My Old Ass (2024)

Smith’s Verdict: ****
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

Well, this was a beautiful film!

For the remainder of 2024, I might see objectively better films. But I don’t know if I’ll like them as much as this one.

“My Old Ass” is about 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella), who enjoys her last summer days in small-town Canada and her family’s cranberry farm before she leaves it all to go to college in Toronto…by basically just doing what most kids at that age do: hang out with friends, do drugs, have passionate affairs, and just not take anything seriously. It’s at her campout birthday celebration with her friends (while she doesn’t know her family is waiting to surprise her with a cake back home–knowing what the rest of the film has in store, this bit hits harder in hindsight) when…her 39-year-old self (played by Aubrey Plaza) appears out of nowhere and connects with her.

Side-note: I love that it’s never explained how the time-travel element works–it’s more Groundhog Day magic than Back to the Future science (fiction). Whatever the case, that encounter was real (and not a shroom trip). Elliott is able to communicate with her older self via smartphone, and Older-Elliott advises her to spend more time with her family and DEFINITELY stay away from anyone named “Chad.”

Cue the arrival of the cute new summer worker on the family farm…Chad. When Chad (Percy Hynes White), a charismatic, quirky, charming lad, has a meet-cute with Elliott, she keeps him at a distance, knowing SOMETHING must be wrong with this guy if Older-Elliott is insistent that she stay away from him. But it’s just not easy because Chad is just so…NICE. She can’t help but be attracted to him. She might even be in love with him…

“My Old Ass” plays like a heartwarming, grounded summer-that-changed-everything story with a sci-fi/fantasy edge. Elliott is in the last stages of youth and about to embark on the road to adulthood, and because of this experience with her adult self giving her advice (appreciate her mother, spend more time with her brothers, etc.), her eyes open up, she realizes what truly matters in life, and she slowly develops from a narrow-minded, immature child to an adult (er, a real good start to being an adult).

In addition, Elliott’s attraction to Chad causes Elliott, who identifies as gay, to question her sexuality–and one of my favorite scenes in the film is a wonderfully written and tender moment between her and a friend (Kerrice Brooks), in which they discuss Elliott’s feelings, contemplate the point of labels (“Am I bi…am I pan…”), and have a genuine heart-to-heart together. There are other scenes like that, including a lovely moment between Elliott and her mother (Maria Dizzia) and one of the early instances of first-love between Elliott and Chad (who bestows deep insight about moments in time we don’t realize are going to be treasured memories), that you realize what the story is doing (and doing well).

And I won’t give it away, but there is another face-to-face encounter with Older-Elliott late in the film–and it hits HARD. That was the moment that made me truly LOVE this film.

“My Old Ass” is the second film written and directed by Megan Park, whose first film was the terrific The Fallout. What I love about Park’s work, evidenced by these two films, is that she can balance broad comedy and tender drama while having them both belong in the same movie. (It’s not as easy as you think–often when filmmakers try this, either the comedy doesn’t hit or the drama isn’t moving enough; but I still applaud the efforts. Park knocks it out of the…ball field.)

This is one of my favorite films of 2024. I can’t recommend it enough.

“My Old Ass” is available on Prime.