Old

I feel like M. Night Shyamalan is a director who gets a lot of goodwill (mostly from cinephiles) even though his entire resume doesn't always deserve it. 

What I appreciate - and something I can't fault him for - is that (aside from a couple blockbuster blunders), I feel like he always swings for the fences in terms of concepts and the trip he takes audiences on. 

But, his previous films haven't really stuck with me outside of maybe Split. Glass was...fine, I guess, but a disappointing cap to his "secret" trilogy. The Visit, while very creepy and having a good twist, just didn't have much staying power outside of the ending. And Split owes almost all of its credit to James McAvoy's incredible and fun performance through an array of split-personalities. 

Put more efficiently: I'm always intrigued to see what Shyamalan has up his sleeve, but I feel like more often than not, I come away going: "Meh..ok". 

With his new thriller, aptly titled Old, I had a similar reaction, but I also think there's some really neat filmmaking going on here and it's probably my favorite of his that I've reviewed thus far (not including Retro Reviews).

If you're a longtime reader of Rath's Reviews, you may know that I'm not a fan of single-location films and it usually affects the final score. Old is really no different in that regard, but experiences less of an impact because this beach is fairly large and there are some other areas to explore. When the film gets to the beach, you're on the beach for the next 60-75 minutes. In that sense, Old is just too long and at times feels like Shyamalan is playing with his food - knowing exactly what he's going to do to each character, but dragging it out. Without spoilers, some are worth it, while others are frustrating and shaving 15 minutes off the 1hr and 48 min runtime would have done wonders for Old to be a tighter thriller. 

Within that time on the beach however, I found it to be some of Shyamalan's best filmmaking in years. He plays with the camera a lot, creating exciting moments of cinematography, tracking shots, and intense visuals, all of which felt unique and are likely the premiere reason I liked Old so much. Perhaps he knows that an entire movie on the beach could have gotten...ahem...old...so he knows he needed to spice things up. Many of these camera experiments add tension to the happenings on the beach, keeping it chaotic and interesting for a long time. There's rarely a "down" moment in the film, especially at the beach's beginning it felt like things were happening fast and furious. The "schtick" of these strangers all aging quickly on this island never really wears out, it's just that once you know where the film is going it feels like it takes a while to execute. 

"Mom, I like my sister now, ok?"

Usually people have a more excited
face when whale watching, but ok

The script - as Shyamalan films tend to - also isn't great. I've seen some critics crying over it a little too much, but the dialogue is fairly stilted and just doesn't always feel natural. In hindsight, I cared less about the dialogue and more about just how exacting he was with all the answers in the film. Many things that could have been left ambiguous - both for fan debate and to keep the film moving - are explained or theorized quickly by characters. This is especially true in the ending where it's left so exactly, that I was frustrated in the final 5 minutes of the film. Don't misread me: I found the signature twist to be brilliant and exciting, but there was definitely a frame that I would have ended the film on to create some degree of ambiguity, sure, and also because it gets almost the final 5-10 minutes of the film's point across if the audience has been paying attention.

Old has some other stuff going for it - mainly a great original score and a solid cast - but overall I was really pleased with the package without being blown away. It's a surprisingly mean thriller (remember what I said about Shyamalan playing with his food?) but the well-earned twist and exciting camerawork make it worth your time. I think it could have been one of Shyamalan's "greats" if he given script-writing duties to someone else and shaved 10-15 minutes off the runtime...then we might be looking at something the Rath Awards would be talking about. 

CONS

• Script tries really hard to explain everything and A) spends too much time doing so and B) didn't really need to
• Film's ending was sloppy and there was the perfect frame - right there! - to have ended it on
• Too long given that it's a single-location film. It mostly stays exciting, but could have used a 5-10 minute shave off the beach time
• Some awkward character dialogue

PROS

• Watching Shyamalan play with his food is exciting (mostly). The beach - especially at the start - is a chaotic collection of scenes and this is a pretty mean thriller
• Exciting and creative camera work are probably my favorite part of the film. There's a lot to praise here, so just know that it adds a lot to the film
• Fitting original score that may be worth a listen...I suspect it may be better than the degree to which the film utilizes it
• Awesome concept with some interesting ideas playing out in front of the audience. The twist is neat and I felt like it was well-earned
• Exciting, intense, and sometimes gruesome

Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10