An engaging and fun thriller that takes on the fears of getting old and missing out on life’s precious memories in one of Shyamalan’s best movies yet.
From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan, the divisive director behind Unbreakable, Signs, and The Sixth Sense, comes 2021’s newest entry, OLD. A small scale thriller with life threatening consequences set on an isolated beach with a varied cast of characters. Starring Vicky Krieps and Alex Wolff, OLD delivers on its promises, with a twist thrown in for good measure. It’s a film that should reshape how we view Shyamalan as a consensus, but his continued defiance of artistic norms makes this stand out as an emblem of his greatest strengths as a storyteller.
When we take into consideration where the current status of Hollywood is, it’s a miracle that a movie like OLD was made at all. For decades, M. Night has consistently defied the expectations of the medium. Whether it’s camera movements or dialogue, it is distinct to Shyamalan, while also executing all the fundamentals of a fun, old fashioned thriller. Of all the directors throughout film history, many have been aped, replicated, or resurrected, but none have come close to resembling the strengths of Shyamalan. His ability to make films feel alien, almost inhuman, but finding the right grooves to emotionally connect with his world is the foundation of a skilled artist. Whether it’s a sequence of freeze tag (the last moments of adolescence captured in a brief moment of time), or an emotionally cathartic conclusion with a family, OLD is a rewarding adventure into the echoes of mortality. The performances or dialogue may not be that of Oscar winners or this year’s most thrilling dramas, but they all serve the charm of Shyamalan’s style.
Although some of the dialogue and inexplicable developments are tough to overcome, the value stems from the attempt to make it work at all. That isn’t to say filmmakers should be excused for trying, but to see a reward for it at all makes it satisfying. There is an air of mystery and intrigue around every turn, and the charm of the style makes it an undeniably fun movie to watch. At the same time it’s a movie that is deeply engaged with the idea of mortality and the fleeting moments of existence. It’s a cliché to say that “life moves by in the blink of an eye”, and Shyamalan legitimizes that and makes it a literal idea and how we experience it. OLD, in a sense, reminds me of a David Cronenberg movie because of how it develops into a body horror movie by way of ageing and the fears of getting old. It’s rich, exciting, and feels like a welcome call back when movies could be silly without explanation. It’s simple, abides by a defined set of rules, and he capitalizes.
If there was any one thing that OLD misses the mark on, it’s the twist. Twists can always make or break a movie, but Shyamalan’s continuous obsession with twists makes this one feel obligatory. There is some storytelling merit to it in some arguments, but the issue lies in the lengths that it goes to remove some of the intrigue of everything preceding it. At some points it seems like Shyamalan’s filmography would be better off without trying to knock the socks off its audience barring the one or two notable exceptions where the twist allows the movie to excel. The art of the twist has been misdirected, misplaced, or misunderstood a handful of times over the years, but when the audience is leaning forward in their seat waiting for it to happen it kills some of the engagement with the picture. Beyond that, Shyamalan has never been an actor’s director, but when the goal is to create an environment and place the necessary pieces inside of it to tell a story, I’m not overtly concerned with the dialogue or performances needing to be great. It’s one thing for there to be unconvincing performances in a movie that requires them, but when there are alien camera movements, dialogue options, and story it almost works in tandem with each other to create a uniformly unique experience.
Many of you have seen OLD at this point, and your mileage may vary on Shyamalan or the antics of this film, but at the very least it’s an overwhelmingly sincere effort. It also takes big gulps at coming face to face with mortality and the fears of growing up and getting old. There is a universal terror that is applicable to everyone in this film and that’s what makes this a fun, mildly terrifying movie to watch. The older we get the more wrinkles, blemishes, shortcomings we see and feel, and we’re here watching friends, family, and foes pass away, lose their senses, or victims of murder. Despite how strange OLD is, on a Twilight Zone level, when it eases into its biggest emotional moment we’re left wondering where all those years went arguing, fighting, trying to prove yourself right over someone you love. It hits exactly where it should, and a director who has been ravaged with criticism for not channeling any human emotion into his work, puts that (absurd) argument to rest. Nothing scares people more than having to endure their own growth towards death than having to see someone else around them endure the same thing. All of the promises of harkening back to a more spry energy on a Summer vacation is stripped away from them on a beach that is doing unheard of things to people who aren’t prepared to live their entire life in a day. All those moments that should be pivotal and worthwhile memories that fill up scrapbooks, become profile pictures, or something shared amongst loved ones is now a portion of your life full of fear and anxiety. What isn’t life but fleetings moments strung together between the exclamations of our occupation and how we’re only defined by that and not our memories.