NERDBOT
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Subscribe
    NERDBOT
    • News
      • Reviews
    • Movies & TV
    • Comics
    • Gaming
    • Collectibles
    • Science & Tech
    • Nerd Culture
    • About Us
      • Want to Write for Nerdbot?
    NERDBOT
    Home»Movies & TV»Feel Yourself Aging with M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” [Review]
    Movies & TV

    Feel Yourself Aging with M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” [Review]

    Bill WattersBy Bill WattersJuly 24, 2021Updated:July 24, 20213 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

    One thing that can generally be said about filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is that you generally have an idea of what to expect. With his latest release “Old,” he once again stays true to form with a great premise. Based on the Swiss graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, it winds up delivering something that feels more like self-indulgence than artistic expression.

    A collection of tourists to an island resort have been shuffled off to a day excursion on a private beach and they slowly come to realize that not only are they unable to leave the way they came, but they are all very rapidly growing older.

    Such a setup is a compelling basis for a story, with the various inner turmoil that each person is dealing with to come out. But from the moment that Shyamalan shows up as the shuttle bus operator, the audience can’t help but feel that it’s him as the auteur filmmaker he is convinced that he is taking us on a ride. Literally taking us to the beach where we can feel our lives slipping away.

    The “Old” cast is great, led by Emmy winner Gael García Bernal (“Mozart in the Jungle“), and Rufus Sewell (“Man in the High Castle“).

    The expressions in the image above, says everything about the level of tension in “Old.”

    The group has three young children ranging in age from 6-8, who begin growing rapidly (the adults take longer to notice the effect because they’re already fully grown), so there’s added drama from the perspective of the parents, but the film’s own logic continually breaks down. When you set up a scene where the dialogue expressly asks – “why doesn’t our hair and nails keep growing as fast”, and another gives an answer of “the cells are already dead” – implying that after something is dead, the process stops. But that’s proven not to be the case just a few scenes later.

    The performances range from solid at times, to the distant hopeless stare with overdone close-ups (so close that only a part of the face is in the camera frame), feels to be a call for help not from the character, but from the actor to get them out of the scene.

    Moments of dialogue are smart and heartfelt, only to pivot moments later into trite rhetorical nonsense. Every time there seems to be something starting to capture the audience’s attention, it slips away moments later. It’s a time where it has become painfully clear that in better hands, this would have been a much better film. Jordan Peele or Jennifer Kent, could have cleaned this up and given it a far better treatment than Shyamalan managed.

    “Old” is rated R, and is playing now in theaters (and beaches) near you.

    Rating: 3.5 out of 10 stars.

    Author

    Bill Watters
    35%
    Feel Yourself Aging

    Old

    • Overall
    Readers Rating: 0
    0 votes
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleCercle Bicycle Offers Circular Frame That Doubles as a Tent!
    Next Article How to Buy CBD Products Without Going Broke
    Bill Watters
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn

    Bill Watters is a child of the late 70s- he walked into a theater to watch Star Wars, and emerged to become a lifelong fan of cinema and television. Spending nearly a decade as a projectionist, he fell into the Silicon Valley dot-com boom and became a codemonkey for a range of game companies. These days he's a frequent speaker, moderator, and panelist at pop-culture events and conventions, as well as a prolific film and television critic and genre news writer. He is also a member critic of both the San Francisco Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. In addition to his writing, he is also a photojournalist and can be found on Getty Images.

    Related Posts

    J.Lo’s “Shotgun Wedding” is an “I Don’t” [Review]

    January 27, 2023

    Jay Leno Suffers Another Accident- Multiple Broken Bones

    January 27, 2023
    Budweiser flower arrangement

    Budweiser Develops Unique Valentine’s Day Gift

    January 27, 2023
    "Jay Leno's Garage"

    Jay Leno’s 30-Year NBC Run Comes to an End

    January 27, 2023

    There’s a Reason Pink Waves Are Hitting California Shoreline

    January 27, 2023

    WATCH: Disney 100th Celebration Live from Disneyland

    January 27, 2023
    • Trending
    • Latest
    • Movies
    • TV

    Christian Activist Suing The NFL For $867 Trillion Over Half-Time Show

    February 5, 2020

    Marvel Eyeing GOT Star Nathalie Emmanuel To Play The MCU’s Storm

    June 27, 2019

    Rumor: Charlie Hunnam In Talks For New Wolverine Movie

    May 20, 2019

    Scientists Are Actually Trying to Open a Portal to a Mirror Universe(Yes Really)

    December 28, 2019

    J.Lo’s “Shotgun Wedding” is an “I Don’t” [Review]

    January 27, 2023

    Tobey Maguire Would LOVE to Do 5th “Spider-Man”

    January 27, 2023

    Jay Leno Suffers Another Accident- Multiple Broken Bones

    January 27, 2023
    "Children of the Corn"

    “Children Of The Corn” Remake Finally Gets Release Date

    January 27, 2023

    J.Lo’s “Shotgun Wedding” is an “I Don’t” [Review]

    January 27, 2023

    Tobey Maguire Would LOVE to Do 5th “Spider-Man”

    January 27, 2023
    "Children of the Corn"

    “Children Of The Corn” Remake Finally Gets Release Date

    January 27, 2023

    Ayo Edebiri Joins Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts” in Mystery Role

    January 26, 2023
    "Jay Leno's Garage"

    Jay Leno’s 30-Year NBC Run Comes to an End

    January 27, 2023

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge Writing Amazon’s “Tomb Raider” Series

    January 27, 2023

    “Frasier” Revival Reveals Son of Niles and Daphne

    January 27, 2023

    HBO Orders Season 2 of “The Last of Us”

    January 27, 2023
    Related Posts

    None found

    San Diego Comic-Con
      • auction
      • carnivorous plant
      • dinosaur
      • pennyworth
      • San Diego Comic-Con
    NERDBOT
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    © 2023 NERDBOT Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.