My Old Ass (2024) Movie Review
Megan Park delivers another coming-of-age story, but this one focuses on a young woman meeting herself in the future and questioning the sexuality she thought she was firm in.
[Unless Said Otherwise] Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Plot Summary
With Elliott going to the University of Toronto in the fall, this summer, she plans to hook up with her long-term crush, hang out with her friends, and enjoy working on the farm before school. However, while doing mushrooms for the first time, she hallucinates, and her 39-year-old self appears.
At first, this is weird, even worrisome, but questions arise as older Elliott proves herself and things become chill. Unfortunately, older Elliott isn’t forthcoming with the type of answers younger Elliott wants to know, and even regarding whether they are happy, she skirts around that in such a way that bums the younger Elliott out.
However, one piece of advice she gives is to avoid someone named Chad, and when that young man appears to work on the farm, the younger Elliott questions why. Especially as she, who has long seen herself as a lesbian, begins to develop feelings for Chad.
Cast and Characters
| Character’s Name | Actor’s Name |
| Elliott (18) | Maisy Stella |
| Elliott (39) | Aubrey Plaza |
| Chad | Percy Hynes White |
Elliot (18)
At 18, Elliott is a young woman who both loves her family farm and wants to escape it. Does she love knowing how to use a tractor, drive a boat, and growing up on a massive plot of land? Yes. However, she doesn’t want that life for herself and while rural living has been fine, even with her being a progressive lesbian, Toronto? Oh, the city awaits and is calling her name nonstop.
Elliott (39)
A PhD student in a unnamed major, something about the older Elliott is a bit jaded. She isn’t miserable or depressed, but that youthful joy that comes from being some form of naïve is gone. But, she still has a life, seemingly has friends, if not a roommate, maybe a partner, and has reasons to live. Even if it seems something in the future is awry.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Danny And the Deep Blue Sea.”
Chad
Chad is a young man who works on Elliott’s family farm for the summer as a means to get in touch with his grandpa, who used to own a cranberry farm like Elliott’s family. But, despite being a stranger to the young Elliott, the older one seems to know him all too well and is very adamant about her younger counterpart staying away from him.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Wednesday: Season 1.”
Other Noteworthy Information
- This will be released theatrically on August 2nd, 2024 – as a limited release.
Review
Our Rating: Positive (Worth Seeing)
Good If You Like
- Young queer tales
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- The Fallout: Also directed by Megan Park
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Highlights
The Questioning of Queerness
While we all know sexuality is a spectrum, unfortunately, bi-erasure and even the concept of being pan-sexual remain untapped. Yes, there is David Bowie, Anna Paquin, Tessa Thompson, Tinashe, and Keke Palmer, but while there is a spectrum with many faces and names who prove it, what they feel and what you feel are different.
As shown by Elliott, she thought she was lesbian because that was all she liked, and as progressive as many say Gen Z are, that doesn’t discount that whether they reject labels or not, there is still a culture, community, assumed rules and expectations attached to being queer. So while there is freedom in knowing who you are and what you like, the freedom is sometimes similar to that of a wildlife preserve. You only get to be as free as much as you don’t try to push beyond the boundaries.
Which is why her questioning her queerness was noteworthy. She, someone who would antagonize her brother over him being a straight, cis, golf-playing male, has fallen for someone in a similar vein. In watching this push-and-pull journey, you are reminded how, as much as biology plays a factor in a person’s sexuality, so does their environment.
Take note, Elliott is a tomboy through and through, and this is in a rural area where maybe, even with other families working farms, there is an expectation of girliness. Which, don’t get us wrong, Elliott might be capable of, but as with any who have found some form of comfort in being a certain type of way, to the point of believing that is who you are, letting go of that is a challenge. Especially if a person or environment doesn’t give you both the comfort and permission to do so.
However, as Anna Paquin has noted in past interviews, there is also the voiding of your queerness that feels at risk. While straight and cis people have communities and identities too, there is something about the LGBTQIA+ community no one in their right mind would want to give up. Yet, there are some, usually the loud ones, not the majority, who will discredit your queerness if you pursue something heteronormative, even if you were a “Gold Star” as Elliott.
It all is a rather simple but interesting exploration of what it means to be queer, even as the world assumes it has become easier.
Older Elliott’s Relationship With Her Younger Self, And Chad’s Role
The relationship between 18-year-old Elliott and 39-year-old Elliott is unexpectedly cute. Plaza, while there are some odd moments in which her younger counterpart asks to touch and kiss her, is able to mesh well with Stella. Then, throwing in Chad? While you expect the worst based on older Elliott’s warning, by the end of the film, while you will understand why she wanted to steer 18-year-old Elliott away from Chad, that doesn’t negate the tears you may shed as the film begins to wrap up.
On The Fence
Wishing We Got More Out Of Elliott’s Friendships or The Girl
Despite one of Elliott’s main pieces of advice being her younger counterpart getting closer to her family, you don’t see enough of that to really get into her siblings or parents. Yes, she goes golfing with her middle brother and talks to her mom more, but a lot of the film rests squarely on her curiosity about Chad.
I’d even add in, when it comes to Elliott’s friends, they pretty much disappear. Which, in some ways, you get. Elliott is 18 and about to go to college, so someone coming into her life who she feels something intense for will naturally take up all her time – especially since she doesn’t know if this may just be a summer thing or beyond. However, considering the personalities in Elliott’s friend group and family, it makes me wish the same level of connection we had with Chad, via Elliott, we got with everyone else.
Background Information
| Film Length | 1 Hour 28 Minutes |
| Date Released | 5/31/2024 |
| Distributor | NewFest, Amazon MGM Studios |
| Director(s) | Megan Park |
| Writer(s) | Megan Park |
| Based On Work By | N/A |
| Genre(s) | Comedy, Drama, Romance, Young Adult, LGBT+ |
| Content Rating | Rated R |
| Content Information | |
| Dialog | Cursing |
| Violence | N/A |
| Sexual Content | Nudity, Sexual Situations (Implied) |
| Miscellaneous | Drinking, Drug Use |
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