The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Temple chapter.

The first article I ever wrote for Her Campus in my sophomore year of college was a movie review of the film The Fall Out, which was directed and written by Megan Park. It seemed fitting that in my senior year, I would review Park’s next feat, especially considering my affinity for her first film.

I deeply appreciated Park’s approach to covering the emotional realities of the teen experience, giving her characters complex storylines and emotions with a dignity that is sometimes only given to adults. The plot of The Fallout centers around a teen girl, Vada (played by Jenna Ortega), who experiences a school shooting at her high school. The film opens to the horrific act and details how her life completely changes as a result.

Along with the vast emotions Vada experiences from the shooting, she also explores her sexuality, first drug experiences, the qualms of growing up, and the mental battle of where to go next after the tragedy. This plot is unfortunately relevant within our society, and Park’s masterpiece does a great job of focusing on the seriousness of this issue while still incorporating relevant music and internet trends that are reflective of the times.

Because of all of this, I was very excited to watch Park’s second film, My Old Ass. I was scrolling through Amazon Prime one day when I randomly saw it, and I knew I had to watch it right away.

The film centers around 18-year-old Elliot (played by Maisy Stella), a Canadian teen who is on the cusp of entering her adult life. On a mushroom trip with her friends on her eighteenth birthday, Elliot is met with the 39-year-old version of herself (played by Audrey Plaza). Although the mushroom trip ends, Elliot’s 39-year-old self remains in her life, feeding her advice about what’s to come and warnings for who and what to look out for. This causes Elliot to reevaluate her perception of love, family, and her future, making for a reflective and life-changing summer.

This idea for a film is one that I really enjoy. It’s something we haven’t seen before and stays in line with Park’s record of highlighting the teen experience, specifically in a way that tackles the uncertainties of growing up and creating a life for oneself.

Now, where my problems with the film lie is in the depiction of what teenagers are like. A couple of things should be said about where I currently am in my life and why my opinion might be more brutal about this: I am now 21 years old, a few years out of my teenhood, and perhaps in a time where I am more judgmental and critical of teenagers. I am in this period where I know the teen experience as if it were yesterday — keeping up to date with relevant trends and the culture — but I am also deeply embarrassed by most of their actions. I wanted to make this clear before examining more of the film because, in all the other reviews I went through, this criticism was never made. I don’t think my age invalidates or validates my opinion of the film, but it simply just explains some of my logic.

When I sat down to watch the movie, I did so alongside a few of my roommates, and we all shared similar feelings. The character of the teenaged Elliot felt a bit more like an archetype from TikTok rather than a “real girl.” She made persistent comments about “cis straight white men,” ended lots of sentences by saying “bro” and “man,” and overall spoke in a tone of voice that sounded unnatural and forced. Again, the more I analyze this, I realize that my distaste for the character could be attributed to a felt cringiness for a teenager figuring themself out and taking on different slang terms and tones of voice in that effort, but it really did just bother me to watch. I truly tried so hard (especially as the plot of this film was one that I admired), but maybe this movie is just one that I will appreciate as time goes on and I no longer feel like my teenage self was present just yesterday.

Besides the depiction of teen Elliot, almost everything about this film was incredibly lovable. Again, the concept as a whole sets this film up for success, as it is something that hasn’t really been done before and falls on a unique line of reflecting, growing, and looking out for the future. Other details of the film, such as the music and the beautiful scenery, really played into the innocence and peace of the upbringing of Elliot. The film takes place on Elliot’s family’s cranberry farm, and despite her want to escape the farm life, the farm almost becomes its own character, with admiring shots that play into the film’s themes of hand holding, intimacy, and childlike wonder.

Although I have my qualms about it, I think that, for those who are years separated from their teenaged self, this film will serve as the hug they’ve been yearning for. Throughout the movie, adult Elliot has an unsettling nature, as she has experienced things that teen Elliot is seemingly unready for and that she as her grown self has not even fully processed or found peace with. This film supports the idea that, despite growth in age, there are certain life experiences that will shake us, and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of who we were to find peace and rediscover ourselves again.

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