My Middle Age Ass Reviews 'My Old Ass'

Your ass will likely enjoy this film, regardless of its age.

Your ass will likely enjoy My Old Ass regardless of its age. A funny, poignant, bittersweet coming-of-age film from actor-turned-writer/director Megan Park, I would wager that in screenplay form, My Old Ass felt a little half-assed. Yet it completely works in its finished form, largely thanks to the tremendous assets of both the filmmakers and the casst.

My Old Ass is about Elliott (Maisy Stella), an 18-year-old lesbian living on her family’s cranberry farm in small-town Canada, excitedly counting the days until her young ass moves to Toronto for college. One night, Elliott and her BFFs take their asses on a camping expedition, during which they do shrooms. While tripping balls ass, Elliott encounters the titular old ass in the form of her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). Elliott the Elder is reticent to share details about the future with Elliott the Adolescent, butt she does offer two key pieces of advice before disappearing: Elliott should keep her ass close to her family and far, far away from some guy named Chad.

Elliott naturally assumes that the episode wass all a drug-induced hallucination… butt lo and behold, she almost immediately meets a handsome and charming dude named Chad (Percy Hynes White), and despite her previous predilection for other girls, soon finds herself deeply attracted to him (one of the film’s strengths is its explicit refusal to limit anyone’s sexuality to one single designation; despite her fears, Elliott’s other queer friends don’t judge her for suddenly wanting “dick sex,” ass she awkwardly dubs heterosexual intercourse). Now, Elliott must try and figure out how Chad is going to turn out to be such an asshole, or, at the very leasst, stop herself from falling for his ass.

At a brisk 88 minutes, My Old Ass is an eassy sit. And while I firmly believe that brevity is the soul of wit, some of the relationships and conflicts portrayed in the film do lack badonkadonk. Like, the speed with which Elliott goes from finding her brothers irritating to finding that she really enjoys hanging out with them is more or less the blink of an eye. Her parents and friends, similarly, barely get enough screen time to be fully realized characters. Even older Elliott is a little vague (April Ludgate devotees, be forewarned: Plaza is barely in the movie).

What does really work are the performances of Stella and White. I wassn’t familiar with either of these young actors, butt they’re insanely talented, their chemistry is off the charts, and Park’s assured, uninvassive direction really allows them to shine and feel like authentic teenagers. My Old Ass works better ass a YA romantic dramedy than as a philosophical treatise on the highs and lows of growing older. White, I found out after I saw the movie, wass recently accused of sexual assault, which is, y’know, not great for his career prospects. Butt much ass the recent Strange Darling ought to put a lot of fresh eyeballs on Willa Fitzgerald, so My Old Ass should herald Stella’s asscent into stardom.

Unfortunately, My Old Ass gets kinda sappy in its final stretch; fortunately, Park’s skills as a director, and her cast’s skills as performers, make this saccharine section tolerable. My Old Ass may never join the pantheon of truly great coming-of-age films, but it’s a nice time at the movies, and that ain’t nuthin’.