On a Secret Beach, Time Moves in a Blur

Gael García Bernal in "Old"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

When it comes to writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, it seems like his movies can mostly fall into one of two categories: there’s “How did he think of this?” like “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable,” or “What was he thinking?” like with “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening.”  It’s rare that a movie of his will fall somewhere in the middle, with it not being good, but also not quite being bad.  Such a thing occurs with his latest psychological-thriller, “Old,” where you’ll just about find as much to like as don’t like.

For a final vacation before their divorce, Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) take their two children to a tropical resort.  When the family and another group of people are invited to a secluded beach, they discover that there’s a mysterious and inescapable force that’s causing them to age through their lives in a single day.

With the cast including talented actors like Bernal, Krieps, Rufus Sewell as a fellow victim, and Alex Wolff and Thomasin McKenzie as older versions of Guy and Prisca’s children, it’s a shame that their acting comes off as wooden for the most part.  Although this issue can be attributed to the dialogue, sometimes it seems like they and the rest of the cast aren’t even trying.  However, the acting becomes somewhat better as the movie goes on, mostly from Bernal, Krieps, Wolff, and McKenzie, who are given a pretty moving scene together in the third act of the film, a scene that showcases the deeply emotional side to this chilling scenario.

Shyamalan’s screenplay, which is based on Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters graphic novel, “Sandcastle,” has a significant issue that becomes present within the first few minutes: expositional dialogue.  A good deal of the dialogue in the film doesn’t sound natural because none of the characters speak in such a way that real people do.  The characters explain things about themselves and other aspects of the story, instead of allowing the script to reveal such aspects to us in an organic way.

Despite this issue, it’s hard not to admit that the central mystery is rather engaging.  While some details are just thrown at us as an easy way to explain certain things, there are still some intriguing ideas about how time works on the beach.  This shows that even though the screenplay is weak with the dialogue, it somewhat makes up for it with its “Twilight Zone”-like story and existential themes.

The cinematography by Mike Gioulakis, who collaborated with Shyamalan for “Split” and “Glass,” teams up with him again for “Old.”  Between “Split,” David Robert Mitchell’s “It Follows,” and Jordan Peele’s “Us,” Gioulakis has become a reliable individual when it comes to lensing horror movies.  What’s most notable is his use of long takes that allow us to experience the events of the movie in real time as we feel that time unfolding quickly for the characters.  He also gives us effective closeups that let us see the small, gradual changes in appearance of the individual group members as they begin to display the impacts that the accelerated aging has on them.

While Shyamalan shows a weakness on the character and dialogue aspects of the movie, he still shows that he has the ability to construct a visual uniqueness and creating a sense of dread that’s just as effective in daylight as in the night.  With his eye for creepy imagery and talent for building an unsettling atmosphere, this movie also gives Shyamalan the opportunity to experiment with body horror, particularly in a scene involving an impromptu surgery.

While “Old” doesn’t reach the heights of Shyamalan’s better movies, it’s also far from being one of his worse.  Yes, it can be frustrating at times because there are glimmers of a better version of this movie, but when you think of all of the recycled ideas in most mainstream movies, it’s hard not to be curious of a concept that’s as out-of-the-box as this.  The quality of Shyamalan’s films might come and go like the tide, but whenever he presents an intriguing idea, it can still be worth your time to dip your toe into those waters.

Grade: B-