A film editor once told me that it’s harder to cut a scene with dialogue versus an action scene because the action just needs to be clear to be exciting. A conversation between two people, on the other hand, can go in so many varied directions. Do you show the person talking or listening? What expressions do you choose in the edit? Editing such scenes offers dozens of ways to add nuance and emotion. Such is evidenced throughout the exemplary new coming-of-age film entitled MY OLD ASS. It sounds like a raucous R-rated comedy, but it’s actually one of the cleverest films of 2024. Easily one of its very best too.
The story concerns a teenage girl named Elliott (Maisy Stella) who’s enjoying her summer with her longtime besties Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler). Soon, she’ll trot off to college in Toronto and she just wants to chill, hang out, and feel carefree. After several days of horsing around on the lake and in the woods near the family cranberry farm, the three girls decide to sip some hallucinogenic tea under the stars one night and it makes all of them high. Then, before you can say BACK TO THE FUTURE or LOOPER, the woozy Elliott is suddenly visited by a woman claiming to be her older self from the future. Aubrey Plaza plays the Older Elliott, even though she looks nothing like Stella (a subtle joke unto itself), and here is where the film starts to take shape plot-wise and tone-wise as writer/director Megan Park avoids cliches and tropes of such fantasy films, and she navigates all the subtlety, emotions, and yes, editing, with amazing aplomb.
Instead of going for LOL farce, filled with double takes and pratfalls, Park takes a serious approach to the material, finding the humor in meeting your older self for sure, but managing to find the deeper, more serious, and contemplative moments too. The very first scene between the two Elliott’s is a marvel of dialogue, character, and nuance in how they speak to each other and the younger woman’s interpretation of what’s being told to her. Sure, the two banter and have immediate chemistry, but it’s a heady discussion too, full of philosophy and poignancy. Yet during all of this, Park never lets the two actresses overdo it. They, or the editing, never rush a line, a reaction, or an emotion.
Park lets her editor Jennifer Vecchiarello take her time like this throughout the rest of the film too, always finding the pauses in between the dialogue and those more meaningful moments in each actress’s reactions where the eyes speak volumes all on their own. Thus, this farfetched premise never feels all that jokey, or forced, despite its rather “Hollywood-ish” fantasy origins. Instead, if anything, the whole film feels almost meditative like a clever, character-driven dissertation the meaning of life. It helps too that Plaza, usually cast for her brilliant way with sarcasm, is called upon here to provide more of a sage-like character, truly caring to guide her younger self away from the tragedies that she knows are in her future. It plays with an audience’s expectations and forces us to look at not only Plaza but the Disney-esque fantasy meet, with fresh eyes. And it draws us in closer to these two women trying to navigate such circumstances together.
As the two talk deep into the night, heading inside to bed, the younger Elliott learns a lot about herself. She expresses a desire to kiss her older self to see what it’s like and Park here is gently chiding Generation Z for their naval-gazing. The mature Elliott concedes but the core of their back-and-forth deals with more serious matters, including the older woman advising her younger self to avoid men named Chad. Explanations aren’t given, but in the morning, when the interloper is gone, her advice is still ringing in the younger Elliott’s head.
The older Elliott has also left her phone number in the younger Elliott’s cell under the contact listing of “My Old Ass” setting their interplay up for some delightful arguments and discussions over the phone as more advice comes up as the teen navigates the rest of her summer. And not all of the mature Elliott’s advice is followed faithfully. The younger woman doesn’t heed her advice about being especially considerate to her mother, and when she meets a handsome young man named Chad (Percy Hynes White) in a meet-cute while swimming in the lake, you know she won’t be able to avoid encountering him again and again. The more she is drawn to him, the more the riddle rings in her ears, and ours – why should she be avoiding such a great guy?
From there on out, every moment of the story finds new ways to rework the oft-told tropes of the teen genre, lending fresh approaches to it all, and building the mystery exponentially too. The plotting has some real edge to it and an intelligence not usually found in the coming-of-age sub-genre. The younger Elliott’s relationships with her family, friends, and yes, Chad, are developed far greater than most dramas would do, let alone comedies. and again, the editing truly shines as it lets the natural rhythms of the actors take precedence over pacing.
All of the actors are excellent. Plaza is almost as vulnerable here as she was in her superb, character-driven thriller EMILY THE CRIMINAL. White shines as Chad in every scene, imbuing him with decency and a casual sexiness that makes you want Elliott to defy her older self. (Chad even speaks French and loved Saoirse Ronan in LITTLE WOMEN so what’s not to love?) And Stella is incredible throughout, not only giving one of the best youthful performances on film in some time but quite simply, one of the year’s absolute best.
Park smartly keeps the older Elliott from being too much of a guide, restricted to the phone, so the younger woman is more on her own fending for herself in the world. It’s another way that the filmmakers zag when we expect such a film to zig. Plaza may be equal in the film’s poster and marketing, but the majority of the film is Stella’s and she runs with it.
MY OLD ASS surprised the hell out of me with its charms and savvy, as well as Park’s ability to avoid most of the tropes that would have been so easy to employ. Her film is thoughtful, engaging, entertaining, and well-crafted on every level. It stands head and shoulders above most of what’s been in theaters this year and deserves serious awards consideration later this season. Even with its name, MY OLD ASS is anything but old. Instead, it’s a fresh, sharp, and remarkable film, one that truly is worth savoring.
