Review: My Old Ass

Synopsis: In this fresh coming-of-age story, an 18th birthday mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott (Maisy Stella) face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). But when Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what’s becoming a transformative summer.

What We Thought:

I’m 100% the wrong gender and age for My Old Ass. I’m not a coming-of-age movie fan, but I saw this because I enjoy Aubrey Plaza and was hoping it might be something I could relate to, being of an age where you can reflect on your younger self and what you would do differently. Unfortunately Plaza is underused and it’s entirely from the point of view of the awful teen character.

I didn’t like teenagers when I was a teenager never mind now as a full grown man. My teen years are further away than I like to admit, but I’m old enough to know I didn’t relate then nor will I ever relate to the younger generations. The main character is just terrible and at no point in time did I want her to grow and learn from her older self. She starts off being a lesbian then falls for a boy because in today’s world everything is fluid and she talks like that with all the buzzwords of today like CIS gender, etc. No thanks, I don’t care about you, your teen problems and how you don’t fit in with your family and blah, blah, blah. Not for me in the slightest.

The film is about a teen girl who gets high on mushrooms (because that’s something to promote) and is able to talk to her older self played by Plaza. Plaza doesn’t tell her much about the future which leaves the audience hanging on a lot, but that’s another issue. I was hoping the film would be from Plaza’s point of view, looking back at her life and the decisions she made. Instead it’s the teen version being told some things and to avoid someone named Chad. She immediately meets Chad and despite thinking she’s been gay her whole life falls for him because she was warned not to. I don’t care about them falling in love and how it’s all new to her. At my age I’d rather the adult character be the focus and realizing how much of a complete jackass she was as a teen because 99% of the time that’s how it goes. Nope we get teen girl questioning her sexuality on a small boat with a teen boy very Dawson and Joey style. So much time is spent on her and the boy and her two friends you forget Plaza is even in the movie and ultimately the “old ass” storyline feels shoehorned in rather than being an important plot device. It’s a coming-of-age movie with some science/sort of time travel elements instead of a science/sort of time travel movie involving first love.

As you can tell My Old Ass is not something I’d consider watching again. Maybe if you’re under 25 years old you can relate to the lead teen girl, but if you’re like me expecting the movie to be a 50/50 split of the young and old you won’t like it. Nothing about it resonated with me and besides maybe Gen Z I don’t know who would like it. I’m gonna go stand in my doorway and yell at the kids to get off my lawn.

Written and Directed by Megan Park

Starring Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks and Aubrey Plaza

Produced by Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Steven Rales

Executive Produced by Daniel Bekerman, Bronte Payne, Megan Park