PLOT:  A mushroom journey brings free-spirited Elliott face-to-face along with her 39-yr-previous self. But when Elliott’s “old ass” delivers warnings to her youthful self, Elliott realizes she has to rethink every thing about her household, life, and love.

REVIEW: Whether it’s Weird Science or perhaps a Freaky Friday, it may be enjoyable in a movie the place logic takes a backseat to leisure. Do I would like a full-blown clarification for how a pc and a barbie doll resulted in one of the crucial lovely ladies in existence? Of course not! This is a film in any case and if we’re capable of droop our disbelief that folks can fly, I believe a little bit lunacy for the sake of a narrative could be fairly interesting. So I used to be intrigued by My Old Ass and its focus on a younger woman assembly her older self and rethinking her future. But it doesn’t actually really feel just like the film that the trailers have been promoting.

Maisy Stella stars as Elliott, a teenage lesbian who’s having fun with the final bits of her hometown till she leaves for the town. She’s a free spirit and so targeted on the longer term, that she doesn’t recognize the folks round her. When her older self seems to her throughout a shroom journey, will she take her warnings or proceed on her present path? I battle with Elliott varieties in movie as they typically come throughout as self-absorbed and ignorant. While the author is clearly attempting to make her carefree and enjoyable, there’s an inherent unlikability to her. Her associates are merely props and she treats them as such. There’s even a second the place she acknowledges that, even after getting what she wished, she’s nonetheless left unhappy. Maybe if she wasn’t such a know-it-all, this is able to be a enjoyable revelation to have. Instead, I used to be simply irritated we’re caught along with her as our protagonist.

Aubrey Plaza is nice as older Elliott however she’s massively underutilized. There’s a continuing charisma black gap when she’s not on display. As humorous as she is, she’s actually the emotional anchor of the movie. She offers all essentially the most heartfelt moments and actually brings the film to life. But she hardly has ten minutes of screentime, so her absence is usually felt. I additionally loved Percy Hynes White (from Netflix’s Wednesday) as Chad, the boy that older Elliott warns youthful Elliott to avoid. He has nice chemistry with Maisy and suits the position properly.

I like magical realism however one factor I really want is an established rule for the unusual happenings. Outside of the excuse of a shroom journey, there’s no actual clarification for how Elliott can work together along with her older self. It’s made all of the extra sophisticated when folks exterior of Elliott get entangled as properly. There’s no time restrict or actually any clear limitation. Plaza’s appearances are totally plot-reliant and don’t really feel very thought out. Giving some type of parameters for it will have resulted in stress across the ticking time bomb of assist. Instead it feels lazy.

As a lot because the film desires to be about self-discovery, the message is totally misplaced by the top. The second half devolves into this unusual Nicolas Sparks-style love story and it clashes with the prior tone. It additionally additional frames Elliott as an unlikeable character, utterly dismissing a woman she’s concerned with, with none type of correct acknowledgment. It’s considered one of many baffling selections that Megan Park makes along with her movie.

I’m unsure there’s a single occasion the place a non-musical film does a random musical scene and it really works. It’s simply the worst a part of the movie and, had I been watching it on streaming, would have been the second I shut it off. When it’s all mentioned and carried out, My Old Ass is a few girl deciding the life she thought she wished to reside, isn’t as necessary as she thought. It’s a pleasant message about not planning out every thing and residing exterior of your personal expectations. Unfortunately it comes throughout in a really unusual approach with its very complicated LGBT messaging. I’m unsure what level the filmmakers have been attempting to get throughout exterior of the apparent.

MY OLD ASS IN PLAYING IN THEATERS ON SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2024.