On this episode of “The poster is better than the film…” and “The screenplay had so much potential…”

Director M. Night Shyamalan has taken his lumps over the years, and for good reason, but I gotta give the man his flowers for originality. 💐💐 Adapted screenplay or otherwise, the man’s got a creative and producing streak as long as a CVS receipt.

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“Old” missed the mark. I recall the days when Shyamalan’s works focused on developing character profiles that kept the audience engaged. But “Old” relied on a hand-holding exhibition, like the audience was too inept to understand where the characters’ actions would lead. The interrelationship interactions between the family clusters felt unnatural. The screenplay spoon-fed every single point of context. And for what? Why even depict an action if the character is gonna to verbalize every trivial detail leading up to it?

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The point of a thriller is the suspense, which is typically rooted in a character’s lack of situational awareness that the audience either knows or suspects. During the rising action to climax, the excitement felt drawn down. There was little shock. The race against time to come up with a solution to the group’s problem never felt urgent. Just death and vibes. 🏖️😵

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The cast was solid. I hit the Leonardo “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019) reaction for almost every actor.

🎬 I think the last time I’ve seen Gael García Bernal on a remote beach with weird shit happening was “Y Tu Mamá También” (2001) — lit. 🔥 🔥

🎬 Vicky Krieps from “Phantom Thread” (2017)

🎬 Ken Leung from “Industry” (2020)

🎬 Abbey Lee from “Lovecraft Country” (2020)

🎬 Rufus Sewell from nearly e’er damn thang. That man keeps a bag.

Also, naming a character portraying a rapper as “Mid-Sized Sedan” is un-fucking-forgivable, M. Night. 🤣😂😅😑 Aaron Pierre was mad cute though. 🥰🥰

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Cinematography was a bit chaotic. It felt like a plethora of camera angles were used with no systematically creative reasoning: Dutch shots, extreme close-ups—just an odd array of angles mis-matched with the tone of their scenes.

There were moments that felt perfect, like the zoom-in on Guy’s (Bernal) face when he realized something was seriously amiss on the beach. Reminded me of that classic zoom-in from “Jaws” (1975).

 

Like “Midsommar” (2019), I did love that the setting took place during the daytime. Many horror films and thrillers are classically nocturnal, and get much of their essence from the darkness. This was a cool aside from the typical.

Would’ve loved to see this screenplay directed by Benny and Josh Safdie or Robert Eggers or Ari Aster. I like their eyes for creepy details, light manipulation, and building suspense with score and good direction—each of their films has a scene that is permanently etched into my brain.

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In conclusion, “Old” had…

• a great concept, but weird execution.
• an aight score, but felt derivative and was horribly applied.
• weird sound editing.
• subpar acting from great actors, but I blame the writing.

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The big reveal during the conclusion was too little, too late.