While on a mushroom trip the summer before heading off to her first year of university, the headstrong Elliott (Maisy Stella), tired of working on her family farm, comes face to face with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). Elliott was eager for the future, but maybe not quite like this. Written and directed by Megan Park, My Old Ass has some beautifully scripted dialogue scenes, nicely performed by a cast that also includes Maria Dizzia as Elliott’s mother and Percy Hynes White as a sweetly dopey romantic prospect. As long as the movie remains a lightly comic meditation on aging, relationships, and time—say, a junior Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—it’s fantastic and frequently moving. But large chunks veer into television-drama territory, where the movie operates in a more generic register. The bucolic setting—a gorgeous Canadian lake town—adds atmosphere, though it also contributes to the Gilmore Girls sensibility. If nothing else, My Old Ass may have you second-guessing your own life choices and wondering, “Why didn’t I become a cranberry farmer, quietly tending my bog, in rural Canada?”
(11/14/2024)
