Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza delight in this sweet, emotional time travelling romance drama with a universal message about living in the present and seeking your loved ones.
If there’s one thing all teenagers tend to take for granted, it’s their youth. Growing up and especially when you turn 18, with so much of life ahead of you it is easy to look towards the world that’s waiting to take you on. You’re finally leaving home and entering a new life, leaving family and friends behind as you embark on a new journey. But as exciting as it is to look ahead to a promising future, sometimes it can be terrifying to think of the prospect of finally gaining your independence and departing from the place you called home all your life. What do you when that place is no longer there? Who do you go to?
My Old Ass is Megan Park’s sophomore feature, where we see a girl called Elliott (Maisy Stella) celebrate her 18th birthday by going on a mushroom trip with her best friends Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) and Ro (Kerrice Brooks). Eventually encountering a vision of her 39-year-old self played by Aubrey Plaza, who warns her of the reality that awaits her in the future. Giving her a list of things to do and not to do to change her fate, which throws Elliott off completely as she is forced to rethink everything about her life, including her family, love, and what to expect from life.
Time Is Of The Essence
The biggest warning, however, was being told to avoid a guy called Chad. With no explanations given as to why, Elliott slowly obsesses with paranoia over the thought of meeting someone going by such a name, especially if it implies romantic interest, which confuses her since she believes herself to be gay and currently has a “girlfriend.” Older Elliott is a mature age PhD student, which disgusts her younger self, thinking she was set for better things than to still go to school in her 40s, quickly corrected by her older self as she’s in her 30s. One of the main advices she imparts to her teenage self is to realise how precious time really is. The one thing no one gets back is time. It doesn’t stop for anyone, and that creates a strong sense of urgency throughout the film. That nothing lasts forever.
What Megan Park does especially well is knowing how to mix different genres without any emotion misplaced or contrived in building the personal stakes of this story. We see elements of sci-fi through the time-travelled messages relayed from the present to the future; there is great emphasis on comedy to show the unfiltered youth singing to their own tune, and then a core ingredient being romance. With Elliott fearing the prospect of meeting Chad, little does she know the guy next door from the cranberry farm who is working with her dad for the summer is the one she sworn to avoid and turns out to be a boat mechanic. She encounters him in the lake and goes as far as hiding underwater to keep her distance and remain unfamiliar.
The Acceptance Of Moving On
There are questions raised throughout by the audience and Elliott herself on who Chad is. What did he do to make older Elliot push her younger self into promising not to sleep with him? It makes you wonder what is so wrong about Chad that Elliot should stay well clear of him.
With Elliott taking her older self’s advice to heart, she decides to spend more time with her family one by one before she leaves for the city. Much to their surprise, there is this feeling that this is a sudden change in behaviour after not showing up for her surprise birthday cake dinner. The brothers feel either disappointed that much effort wasn’t made before in caring about their interests or refuse to believe she is sincere in wanting to connect with them. We do see her little brother have a Saoirse Ronan wall, which she helps with, and it seems everyone is obsessed with her and Little Women, which is something I can relate to.
At one point it is revealed that their parents are selling the farm away, which comes as a shock, stubbornly refusing the possibility and expressing both anger and sadness at not being told such big news. Her brother, who knew for a while, seems to have accepted it by now as his sadness has slowly faded. And we see Elliott confront her father about this, which takes him by surprise as he didn’t think she would care. She’s leaving anyway and didn’t seem too interested in connecting with her family, so why care now? With these drastic changes in her life, it is easy to see why Elliot would panic and desperately attempt to salvage whatever is left or at least rebuild a relationship with her loved ones.
With Time Comes Love
But what really gives this drama emotional depth is how Elliott and her mom’s relationship develops. At first we see her mom being so interactive and supportive of Elliott with not much attention given back, but by taking on these warnings to heart, she learns to take interest in her mom and help her out at home. There is one key scene where they finally talk about Elliott growing up to be her own woman, and this gives Elliott the chance to reconcile by showing how much her mom means to her and that, as much as she wants to be strong and independent, she is still very much her naïve child who doesn’t know anything about the real world.
This is where Elliott is wrong. Her free-spirited nature and willingness to extend a hand even when it all seems too late is the first sign of maturity and heart. She actually does care so much for others but just needed a wake-up call to turn that dormant empathy into something palpable for those closest to her.
Love Is For Everyone
Elliott’s family isn’t the only one that’s gotten closer to her lately as she continues to bump into Chad. In one instance, he is invited for breakfast by the family and shares that his grandfather and Elliot’s go way back. I think this part of Chad’s life and past could have been touched upon more, as I find his sincerity and earnestness well founded, but there is clearly more to him than meets the eye. For someone that’s considered the major obstacle to Elliot’s life, and as we soon see with the big reveal that he is a part of her future and older self deeper than anyone would expect, it would have helped to dive into his perspective. But maybe this is not something of concern to Megan, as she reiterates the importance of every encounter and moment potentially being your last without ever knowing until later.
It’s terrifying to think about and something we can all relate to. As a child, how many times did you go out with your friends or play outside, not realising that it could be the last time you’ll ever get to do that? Youth is an ephemeral part of our lives, and by cherishing every moment, you can live your life to the fullest, regretting lesser than you may have if you didn’t. With Elliott and Chad falling for each other, a realisation comes that Elliott may not be as exclusively gay as she once thought; it’s refreshing to see her friends support her and not think less of her for being bisexual.
Too often, representation fails to account for bi/pans who often go through these fears of feeling like a fake queer, so Megan deserves a lot of credit for naturally developing that part of Elliott’s character without feeling tacked on.
Past meets Present meets Future
Throughout the film, Elliott focused too much on what her older self said to her, and when she was no longer available to call (yes, they have each other’s phone numbers and she’s called My Old Ass, hah!) her anxieties worsened. She’s worried she fell into the trap of caring for and loving Chad. Until her older self finally steps in and wants updates. This leads to a crucial encounter where Chad sees both Elliott’s, unknowing of her older self’s true identity, disguised as Uncle Michelle. This is where both Elliott’s realise that Chad is an important part of their lives, and wanting to avoid that out of fear of losing him and being unable to handle it goes against everything older Elliott stood for and encouraged in her younger self.
Just because your relationship with your loved ones may end one day does not mean they are any less worth having. Loving people is not a mistake. And making mistakes is okay. If you live your life in fear, unwilling to connect with anyone or anything because they may die or leave you, you’ll never be able to live a life and will be tortured in misery by such lonely thoughts disconnected from reality. And this huge lesson is learnt by Elliot’s younger self, who teaches her future that being brave and taking risks is always worth it, no matter the outcome. Leading to such a powerful embrace that can’t be described, only felt.
Final Thoughts
My Old Ass is a fun summer movie that’s equally hilarious and emotional in all the right ways. With Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza delivering fantastic performances as their chemistry shines. The film takes creative liberties within the realm of fantasy and asks you to take a leap of faith in its drama, but that’s exactly why it works. The magic of movies is once again found in Megan Park’s thrilling and heartfelt romance that celebrates love and values what you have, not what you lost. Asking you to savour every moment with your loved ones as if it were your last. Knowing that something may cause you pain and grief yet still choosing to do it anyway because experiencing the love and the joy are worth it, rather than missing out. A terrific film made for everyone and easy to relate to.
My Old Ass is out now in theatres.
