Every year I come across a film that seems to alter the very core of my being; in 2022 it was Everything Everywhere All at Once, in 2023 it was Barbie and this year it’s My Old Ass, which, to underscore the themes of its counterparts, takes a literal approach to “meeting yourself where you’re at.”
In The Fallout director Megan Park’s sophomore film, Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) meets her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) during a magic mushroom trip on her 18th birthday. Agitated by adult Elliott’s vague advice and apathetic revelations about her life, teenage Elliott is determined not to end up a spouse-less, child-less PhD student by the time she’s verging on 40. She dedicates the tail end of her last summer in Muskoka to making all the right choices for her future self, and along the way, unearths poignant lessons in love, identity and living in-the-now.
The movie premiered in select theaters on Sep. 13 (out everywhere Sep. 27), and I was fortunate to attend an advance screening at the start of the month. I arrived without having watched the trailer or read the movie’s summary, and to say I was unprepared for its emotional potency is probably an understatement. I found myself laughing at the characters’ rawness and forthrightness. I cried every time Elliott successfully broke through the shroud of moodiness and hyper independence woven into the fabric of every teenager in an effort to connect with her mother (Maria Dizzia). I was heartened by the queer themes central to the plot and, more specifically, how Park challenged the concept of identity necessitating an arrival. She seems to say to us, “Shouldn’t we always be transforming and unsure?”
I was especially moved by Stella’s performance; I’ve been following her since her days on musical drama Nashville and I’m always entranced by the pensive songwriting and impressive finger-picking featured on her Instagram. I have countless memories of my sister and I attempting to replicate the Stella sisters’ dreamy harmonies in our own bedrooms with our own guitars—we could never match the soul witchily permeating their interpretations. Maisy Stella’s earnest and authentic embodiment of Elliott came as no surprise.
It’s a rare treat to discover a piece of art that so seamlessly makes a unique experience (ie. your parents selling the family cranberry bog without consulting you) feel universal. Though maybe not on a motorboat nor a barren golf course nor a Canadian pier backdropped by a perfectly-fairytale downpour, we’ve all willed our older selves to just pick up the phone! to tell us what to do, in one way or another. And maybe we’ve wished that of our younger selves, too.
“With this movie, in a lot of ways, it’s Old Ass’s message and journey and takeaway in a bigger sense potentially even than younger Elliott’s,” Park told Deadline last week. “It’s, I would say, not coming-of-age, but it has a very over-one-night feel with a group of strangers coming together.”
Come together it does, and tenderly. This film doesn’t rush—its frequent stillness reflects the weight of the last days spent in your hometown and the loneliness of the residual question, “What should I do next?” Whether you’re 18 or 39, this search in the dark can often feel lanternless.
My Old Ass teaches us that this question is supposed to be unanswerable.