I really enjoyed Megan Park’s first feature film – The Fallout – so I was eager to see My Old Ass, which stars Maisy Stella (who went viral at 8 years old for singing a cups-infused “Call Your Girlfriend” cover with her sister Lennon) and Aubrey Plaza.
Aubrey Plaza is THE MOMENT right now, starring in Agatha All Along, Megalopolis, and My Old Ass. While her dressed as a detective in the first episode of Agatha All Along has altered my existence forever, I think her performance in My Old Ass will stay with me for even longer.
The movie centers around a teenage girl, Elliott, who is set to leave the Muskoka region for the “big city” of Toronto for university in twenty-two days. Having grown up on a third-generation cranberry farm, she is eager to leave and have new experiences. Before she bids farewell, she and two friends (played by Maddie Ziegler and Kerrice Brooks) decide to take a mushroom trip, during which she “hallucinates” meeting her older, 39-year old self played by Aubrey Plaza. My heart swelled with Canadian pride to not only have the film star a Canadian (Maisy Stella), but also to be set and filmed in Muskoka. I haven’t been, but after watching the film I kind of get the “cottage” vibes people back East wax poetic about now.
The script is full of LOLs that had me laughing unabashedly at 1pm in a mostly-vacant Vancouver movie theatre, as well as a lot of poignancy, which made me shed a few tears. I also really appreciated the film’s approach to depicting unabashed queerness and having the character going on a kind of inverted self-discovery journey than what we typically see on screen, which I found to be quite healing.
It’s hard to believe that this is Maisy Stella’s first film – she is a natural, easy, authentic presence that effortlessly elevates every scene she is in. I expected to laugh at Aubrey, and her patented droll delivery, but I was equally laughing at Maisy’s version of Elliott.
My Old Ass is a warm, hilarious, heartfelt, healing hug of a movie and, at under 90 mins, it’s well worth your time. I’m super excited to see what Megan Park writes and directs nexts – as both her films have been incredibly memorable and moving. Hope you enjoy!
