IR Film Review: OLD [Universal]
The texture of a M. Night Shyamalan movie is always one draped in the texture of mystery or what might be. While he made the switch to lower budget films while still maintaining a sense of anticipation, the key has been to make the storytelling undeniable while approaching in a Blumhouse sort of way. Now the texture of whether he is financing these movies fully or not is an interesting idea in terms of story control. While the set up uses a slightly larger structure, it primarily takes place on a beach (not unlike "Lost"). The key is how the different characters interact with each other. Some, of course, are trigger points while others angle into a bigger idea of the thematic. While the notion of family and how that transforms is essential, Shyamalan does go out of his way to make his characters as diversified as he can.
The main family in question with Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps as the father and the mother of two young children (6 and 11) works interestingly because of the backgrounds of the parents but also what seems not as a cultural divide but a value divide. Maddox and Trent (their children) as they age is the most interesting because their perspective changes in just a couple hours. Some of the most interesting shots are lingering and self effacing but they work effectively as the camera drifts away or starts to turn and the the people change almost out of frame. It is a beautiful mechanism. The eventual would-be reveal will not be discussed here but the actions that take place that move the characters towards twilight are innate to their own purgatory. One specifically is related to body horror which Shyamalan seems to have dipped into recently but in relation to the space it does work well.
The mythology by extension that it is build doesn't seem to reflect any more of a bigger world Night is trying to create which one would always look for. The great thing is that between some of the more effusive reveals, there are some moments of quietness that really make the scenes work, especially one between the 4 main characters later in an evening scenario on a beach providing the film's most powerful moment. Yet there is some pieces of the puzzle especially towards the end in terms of reasoning that do come off weaker than expected, maybe because of the texture of ego but also with what the story might mean in a greater context of allegory. Suffice to say, "Old" has an idea of the metaphorical story it wants to tell while reflecting a real world ideal of what is for the greater good. B
By Tim Wassberg
