If you had the chance to travel back in time and share a message with your 18-year-old self, what would you say? Megan Park’s newest film, “My Old Ass” explores this very topic. On the night of Elliott’s (Maisy Stella) 18th birthday, a mushroom trip connects her with her 39-year-old self, or her “old ass” (Aubrey Plaza). With this interaction, Elliott must take her older self’s advice and implement it all the last week of her summer vacation before college. “My Old Ass” is an unexpected gem and sure to make audiences laugh, cry, and everything in between.
Since I first watched this movie last week, I have seen it two times since. Park’s concept is simple, but executed so effectively. Her storyline evades the classic tropes of time travel movies. Ones where the main character is lost in their current life and expects to learn something from their future self. In “My Old Ass,” Elliott is the opposite of this, as she is so confident in her skin and doesn’t wish to change anything in her life at the moment.
It was great to see such a strong female lead in this movie, much like some of her sisters in the coming-of-age genre, such as Emilia Jones in “Coda” and Hailee Steinfeld in “The Edge of Seventeen.” Stella’s performance was humorous, touching, and incredibly realistic. Stella may not have a lot of acting past, but her performance was outstanding, and I cannot wait to see where the success of this movie brings her.
Percy Hynes White also stuns in this film. His current allegations aside, there is no denying that his role was beyond charming. His acting was vibrant and realistic, and he and Stella showed immense chemistry on the screen. Especially in their scene towards the end of the movie in the middle of the rainy lake. This scene caused me a physical body-curling cringe. Their acting was spot on, resembling that of two high schoolers trying to bring their romantic emotions to the surface before a first kiss. A truly hard watch due to the immense young talent.
Audrey Plaza’s portrayal of older Eliott was nothing other than lovely. Plaza is one of the most underrated actors of her generation and she shines in all of her roles. The humor she brings to her roles is always so natural and effortless.
While Plaza and Stella capture these roles, I could not get over their dissimilar appearances. While their facial structures could be argued as similar, I believe Vanessa Tyra Smith’s makeup could have worked more to make the two appear as the same person. By simply creating Stella’s facial birthmarks on Plaza and lightening up Plaza’s eyebrows, I wouldn’t have been taken out of the movie during certain scenes. Despite their physical appearances, Stella encapsulated Plaza’s dry humor and the two perfectly mixed to create a consistent personality of Elliott.
Although Park’s script was charming, it did have its fair share of plot holes, mostly having to do with the elements of time travel. The logistics of how older Elliott effortlessly travels to younger Elliott is never explained, and neither is their ability to still be able to communicate throughout the movie. It did make sense not knowing all of this information because the characters didn’t themselves, but as a viewer, I wanted to know more.
Besides this, Park’s script was humorous and full of so much heart. Her dialogue was sharp and appropriate for her character’s ages. As a director, Park made sure to fully encapsulate the lake-side Canadian setting. Much like “Coda,” the setting almost played its own character in the film. “My Old Ass” is Park’s second directorial project, second to her 2021 film “The Fallout,” and continues Park’s themes of teen dramas that touch on deeper, more serious themes.
One element of this movie that put a spin on usual tropes was Elliott’s sexuality. While it’s typical for the main character to be straight and have other characters make them realize they aren’t entirely, “My Old Ass” starts Elliott off as a lesbian and makes her realize that she is bisexual. Park turns away from having the norm be straight, and instead has straightness as the character’s revolution.
“My Old Ass” isn’t about what one should look forward to in their future, but rather how they should appreciate the moment they are in now. The only enemy in this film is the passing of time, and it shows viewers how it’s something that can’t be avoided. The most we can do is share our time with those we care about, and I believe that’s a truly wonderful thing.
