M. Night Shyamalan has now put together a winning streak of four solid films with the release of “Old.” While no sane theater-goer expects another “Sixth Sense” from him, this modest but engaging project is up the writer-director’s alley: He adapts the graphic novel “Sandcastle,” by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and Frederick Peeters.
Not your typical day at the beach
The screenplay has its clunky moments, but it’s not that big a deal in this brainy thriller with a primary setting as fascinating as it needs to be. A dozen vacationers find themselves together on a beautiful but weird beach. Clunky explanatory dialog often resembles the awkwardness of strangers meeting.
Plus, one of the beachgoers is a psychiatrist (Nikki Amuka-Bird) who believes in talking through every situation. She’s modern in her proscribed thinking process, even if she’s middle-aged.
“Old” (2021)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writers: M. Night Shyamalan (screenplay); Pierre-Oscar Lévy, Frederick Peeters (graphic novel)
Stars: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Alex Wolff
Night has always been fascinated by people behaving weirdly, but he sometimes struggles to portray it. Even when he does it well, his movies are on the cold side. “Old” is nothing new there, but it’s slightly more emotional thanks to a strong cast.
Perhaps most recognizable is Alex Wolff, also seen in another good horror think piece, “Hereditary.” He plays Trent, the younger brother of Maddox (“Jojo Rabbit’s” Thomasin McKenzie, also on a star-making path).
First piquing our interest in the siblings are younger actors Nolan River and Alexa Swinton. Trent and Maddox try to put a brave face on things as their folks (Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps) argue, failing to hide it from the kids.
Other strong turns come from “Oh, I’ve seen them before” actors such as Rufus Sewell and Ken Leung. Night’s random interest in rap music (also present in “The Visit”) pops up again via Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre), who gives a soft “Damn” to every oddity.
Better directing than writing
They’re not quite as amusing as Night wants them to be, and anyway, they’re all in service to the story. But that’s OK because it’s a smart one by Event Movie standards, giving us things to think and talk about after the credits roll.
But the real strengths are the directing, editing, and the way Shyamalan tells a story cinematically. Looking at his body of work, he’s a better director than he is a writer. In “Old,” the idea is stronger than the writing of individual scenes and moments, and the idea isn’t even his; it comes from the graphic novel.
Yet Night holds our attention with sheer artistic will.
As strange things happen to the group, he uses tight framing, unorthodox cropping, and quick cuts to indicate blackouts. As night falls, we can see just barely well enough, but we’re not sure we want to spot all the details. One particular cave encounter will divide viewers along the “Silly or scary?” axis.
Even if my immersion was driven by the yarn’s possibilities more than what actually unspools, it’s not nothing to get a viewer hanging on every shot. I was pleasantly surprised to find the big moments have power despite happening in rapid-fire fashion, as per the story’s spin on reality.
“Old” is a winning tension piece — even for the young, attention-deficit crowd.