Odd and clunky, even by M. Night Shyamalan standards, Old squanders an interesting concept through its emotional and personality void filmmaking, failing to deliver upon the themes of the fleeting nature of time and the inevitability of death.
Based upon the graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre-Oscar Levy and Frederick Peeters, Old has an interesting premise: three families, all vacationing at the same tropical island resort, find themselves on a secluded beach where, for reason unknown, they begin to age 1 year every 30 minutes.
It’s a scenario that could and should result in, at the very least, an interesting movie, yet under the direction of M. Night Shyamalan (Split) the result is a bore of a film in which the Oscar nominated filmmaker suffocates any semblance of emotion, thrill, or personality.
It is par the course for Shyamalan, who constantly squanders great ideas (often created by his hand) through his own unique filmmaking style that succeeds and fails with the momentum of a yo-yo. Old is one of those down turns, and at 108 minutes it is particularly hard to sit through, especially with an ensemble cast of talented actors all turning in career worst performances. The characters never once register as fully formed people, let alone human beings. If the Shyamalan plot-twist was that these characters were aliens disguised as humans, it would not be a surprise.
Fuelled by clunky dialogue and creative decisions that are handled with such a high level of clumsy ferocity that it is almost impressive, Old feels especially odd in its inability to conjure any semblance of emotional or psychological impact in a film that deals directly with that most primal of fears: we will all inevitably die. There are moments featured in Old that should make some kind of impact, yet can only conjure a resounding “meh.”
Shot in the Dominican Republic, Old does get style points for its location shots, with cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (Us) capturing the vibrant colours of the films ocean setting, Unfortunately, it is the only element worth praise in a film that, once again, finds Shyamalan delivering a disappointing dud as only he can.
