Several families on vacation at a luxury resort find themselves in a tropical hell when their excursion to an exclusive beach turns deadly. The body of a young woman washes up on shore and everyone soon discovers that the rotting corpse is the least of their worries. Everyone on the beach starts to age at an alarming rate. If they don’t find a way to stop the aging or leave the island no one will make it through dawn.
M. Night Shyamalan‘s Old is an adaptation of “Sandcastle” a graphic novel by writer Pierre Oscar Lévy and artist Frederik Peeters. The director added his own unique twist to the ending, changing the overall impact of the original story and adding an unsettling and eerily realistic update. Having survived a global pandemic in which a mysterious virus has taken many lives and now facing new challenges with vaccination the reimagined ending magnifies the fear of the times we are currently in. We can wholeheartedly admit that this film will linger with you long after the final credits. The premise alone harkens melancholy thoughts of aging and the rapid passage of time, however, the film fails at delivering a satisfying movie experience.
Following the incredible success of “Split” in 2016 followed by “Glass” in 2019, the director is well on his way to a new slump with this film. It is bad. Not quite “Lady in the Water” bad but definitely not “Split” good. The premise was a good one and should have lead to a disturbing realization or some deep epiphany about life and the passage of time, however, the film stops short of that, ending with a clumsy all too plausible explanation for the weird happenings. The dialogue and exposition were poorly constructed adding several plot holes to an already flawed story. For instance, a mysterious young man appears on the beach in fact he was there when they arrived, and we soon discover thanks to one of the children that he is indeed a famous rapper known as “Mid-Size Sedan”. It is unclear how long he was there before their arrival but since he was there when the dead lady was still alive he should have been more advanced in age. This phenomenon is clumsily explained with a “black don’t crack” joke. His presence is pointlessly intense, as he is often shown glaring at something but offering very little to the story. Idiotic rap name and Benjamin Button disease aside, he turns into kind of a creep. He befriends his young “fan” but only after her body matures to that of a young woman, telling her his life story, oddly touching her whenever possible. In one notable scene, she is crying over her mother’s sick body and he weirdly drops his head and reaches for her shoulder. Remarkably her dad and none of the other adults seem to notice this hulking man’s attentions. Along with the creepy rapper, there is an odd nurse who in his first appearance keeps stating his name for the doctor assisting his epileptic wife. Though at first, it seems he does this because the doctor is rudely dismissive the behavior continues while on the island speaking with others. He takes his weirdness to new heights when he asks if anyone can swim in an attempt to get off the beach. No one takes the challenge and we move on until a few “hours” later when he admits to being a world-class swimmer himself. In addition to the bizarre adults, there’s of course a creepy kid involved. The kid is the nephew, not the son, of the resort manager who befriends one of the children. His chosen bestie is a precocious little genius who enjoys asking adults their names and occupations. The interaction between these two ultimately aids in the salvation of the survivors in a sloppy but obvious way. As far as movies go you can probably wait for this one to hit your favorite streaming service. However, if you want to be in on the memes that will be generated from this nonsensical thriller, go ahead and see it.
Old opens this Friday, July, 23, 2021.