My Old Ass Review

It feels like Aubrey Plaza has been playing sarcastic 20-something-year-olds for most of her career. At first, you might think she’s too old to play a 39-year-old. That is until you realize she WAS almost 40 when she shot My Old Ass. This revelation strangely ties into the film’s central theme of time flying by. Plaza continues her string of more mature work, but the film belongs to relative newcomer Maisy Stella. Best known for appearing alongside her sister Lennon on the show Nashville, Stella makes her film debut here. Her performance carries this sweet supernatural coming-of-age story that’s more about the present than the future.

Stella plays Elliott, a young woman who was brought up on a cranberry farm. With college on the horizon, Elliot is eager to get to the city and never look back. Elliot is motivated to make the most of her summer when her future self (Plaza) appears during a mushroom trip. The film doesn’t tiptoe around the fact that Stella and Plaza don’t look like each other. Older Elliot attributes this to a haircut and her younger counterpart not wearing her retainer. Even with that explanation, there’s little physical resemblance. Both actresses share such a natural rapport, though, that it’s easy to overlook this nitpick.

My Old Ass refreshingly doesn’t dwell on trying to explain how time travel is possible. It’s funny to think that over ten years ago, Plaza starred in another time-travel comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed. Not wanting to mess with the spacetime continuum, older Elliot only has two pieces of advice for her younger self: spend more time with their family and if she meets somebody named Chad, run. Elliot isn’t sure if this encounter is real until she notices her older self left her phone number. Even then, Elliot could just be going crazy. Either way, Elliot is pleasantly surprised by how much she cherishes her family time. Avoiding Chad is another story.

In a role that probably would’ve been played by Keanu Reeves during the late 80s or early 90s, Percy Hynes White proves hard to dislike as Chad. Yet, he doesn’t come off as obviously perfect like some other rom-com guys. Elliot has only been with other girls in the past. As she grows closer to Chad, though, Elliot begins to wonder if she might be bi or pansexual. Elliot has never dwelled on labels anyway. Despite her older self’s warning, the heart wants what the heart wants. The audience can’t help but fall in love with Elliot and Chad a couple. Like Elliot, we don’t care if something is bound to go wrong, making it all the more tear-jerking when the truth comes out.

While its first two-thirds are charming, My Old Ass reaches another level in its final act. Although a few details are left ambiguous, two crucial questions are answered. Some may see one revelation coming (I admittedly didn’t). With or without this foresight, the moment hits hard. A genuine sacrifice is made, but Elliot’s ending is more bittersweet than tragic. Part of that’s because it’s not an ending. It’s the start of another chapter. Gen Z will recognize writer/director Megan Park from The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Between My Old Ass and The Fallout, she’s made two very different, yet equally honest films about young adults. Nobody knows what the future brings, but if we’re still talking about Park in another 20 years, it won’t come as a shock.