Coming-of-Age Comedy Addresses Age-Old Question
The concept of talking to a younger version of yourself isn’t new. People are asked what they would tell their younger selves in interviews and on questionnaires, and discuss it in graduation speeches.
Aubrey Plaza (left) and Maisy Stella meet during a shroom-induced trip in My Old Ass. (Photo: Shane Mahood/Amazon MGM Studios)
In My Old Ass, director Megan Park takes that concept and flips the question, having her young protagonist meet her future self during a night tripping on shrooms.
We first meet Elliott (Maisy Stella) as she and friends Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) and Ro (Kerrice Brooks) are driving a fishing boat around Muskoka Lake, where her parents are second-generation cranberry farmers. Eager to leave for college, she ignores her family and indulges in sex and drugs. One evening, while her family waits to celebrate her 18th birthday, Elliott and her friends go drinking magic mushroom tea in the woods, where she meets the 39-year-old version of herself (Aubrey Plaza). Initially shocked, she is disappointed to learn that she is a PhD student that she doesn’t have a family like she envisioned.
Instead, Older Elliott warns her be nicer to her mom, hang out with her brothers and stay away from someone named Chad (Percy Haynes White). As she falls asleep, Older Elliott puts her number in her phone. As her summer goes on, Elliott tries to heed her elder self’s advice, calling in for guidance throughout the summer.
But as summer moves on, Chad comes to work for Elliot’s dad and a romance blossoms, despite Older Elliot’s advice. We never do find out the reason for Older Elliott’s warning.
Maddie Ziegler (l to r), Maisy Stella and Kerrice Brooks in My Old Ass. (Photo: Prime)
While Stella and Plaza look nothing alike, their performances blend well together. The younger Elliott is unafraid, riding teenage emotions like a roller coaster. Although she had a regular role on the nighttime soap Nashville, it is a breakout role for her.
Plaza, on the other hand, is not in My Old Ass as much as one would expect. Instead of a two-hour conversation in the same vein as My Dinner With Andre, we get small smatterings of her. Funny and charming, Plaza delivers a slightly tender performance when she is on screen. She treats the older version of Elliott like the cool older sister, wise yet sarcastic and always protective. Sure, there are iterations of her past characters thrown, April from Parks and Recreation or Harper from The White Lotus, but there is a sweetness to Older Elliot that only Plaza can bring.
Park leans into many time travel/loophole tropes and uses them to her advantage. Older Elliott never goes in-depth about her current reality, instead dropping little hints about how resource-strapped the future is (Say goodbye to salmon guys). Although Plaza’s character provides comic relief, Park’s script could be funnier. The director proved her dramatic chops with her last feature The Fallout, which combined a coming-of-age story with the examination of a school shooting. Here, especially with this cast, you would expect more levity.
My Old Ass feels like the coming-of-age films that have been coming out of the Sundance Film Festival for years. Park’s direction and plot don’t convolute her message, and she keeps the story simple. The ending is what you would expect it to be, but that doesn’t negate the sweet relationship Plaza and Stella have on screen.
My Old Ass opened everywhere on Sept. 27. It is currently playing in area theaters.
