Old
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
★★
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Simply put, Old is not good. Despite time moving quickly in the film, it dragged in the theater. M. Night Shyamalan is known for his, usually moronic, twist ending. If you're looking for an unsatisfying twist ending, you’ve come upon the right film. If you are looking for coherent cinema, keep looking.
Old follows a family going on a vacation in a tropical paradise. They are whisked away, along with some other lucky people, to a private beach to enjoy for the day. But, things start to get strange and time doesn’t seem to move at the same pace it normally does. The film is based on the Swiss graphic novel Sandcastle (by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters), and while the story is interesting enough, Shyamalan, true to his nature, dulls down the taste of the film with trite dialogue and amateur theatrics.
The roster of actors is pretty strong (with the unfortunate exception of one younger performer and some weird delivery from another), and while it's by no means anyone’s best work, they do turn up to elevate the material from being somehow even worse. The casting especially succeeds as certain characters progress throughout the film. When a new actor is introduced, we know immediately which character they are supposed to be, and we can tell that a lot of care was put into that particular area.
Shyamalan is competent behind the camera, and it shows in this film, possibly more than any of his other works. There is a certain distinct fluidity to his camera movements, which made it very appealing to look at. One scene in particular towards the beginning of the film, the family is in their hotel suite and the camera moves between rooms quite beautifully. Additionally, the scenery in which they shot (in the Dominican Republic) is cinematic dessert, making this Shyamalan’s most appealing film from a visual standpoint. Additionally, he makes a choice to introduce us to certain characters through the children’s eye, which is a more intelligent way of providing us with an exposition dump.
Old attempts to explore themes of nature and science, but its pseudo-intellectualism and morose ruminations on mortality keep the film from saying anything profound, but rather comes across as perfunctory.
Despite having several mechanisms of a good film, Old wastes an interesting premise on doltish social commentary, leaving the audience disappointed, once-again, with a half-baked Shyamalan twist, this time being that studios offer him bookoos of money to still make a bad film.
