Movie review and summary of My Old Ass (2024)

It's the stuff of sophisticated coming-of-age comedies from a bygone era: a young woman is surprised to meet her older self just when she needs some guidance. Culture clashes and life lessons ensue, but also lots of laughter and maybe a few tears.

But what Megan Park has done with My Old Ass is so authentic and thoroughly compelling that she breathes new life into a familiar genre. This is neither a body-swap comedy like Freaky Friday, nor a time-travel movie like On 30 Going on 30. It's kind of both, but also neither. (It's also a trip to watch My Old Ass within 24 hours of The Substance. That's a double bill that's sure to provoke a thousand thoughts.) My Old Ass reimagines that retro premise by grounding it in a modern reality and populating it with an impeccably chosen cast.

As a writer and director, Park follows up her 2021 debut drama The Fallout – about teenage girls grappling with the aftermath of a school shooting – with a very different film. But her keen sense of the way young people speak and her sensitivity to her characters remain intact. Wisely, Park doesn't explain the mechanics of this cross-generational connection in too much detail, and she doesn't need to; her two leads have such infectious chemistry with each other that it doesn't even occur to you to ask. You just want to spend as much time with them as possible – and the value of time is very important to everyone here.

Maisy Stella is an absolute star in her role as Elliott, the irreverent 18-year-old at the center of the film. Nashville viewers may know the Canadian singer and actress, but this performance will really put her on the map. We'll look back on this in years to come and see that the seeds of a long career were there from the start. Stella has incredible screen presence and a great sense of comedic timing, but she's equally convincing in the more dramatic moments her role requires. It's an exciting feature film debut.

Aubrey Plaza has always been a star, but it's always a pleasure to see her in roles that allow her to go beyond her comedic chops and reveal deeper aspects of her talent, as she did in films like Emily the Criminal and Ingrid Goes West. Here, Plaza plays the 39-year-old version of Elliott — who she rightly claims is NOT middle-aged — who appears to Elliott during a mushroom trip with her two best friends. Plaza looks nothing like Stella, which is part of the joke, but the two actresses are equally matched in their sarcastic wit. Plaza's deadpan demeanor meets Stella's exuberance, and somewhere in that dizzying mix, you quickly believe the two are one and the same.

It's the last weeks of summer before she heads off to the University of Toronto, and Elliott is spending an evening in the woods with her longtime friends Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler, Park's “The Fallout” co-star). After drinking a cup of hallucinogenic tea, she comes face to face with her older self, who appears out of nowhere on this starry night. Elliott asks many of the questions you'd ask if you could meet a version of yourself from 20 years in the future, but the older Elliott cleverly decides to keep some of the mystery to herself. She does, however, offer one important warning: Stay away from guys named Chad.

And it seems that the sweet, kind summer worker on her family's Ontario cranberry farm is a guy named Chad (Percy Hynes White). Elliott tries to hide from him, but falls for him anyway. This upsets her for several reasons: Aside from her older self urging her to avoid all Chads, Elliott has always thought she was a lesbian, and this new attraction makes her wonder if her sexuality is more fluid.

Luckily, the older Elliott is still reachable by phone and text long after that fateful night, having put her number in her younger self's cell phone. (They're just as pleased as you are to learn that this little experiment worked.) But of course, Elliott has a lot of things to figure out on her own as she teeters on the cusp of adulthood, including how to appreciate her younger brothers (Seth Isaac Johnson and Carter Trozzolo, both clearly drawn) and spend more time with her mother (Maria Dizzia, always a secret MVP).

In addition to creating characters that seem like real people, Park also creates a vivid sense of place. Much of My Old Ass is set on the picturesque lakes near the family farm. Shimmering, golden afternoons on the water give way to threatening thunderstorms. (Cinematographer Kristen Correll creates a romantic, wistful mood throughout.) The adventures and enveloping silence feel personal and specific, but there's something universal about this pivotal point in Elliott's life that gives the film an unexpected poignancy.

Park navigates some tricky tonal shifts in the film's third act, mixing heartbreak and hope while weaving in humor. And the more facets she reveals of her characters, the more interesting they become. That's especially true of Plaza's older Elliott, who comes across impressively in just a few scenes. The younger Elliott may not have all the answers yet, but at least she's getting more comfortable asking the questions.