Have you ever wondered that if you knew what would happen in the future, would you change any decisions made today? This tantalizing question pervades the new whimsical yet bittersweet coming-of-age fable film, "My Old Ass," that at first seems like it will be a frolicking lesbian summer escapade, but then radically changes direction in a story line that encompasses both regret and possibility. It's the type of movie where you might be laughing and shedding tears simultaneously, which could account for its being a breakout hit at this year's Frameline Festival.
Produced by actress Margot Robbie and written/directed by upcoming Canadian filmmaker Megan Park ("The Fallout"), free-spirited teenager Elliott (Maisy Stella) is ready to leave her rural home to attend college in Toronto. Her parents own a cranberry farm. She's determined to have a riotously fun idyllic summer, including hooking up with her long-time crush, a female barista at the local coffee shop.
To celebrate her 18th birthday, she motorboats to a remote island with her two BFFs, Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) to trip on psychedelic mushrooms. At first Elliott doesn't think she's feeling anything, but then suddenly finds herself talking with a wisecracking 39-year-old woman, her literal old ass (Aubrey Plaza) who claims to be the woman with a Ph.D. she will become in two decades.
She gives Elliott two pieces of advice: spend more time with her family (particularly after she forgets to show up to her family's own birthday dinner for her) and stay away from anyone named Chad. Later, she will golf with her brother and assist her mother in the kitchen.
Troubling Chad
Of course, the next day, she meets an adorable, kind, sweet-natured college student named Chad (Percy Hynes White) hired as a summer worker on Elliott's family farm. This presents a conundrum for Elliott because she identifies as a lesbian, only having had relationships with other women.
Her family and friends have always been supportive, accepting her as she is. At first, she keeps her distance from him, yet the more time she spends with Chad the more attractive he becomes to her. Meanwhile, through her cell phone, Elliott (if only we could phone into our past) keeps in contact with her old ass, pumping her as to why she's so negative about Chad, which she initially refuses to disclose, but later her reasons will emerge under pressure.
The film has the supernatural logic reminiscent of last year's "All of Us Strangers." We are never told how or why the older vaguely unhappy Elliott can communicate with her younger self, which is fine because it avoids the pseudo-scientific gobbledygook explanations that deflated previous time travel fantasies. The viewer just goes with the flow, accepting the ruleless fantastical premise.
What the film does so well is capture that exciting awkward period between leaving home, a liminal rite of passage, betwixt and between the previous state you are leaving behind and the new state you are heading towards, but haven't quite arrived. It's a transitional vulnerable time where you can make mistakes but also mature, as you encounter life's unpredictable events which force you to grow up.
Foolish acts
The film keenly explores decisions we make when we're young, but later wish we could change, even though we know we can't go back. But what if you suddenly did? Would you correct any mistakes or find you would still commit the same foolish acts again?
"My Old Ass" also pressures us to cherish and be grateful for the present, because we don't know what lies ahead where our lives could change in an instant. There is sadness in leaving behind our childhood world, as we age with regret, that either we didn't follow a different path or made individual decisions which had consequences we hadn't or couldn't foresee.
Also, we lose touch with past people we've known or they die, which can give any memory a melancholy tinge. So, in recollection, we have some control over our fate, but in other cases we're at the mercy of uncontrollable destiny. The film captures this tension, which explains why younger Elliott is so sunny and older Elliott cynical.
Park excels at capturing the energy, authenticity, and idealism of youth approaching adulthood, expressing both honest realism towards life's limits and a playful spirit where anything seems possible.
Stella embodies these characteristics and brings vibrancy, positivity, and warmth to Elliott, but also honesty. Plaza doesn't look like Stella, but they do share a similar authentic vibe and eventually a mutual trust, with Stella radiating depth and a razor-sharp wit. She's a survivor which gives hope to Stella.
The older Elliott has some bitterness borne out of experience so perhaps by interacting with her younger self, she can regain some of life's delight which she's lost. A minor criticism is that Plaza disappears for most of the film and one wishes there were more of her.
The picture revels in a visceral sense of place, filmed in the picturesque shores and islands of the Muskoka Lake region in Ontario. It's a location suggesting a sense of nostalgia about the poignant final lost days of youth, the camera radiating a luminous quality which is juxtaposed onto Stella.
The sexuality element is minimized. Park, who's straight, avoids any impression of a lesbian finding salvation through a heterosexual romance or that it's a phase. Instead, the Elliott character and the film is comfortably compassionate with a shifting identity and/or fluidity. Elliott is as discombobulated by the turn of events as is the audience, but there's no judgment whatsoever.
Overall, this unforgettable film is a delightful surprise etching an elegiacal poignancy and avoiding any sentimentality. We've all wondered 'what if 'about our lives and "My Old Ass" tells us to enjoy what we have here and now, reminding us it's the small moments of life that matter most.
'My Old Ass' opens September 19 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
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