Story Review | My Old Ass
Written By: Pamela Fortier & Margaux Fortier
Megan Park, director of My Old Ass, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Alex Evans.
At first glance, My Old Ass directed by Megan Park is a simple coming-of-age film, complete with drunken parties with best friends during the last summer before college. Elliot is a pretty teenager who is desperate to step out into the wide world and leave her family and her home behind her. Things go awry, however, when an overnight camping trip on an isolated island with her best friends and while tripping on some psychedelic mushrooms, Eliot hallucinates her future self. Referred to as “My Old Ass” and played by Audrey Plaza, she attempts to give Eliot some life advice in the time they have together. She warns her younger self that whatever she might do, stay away from a boy named Chad. This warning becomes more real when she returns to her family cranberry farm and meets a hired hand, Chad. He seems to share her sense of humor and is friendly and easy to talk to, not scary or intimidating at all. So, what could be wrong with him? Is he a murderer disguised as a normal guy?
To add to the unexplained circumstances, Eliot receives a text from “My Old Ass” and is able to reply, adding to the fantasy element of the storytelling. In order to understand the warning and reconnect with her future self, Eliot returns to the island with some more mushrooms in the hopes of recreating the circumstances of their first meeting. She gets more than she hopes for as she makes contact with her future self again and more of the future is revealed.
Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza in My Old Ass | Image Courtesy of PIFF
This film has more heart than might be anticipated. Themes emerge of things loved and treasured that change, people and places that are lost. Sometimes we take our family and circumstances for granted when we are forging ahead with our lives and are only looking past them to the horizon. Finding a doorway to meeting her future self allows Eliot to rediscover her family ties, appreciate what she has, and jump into her life with both feet with a new sense of understanding
But is it a benefit that she knew ahead of time what would come? It’s a question that lingers as you leave the film because most are not awarded this opportunity. Her future self is trying to save her from the hurt that awaits her and trying to get her to appreciate the present as she’s in it. And will she have the courage to take the plunge if she knows the outcome?
My Old Ass was a touching portrayal of a young girl on the brink of adulthood, acquiring the courage to face life head on and not regret her choices. It gives food for thought about what might have been in our own lives if given the same opportunities. Or is it ruining the wonderful surprise of life and love? From Sundance Film Festival to Provincetown Film Festival and beyond, My Old Ass is an example of a festival movie that is at the top of its genre.
My Old Ass is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on November 7, 2024.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvks3SeCDOs
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18559464/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5204873/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2201555/
