An unconventional film is the latest entry in high quality coming of age stories. My Old Ass follows a free-spirited 18 year-old named Elliott (Maisy Stella) who decides to take a mushroom trip on her birthday with her friends. While in her psychedelic haze, Elliott is brought face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). As the two commiserate over her life and family, older Elliott starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, particularly as it pertains to a young male neighbor named Chad (Percy Hynes White). As young Elliott considers her older self’s words, she realizes she has to rethink everything about family and love.
Where this film succeeds is in the emotional resonance of its theme. My Old Ass touches upon a subject that touches us all in some way, that of wish fulfillment. Everyone has an innate, natural human desire to somehow gain the opportunity to fix those little mistakes of youth that resulted in something unpleasant or regrettable or those big mistakes we make that change the trajectory of our lives for the worse. The relationship between the two Elliotts reflects what every person wishes they had, particularly at the age where we knew so little; an older mentor who really cared and could help avoid life’s pitfalls. In the end however, what makes life worth living and what it is, are those pitfalls we hope to avoid. For Elliott, this pertains to her relationship with Chad and what it will mean for her future self. Though her older self gives her foreknowledge of how their relationship ends, the connection between them blossoms and develops anyway.
In this way, My Old Ass shares similarities with one of my favorite films of all-time Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Despite knowing the outcomes, the human need for love and connection makes taking the chance worth it anyway. We can’t avoid exploring our feelings for others despite the inherent risk in doing so; the pain of love cannot be separated from the exuberance of it, the two are a tandem. Pain is part of what makes life what it is as much as joy and happiness are. Through these experiences, we discover more about ourselves and who we are. My Old Ass’s character development for young Elliott and her relationship with her older self illustrate this point beautifully.
This isn’t just a film about romance or handling the curveballs life throws at you however, it also touches upon growing up and the life stages we all experience. For Elliott, this includes her reaching young adulthood and leaving her childhood home and family to create her own live and new experiences. As Elliott navigates this process, the audience sees both the excitement that this entails and the sadness we experience alongside our families, Elliott’s mother specifically. It’s an emotionally resonate and relatable aspect of the story that many will be able to relate to through their own path into independence and the struggles you have with your parents in connecting through your awkward stage in life. Stella and who plays her mother do well in capturing the invisible walls between a parent afraid of their child approaching their next stage in life and a child who struggles to communicate their love for their parent but anticipation of autonomy.
My Old Ass is a well rounded film that hits on the multitudes of the human experience and emotional spectrum; our worries, our families, our hopes, and our dreams. The film is based around a sci-fi concept that hinges upon the chemistry and believability of Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza and both actresses put on quality performances on their own and interacting with one another to effectively capture this aspect. Stella does well in portraying the teenage angst that comes from uncertainty over the person you want to become and the path before you as you transition into young adulthood while Plaza is her usual acerbic and sarcastic self as the older Elliott jaded by adulthood and life while simultaneously possessing the emotional vulnerability of wanting to protect her younger self from the pitfalls she knows are coming and that have clouded her own worldview. It’s a wonderful coming of age film that blends substance and emotion well, creating a quality film worth anyone’s time.
Image: Amazon MGM Studios
