott does not want her to spend time with Chad, she still doesn’t care. And she shouldn’t. She’s living in the moment, and so should you.