THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When M Night Shyamalan made The Sixth Sense, we were reminded how scary death is because our lives can happen in the blink of an eye and we wouldn’t know it until it’s too late. What can scarier than death though is the prelude to it that is getting Old.
PLOT
Based on 'Sandcastle' by Pierre Oscar Levy & Frederik Peters, the 2021 film follows insurance actuary Guy Capa & his wife Prisca, who's a museum curator going through a separation, and plan to take their children Maddox & Trent to a tropical 'Anamika Resort' as their final family vacation before truly going forward. They get complimentary drinks upon arrival and the kids befriend another child named Idlib (Kailen Jude) who’s the nephew of the resort manager (Gustaf Hammarsten). When playing a game of decoding messages, they overhear the parents arguing which in turn reveals Prisca has an ovarian tumor which they intend to reveal after the vacation. The following day, they go to a secluded beach alongside additional parties: Brendan whose known for his rap persona "Mid Sized Sedan" & his unnamed female companion (Alejandra Useche), a surgeon named Charles with his elderly mother Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant), his wife Chrystal & their young daughter Kara. Things take a turn when Trent finds Brendan's companion dead in the water. Before the parties could decide what to do, they meet another couple who just got dropped off, a nurse named Jarin and his wife Patricia who's a psychologist. When Jarin tries to go back where he came from, he blacks out before he could go any further and the same applies for everyone else who tries. Charles then suspects foul play on Brendan due to his nose bleeds, but the rapper confirms it's from his hemophilia. Just as he makes such a claim, Agnes dies from chest pains and his pet dog instantly dies despite being in good health. Jarin makes a guess the only way out of the beach is swimming around it, but the water is not tame enough to pull off. Things only get odder when the kids start to rapidly grow to teens, deducing that the beach is aging every one of them and they'll age up to one year by an estimated every 30 minutes. Charles proves to be schizophrenic when attacking Brendan with a pocket knife and when Jarin tries tending to the wound, it has already healed into a scar in seconds. Prisca then collapses when the tumor has grown bigger than the day before, causing the adults to perform an amateur surgery she's able to recover from. With time passing by, the corpse of Brendan's companion has already decayed. Due to becoming teens, Trent and Kara have unprotected sex which leads to the latter getting pregnant at a rapid pace. By the time the baby is born, it quickly dies of starvation. Charles' schizophrenia worsens when he kills Brendan. When the day goes on, they discover there's a reason to coming to this resort since at least each one person per group has an illness and someone is surveilling them. With the proof of the conditions of Prisca, Brendan & Charles, Patricia reminds them of having epilepsy whereas Chrystal has a calcium deficiency. Jarin's attempt to swim around the beach causes him to drown and Patricia would end up suffering a fatal seizure. When Kara tries to climb to the top of the rocks in hopes to find a way out, but she loses consciousness and falls to her death. By sunset, Guy starts losing his vision whereas Prisca starts losing her hearing. But by night, Charles attacks them both due to another schizophrenic episode. They defend themselves when using the same now rusted knife against him, causing him to die from a blood infection. Chrystal's condition would kill her too as her bones would constantly rupture. Being the only family left, Guy & Prisca make amends before their elderly state causes them to peacefully. Maddox & Trent find evidence of someone who was there before them, who wrote names and addresses of people who died with him on his notebook. By morning, the children are now in their 50s and revisit Idlib's message related to corals that imply there's an underwater passage that can help them escape the beach. They're presumed dead via drowning by the van driver who dropped them off was surveilling them the whole time. The resort is revealed to be a front for the pharmaceutical company Warren & Warren's research team who believed to have cracked a new clinical test of medical drugs after now their 73rd trial. They've been administering guests with medical conditions by spiking their drinks and with the beach accelerating their lives, the lifelong trials can be done within a day which is possible due to the minerals surrounding said beach. The 73rd trial is deemed to be a true success due to Patricia's seizure taking hours to occur instead of minutes. By the time the resort manager invites another group to the resort, Maddox & Trent revealed to have survived the coral passage and gave their evidence to a cop they met prior that was also vacationing named Greg Mitchel (Daniel Ison), who he confirms with his boss that the names on the notebook are all on a missing persons list. The film would end with the remaining Capas being escorted back home and plan to reunite with their aunt, as the research members get arrested and a subpoena is arranged to be sent to Warren & Warren.
THOUGHTS
The quality to come from a Shyamalan picture is unpredictable because you want it to be special like Unbreakable, but don’t want it to a shitstorm like The Happening. So when it came to this one, it felt like one in the middle where he sets up a very intriguing premise that goes places, but some directions don’t completely work. I mean it’s a bold setting to be stuck in a beach cursed to make you age overnight because it sets up the core theme to appreciate as it happens in front of you or you’ll miss it in the blink of an eye, which is exactly/literally what happens to the characters. Michael Gioulakis’s cinematography is quite captivating as is the production design made for the said mineral surrounding the characters as it creates an accurate feeling of isolation. Even the makeup and visual effects done the actors to appear in an elderly state was an immersive decision as it takes a moment to realize the how of its done. This is one of the bolder twists for Shyamalan to adapt because it is a real thing for pharmaceutical companies trying to capitalize on a revolutionary drug. Seeing this research team not severely ashamed of drugging people against their will to the point where kids are involved is some cold ass shit because they’re taking away their childhood and don’t care of the trauma/murder they’re causing. Which is why it’s a miracle for them to be stopped the way they did. Again, the theme to appreciate life before it’s over does not work without the diverse array of characters that have their lives destroyed through paradise. What they all have in common is to have inner healing only to get the total opposite of that. Aaron Pierre had us respect Brendan for a bit because he’s the most soft spoken and arguably avoided trouble the most before it came his way, which made his death the first of being shocking. Ken Leung & Nikki Amuka-Bird were a fine pair as Jarin & Patricia respectively because they’re the most open minded. They quickly accept something is wrong when they get there and all they want to do is find a solution until their ideas backfire to the extreme. Rufus Sewell & Abbey Lee were indeed a dynamic duo as Charles & Chrystal because they were both seeking control and were far from it. Chrystal was very vain about her appearance and wanted to stay as beautiful as possible. But once she was cut from her medication, she was immediately doomed. Charles wasn’t just fighting for his own sanity, but it was visible he wanted to control his own family as well since he was visibly jealous towards Brendan looking at his wife before ultimately losing it all mentally. Since they’re technically the most selfish of the group, it made sense for their deaths to be the most graphic. Never would I expect them to die the way they did and it was stunning to say the least. The only pairing that actually had a clear path are Guy & Prisca. Despite planning to conclude their relationship, Gael García Bernal & Vicky Krieger showed them to mostly compatible because they share the same devotion to protect their kids from a dark fate, but things are far past their control and they try to work their way around it. The fact such a twisted experiment led to them forgiving each other for their flaws was sweet, but you still wish it didn’t have to be this way especially for them. The characters who get the worst end of this predictably the children because their innocence is taken and it cannot be undone. Maddox definitely the most mature in this environment due to ironically being the eldest child at 11 before becoming a middle aged adult (From being played by Alexa Swinton to Thomas McKenzie to Embeth Davidtz). Every time she spoke her mind, her conscience would become all the more clear to think straight enough on narrowing down how to escape hell in paradise. There’s no doubt to feel bad for Trent because not even he has a proper chance to digest what’s going on and has to create his maturity overnight when he entered the island at age 6 before also being a middle aged adult (From being played by Nolan River to Alex Wolff to Emun Elliot). The way he puts trust in himself to figure things out was impressive because he accepts no one can find the answers but him at that point and the way he found the clue that led to him and his sister being free was sweet growth, proving the benefit of self confidence. I don’t even feel wrong when saying the one who had it the worst was Kara because she entered the island a 6 year old and died a teen mom (From being played by Kylie Begley to Mikaya Fisher to Eliza Scanlen). Her joy went from anger because she understood what was taken from him, thus making her the most desperate to try escaping until she lost what was left of her control. With that being said, I wouldn’t deny Maddox & Trent will try to enjoy what’s left of their lives in honor of her and everyone else who had their lives taken from them. This film is creative for the most part, but there were a chunk of things that don’t make a lot of sense to me. For example, why is Brendan allowed to go to the beach on his own before the other parties get there? Even if they’re guaranteed to be stuck, you’re making it too suspicious on how you’re setting things up. And even if Brendan stayed at the beach overnight, why hasn’t he aged a bit? If the minerals are what trigger the aging process since he’s been near that instead of the water, it doesn’t add up.It’s also a surprise on how no one re-locks the gate when the van driver, played by Shyamalan, when he enters the beach to drop off the parties. I bet he’d lock it by the time he comes back, but it’s too big of a gamble for him since that is probably how Maddox & Trent to make it back to the resort. I even thought it was odd how Maddox doesn’t acknowledge how she and her brother until after their mother discovers it. I know we need to be surprised of what’s happening to them, but she shouldn’t be acting clueless to set up the tension. Hell, Trent & Kara’s baby could’ve been avoided if at least one adult kept on eye for company’s sake. On top of that, even if Charles was bound to die, Prisca would’ve not had to poison him with the rusted knife had she just thrown the thing into the ocean. However, this film is generally once ignoring all said flaws. To wrap up, Old is one of Shyamalan’s more solid entries for pushing the narrative in your face but being smart with it too. If you want a thriller that can surprise you in more ways than one, this one will do it for you.
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