Director: Megan Park
Cast: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks
Screenplay: Megan Park
89 mins. Rated R for language throughout, drug use and sexual material.

My Old Ass sells itself on the title alone, but the film turned out to be much more than a goofy name referencing a small joke in the opening few scenes of the film. The strength of a film like My Old Ass is becoming so invested in the narrative and the characters that you don’t realize how much it’s moving you with its emotional resonance. It’s a familiar concept made all the better by the clever screenplay from writer/director Megan Park (The Fallout) and some mesmerizing chemistry from its performers.

Elliott (Maisy Stella) is a recent high school grad planning on leaving town in the coming weeks to attend college. She’s out celebrating her birthday with friends on camping trip when they decide to take mushrooms. As the night goes on, Elliott experiences an unusual meeting with her older self, a 39-year-old Elliott (Aubrey Plaza, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) who attempts to give her necessary life advice. As they embrace the experience, younger Elliott comes to terms with the parts of her life she’s been trying to leave behind and rethinks what she really wants.

As I mentioned above, My Old Ass takes a fairly familiar presence of being able to converse with one’s older or younger self and what we as humans would be able to learn from ourselves, and it doesn’t waste any time in putting it to good use, a notable strength of Park’s screenplay. This is a lean and effective screenplay that establishes our concept with no explanation and no need to waste time in the unnecessary details. Park establishes that Elliott shroomed out, met her older self, and that’s just what happens…move on. I think we as filmgoers sometimes get too focused on establishing a movie’s rules when it doesn’t really matter, and My Old Ass is so strong with its characters that I ultimately didn’t need to know any more than that.

Relative newcomer Maisy Stella is at her best when sharing scenes with the other performers, specifically Aubrey Plaza and Percy Hynes White (A Christmas Horror Story), who plays Chad, a young man she’s been told by her older self to avoid. That may seem like an odd distinction to make, but I want to point out her terrific chemistry that she seems to have with the entire cast. When sharing in onscreen dialogue with her costars, Stella is absolutely magnetic in a way that I didn’t feel when she was just speaking on the phone to someone or by herself. It’s a strength that I hope she continue to develop in her career. She holds her own with more established actors and elevates Park’s material further.

Aubrey Plaza is also revelatory as the older Elliott, and I wish we got more time with her because the film is at its most lively when she’s onscreen. I think we put Aubrey Plaza into a box as a comedic actress with only one note, and that’s not fair to her. She showcases an incredible range in My Old Ass, shifting from comedic to dramatic without skipping a beat, because she’s given the room to stretch her chops. Going back to chemistry, she works so well with Stella as the younger Elliott that I believed these were two different versions of the same person. It didn’t matter that I don’t think they look alike, and it didn’t matter that I wasn’t entirely sure for most of the film if it was all in Elliott’s head or actually happening.

Park’s film wins with its two central relationships: the one between the two Elliotts, and the one between young Elliott and Chad (a sweet and gentle performance from White). The only time that the pacing feels a little off is when Plaza’s character goes missing for a large portion of the second act. It feels like the narrative is missing something during this time, but it’s thankfully rectified during the film’s final scenes. Still, I think the film would have benefited from more Plaza.

My Old Ass is a familiar tale told by a unique voice with pitch-perfect comedy and drama in a solid mix. The Justin Bieber sequence had me giggling perhaps a little too much all on its own, but these are likable characters that I felt investment in and almost didn’t realize it. I felt the emotional gut punch of the movie’s finale way more than I had anticipated. My Old Ass is more than a name; it’s a beautiful contemplation on time and well worth yours.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe