Old : Movie Review

When Guy and his family go on vacation they are offered a day trip to a remote beach on the island. But things start to get strange and they realize time works differently on this beach.

Based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, Old explores what's it's like to be confronted with your own impending death.

We first meet Guy, his wife Prisca and their two kids on a bus on the way to their tropical getaway. You quickly realize they are not the happy couple they seem to be on the surface. Prisca has a tumor and she wants to leave Guy. This vacation is their last trip as a family before they tell the kids of their breakup.

This sets the tone for the movie right away. It's going to have tension and it's going to have people coming to realizations as they are confronted with death. The other couples on the beach also have a lot to learn as well.

Director and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan made the movie during the pandemic and said this movie feels a lot like how lockdown felt for other people. It also helped him confront his own fears of death.

The main issue with Old is that most of the good parts were in the trailers. You know they get old right away, you see the kids age, you see the fear of the characters and that they are trapped. Had this movie kept most of that out of the trailers it might have been more entertaining. It does have moments that shock you but most of the movie is spent asking why because we already know what's happening.

The why is a great twist though. You don't see it coming despite little breadcrumbs being left for you. Shyamalan has a tendency to not really connect the dots well but Old does it beautifully.

Old may not be Shyamalan's best but it definitely isn't his worst. It falls flat in some areas but the location, acting, and the big twist at the end are satisfying.