Old (2021) Review: Stumbles at the Finish Line!

Old is a 2021 thriller film written for the screen and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and is based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. With Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, and Alex Wolff in the lead roles, the film tells the story of a family who gets trapped on a not-so-ordinary beach that causes years to go by in just minutes.

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As we all know, M. Night Shyamalan has had highs and lows in his career. And you always hope his next film will return to the greatness of the Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. But, unfortunately, Old doesn’t reach the levels of his previous films, and to say it bluntly, it is just okay. There are a ton of gripping and thrilling moments with fantastic tension. The concept is interesting, and the path taken and the way the narrative is structured is also very intriguing.

Unfortunately, Old, in my opinion, similar to Glass, stumbles at the finish line. It also suffers from some wooden performances due to some poorly written dialogue. Some of the dialogue felt very unnatural and didn’t feel like something someone would say in an actual situation like this one. So I can’t blame the actors for their line delivery.

On to the cinematography, I thought the film looked decent for the most part, but there were some moments where the film didn’t look quite right. I definitely thought M. Night and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis really went for it. I applaud the risk taken, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work.

To touch on the performances more extensively, everyone in this film was okay, no performances were terrible, nor great. However, the characters were, at times simply, not compelling.

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Old Movie was a disappointment, but it certainly wasn’t a terrible movie. I still recommend you guys to check it out. My expectations were sky high, and regrettably, I didn’t get what I expected. Go in with a level head, and you can enjoy this film.

‘Old (2021)’ Rating – 2.5/5

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