My Old Ass Review – Cute, Charming, Excellent Performances
- Details
- Category: Film
- Published on Tuesday, 31 December 2024 13:18
- Written by Janet Walker
My Old Ass, from Lucky Chap Productions and Indian Paintbrush, presents the story of second chances in a world of fast-moving changes as the summer before college, a mushroom trip offers a girl a glimpse into the future.
The story focuses on Elliot, played by Independent Spirit nominee, Maisy Stella, who along with two of her friends, Ruthie, played by Maddie Ziegler, and Ro, played by Kerrice Brooks, decide that today, her 18th birthday, they are going to Maude Island, for a camping overnight, and to celebrate they are going to seep hallucinogenic mushrooms and drink the tea.
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They hear a crackle in the forest and immediately their thoughts, amplified from the mushrooms, begin to turn dark, so the girls ask Elliot to explain her hopes and dreams. We find out for two generations her family have been cranberry farmers, and she just can’t be that and live in this small town, and she is so excited to move to Toronto and begin her life.
We begin to see the other two girls floating away, and Elliot, just looks around saying, are you all high, I’m not high, and then she is nudged by an older woman sitting beside her, played by Aubrey Plaza. Suddenly she is realizing she is tripping and an older version of herself is talking to her about the future. At 18, the idea of still being in school studying for a Ph.D. at 39 is a loser’s life, and at 18, the future is fairytales and filled with the cemented assuredness of an 18-year-old mind and whims.
As we find out on this trip, Elliot believes she has her future mapped out, and her future self explains it’s not quite that simple. She gives her some suggestions, be nicer to her mother, and brothers, and hang out with them a little more, and if you ever meet Chad avoid him at all costs. Older self adds a remembrance on her cellphone. The next morning as the other girls talk about the rabbits singing a Celine Dion song, Elliot explains she is so jealous of them for having good trips.
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The next day Elliot returns home, and life seems to pick up where it left off before the shroom trip, she blows off her family, and then found out they had a cake for birthday. She is so intent on living in the future that she is forgetting about the now, which after 18 years of constant parenting, the only life is the future. We find out early she believes she is a lesbian for life and is spending the summer trying to hook up with the summer island help, Chelsea, played by Alexandria Rivera.
Even as she is determined to let her brother Max, played by Seth Isaac Johnson, take over the farm she still helps out with the cranberry harvest. After a day of working, she heads to the lake for a swim. While she is swimming, the farm's summer help also decides to swim at the same spot. Elliot, who is swimming nude, finally asks his name, and we meet Chad, played by Percy Hynes White, and with older self’s warning she runs from him and does everything to avoid him,
Her father, Tom, played by Alain Goulem, invites him to dinner, and while she is trying to avoid him, she finds herself drawing closer to him. What follows is a lesson on second chances and living in the present and not being so caught up in the future that the small moments, those treasured memories, are wasted and lost and as we find out from our older selves, time is the only thing we can’t get back.
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Maisy Stella has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the “Best Breakthrough Performance” category and Megan Park, the film’s director and screenwriter, for “Best Screenplay.” I enjoyed My Old Ass, and the energy level projected by Ms. Stella was refreshing, funny, and endearing. She delivered a flawless performance as a free-spirited teen, who believes she is ready to fly, leave home, and never look back. On the screenplay side a few minor word changes, to only one scene, would have elevated the screenplay to the same flawless level.
Led by Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, the tripping scenes are charming and amusing. The ensemble cast delivered excellent performances, the film is entertaining, the cinematography beautiful, and the screenplay offers insight into the world of modern youth, where life isn’t so simple, and choices seem to be all consuming, and, of course, change is inevitable.
Charming, and compelling, My Old Ass is in wide release and can be streamed on Prime. See it.
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Country: Canada.
Language: English.
Runtime: 89 minutes.
Director: Megan Park.
Producer: Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamera, Steven Rales, Margot Robbie.
Executive Producer: Daniel Bekerman, Megan Park, Bronte Payne.
Writer: Megan Park.
Cast: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Seth Isaac Johnson, Maria Dizzia, Alain Goulem, Carter Trozzolo, Alexandria Rivera.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is completing the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," which is expected to be released in early 2025. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.
