Vicky Krieps, Thomasin McKenzie, Gael García Bernal and Luca Faustino Rodriguez in a scene from M. Night Shyamalan's "Old." Photo courtesy: Universal Pictures.
It's mostly his own fault, really. When M. Night Shyamalan burst upon the movie scene in the late 1990s, he took filmgoers' breaths away with his skillful sleight of hand and clever misdirection. As a movie magician, this reviewer initially pegged the Oscar nominee as a one-trick pony, but even I came around. (Pretty early on, actually: circa “Unbreakable,” his nicely understated variation on the superhero origin story.)
But because his films became inextricably linked to his narrative surprises, he conditioned moviegoers to expect a shocking third-act jolt every time. And, as the years passed, the Indian-born, Pennsylvania-raised auteur learned the hard way that his somber trinkets with the eleventh-hour reveals were high-wire acts all but impossible to keep up.
So Shyamalan tripped. He stumbled, seldom gracefully, though even when adapting other people's material, he tended to aim fairly high, despite the diminishing returns. So, as his reputation dwindled among Joe Moviegoer, he amassed a cult following that rose to his defense, even as they owned up to the erratic, often uneven nature of his output. It's been a wild, often unpredictable journey for the filmmaker.
Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps in a scene from M. Night Shyamalan's "Old." Photo courtesy: Universal Pictures.
But people change as they grow older. Steven Spielberg, a clear influence in some of Shyamalan's early work, after all, is not the same director he was when he made “Jaws” and “Close Encounters.” Such is the case with Mr. Sixth Sense. “Old,” his 14th feature, finds the filmmaker shifting his focus away from the rug-pulling we associate with his brand and, as the current parlance goes, leaning more into his characters' emotional journey, in this particular case to explore aging and the relentless passage of time.
The setting is quite the draw here: an upscale resort in an island of undisclosed geographical location but distinctly tropical features. As the shuttle whisks them toward their destination, married couple Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) marvel at the lush greenery. Their children, 5-year-old Trent (Nolan River) and 11-year-old Maddox (Alexa Swinton) are already making an itinerary. The welcoming committee at the entrance seals the deal: a manager (Gustaf Hammarsten) who exudes nothing but warmth and a hostess, Chiclets smile perennially in place, with the grown-up drinks on a tray.
Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Thomasin McKenzie, Rufus Sewell, Aaron Pierre and Vicky Krieps in a scene from M. Night Shyamalan's "Old." Photo courtesy: Universal Pictures.
“This is much better than Cancún,” Prisca exclaims.
The film's early scenes are driven by what can most accurately be called dad energy. Kids are allowed to act like kids, although as is often the case with Shyamalan scripts, they're also prone to spouting brainy facts and statistics. The added bonus: Trent's habit of asking the names and occupations of everyone he comes across acts as a nifty bit of exposition. It's all pleasant and jovial, and yet, you sense the filmmaker invites you to look beyond the pristine surfaces, to check for something amiss on the edges of “It Follows” cinematographer Mike Gioulakis' widescreen compositions. "Pay attention," he appears to be saying as he gives you a gentle nudge. If quite a few of the shots have a storyboarded feel to them, it comes as no accident. The film is an adaptation of the Swiss graphic novel “Sandcastle.”
To drive home the notion that nothing is as it seems in this balmy paradise, Shyamalan reveals all is not well in our central couple's marriage. There's tension between Guy, a risk assessor, and Prisca, a museum curator, but there's the added strain of a health scare they're trying to hide from the children. Will they be able to put their troubles on hold?
Gael García Bernal and Alex Wolff in a scene from M. Night Shyamalan's "Old." Photo courtesy: Universal Pictures.
A discreet invitation from the manager leads the nuclear household and several other guests to a secluded private beach that, the employee indicates with a gleam in his eye, is part of a nature preserve. In another none-too-subtle red flag, the transport van driver (Shyamalan, making his customary, Hitchcock-on-steroids screen appearance) gives them a food basket that seems unusually large for just a few hours of golden sand and crisp waves. (The marvelous exteriors were all filmed in the Dominican Republic.)
What happens next has been mostly spoiled in the film's trailers, but I'll tread carefully all the same. One by one, the visitors to this attractive stretch of coastline start feeling strange. Charles, a smug doctor (eternal baddie Rufus Sewell), his materialistic trophy wife Chrystal (“Mad Max: Fury Road's” Abbey Lee) and his mother Agnes (“The Affair's” Kathleen Chalfant) add up to a trio of entitlement. A brooding well-known rapper they encounter (Aaron Pierre), who, in yet another dad move, is called Mid-Sized Sedan, casts a disquieting pall and leads to escalating tensions. And Jarin (Ken Leung), a nurse, and his wife Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who has epilepsy, bring a welcome dose of salt-of-the-earth decency to this grim scenario. Young and older, good-natured and deplorable alike, the group is confronted by a double whammy: they discover they are aging quite rapidly, and whenever they try to leave, they black out and mysteriously end up back on the sand.
Thomasin McKenzie and Alex Wolff in a scene from M. Night Shyamalan's "Old." Photo courtesy: Universal Pictures.
Here's where Shyamalan sheds that kindly paternal vibe for something more pitiless. The survival story that ensues has real teeth, because the aging process doesn't pick favorites, and the clock is ticking considerably faster on this beautiful space that has turned into a chamber of horrors. Shyamalan and Gioulakis, aided by editor Brett M. Reed and composer Trevor Gureckis, gradually turn the screws on the characters, as the encroaching dread wraps around us like a blanket. The film's extended, single-location second act plays like a cross between Shyamalan's own spin on Hitchcock's “Lifeboat” and a darkly playful sensibility that's at times reminiscent, oddly enough, of “Duck Amuck,” that Daffy Duck cartoon where he finds himself prodded and tormented by an unseen animator.
It's clear Shyamalan takes great delight in pulling the strings, but the confident filmmaking gives way to some cheap thrills that threaten to derail “Old.” It's intriguing the way the characters' predicament forces their true natures to be revealed, and yet I wish the director had shown more finesse in handling Charles and Chrystal, who end up reduced to broad cartoons haunted by their base impulses. The way he throws Chrystal under the bus, in particular, makes one wonder whether he was settling an offscreen score. He can't quite shake a slasher film logic to the way things play out. Similar to the way some unpleasant creature mayhem marred his otherwise engaging “Split,” Shyamalan just can't resist indulging in B-movie schlock. In this case, he doesn't trust his material's inherent strength.
Gael García Bernal in a scene from M. Night Shyamalan's "Old." Photo courtesy: Universal Pictures.
But “Old” recovers from these indulgences, thanks to the attention the filmmaker pays to Guy and Prisca. The film is at its best when he delves into the couple's fissures and existential angst. I'm trying to think of a romantic relationship Shyamalan has handled better than these two, and the only one I'm coming up with is Mel Gibson's disenchanted pastor and his late wife in “Signs.” Krieps, so good in Paul Thomas Anderson's “Phantom Thread,” and the dependable García Bernal dig deep into their characters' discontent, and what they discover is really touching.
As with all things Shyamalan, the ending of “Old” is bound to divide people. It might not be his sturdiest resolution, but it underscores the certainty that this is no longer a filmmaker obsessed with the big reveal. He has recaptured some of his old mojo, but in ways that show notable growth, if you can overlook some ill-fitting genre trappings. This pressure cooker of a thriller, a death dance between brutality and compassion, is a gripping reminder that, if you were to take away the gimmicks and high concepts, you still have in Shyamalan an astute chronicler of the human condition.
“Old” is now showing in wide release across South Florida, including Regal Cinemas South Beach, Silverspot Cinema in downtown Miami, Tower Theater in Little Havana and Dolby Cinema engagements at AMC Aventura and AMC Sunset Place.
