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Old

M. Night is back to daylight with an amusing allegory about aging. In theaters

Old

"Though at my back I always hear, time's winged charitot hurrying near." Andrew Marvel

Although aging is rarely a topic for mainstream films except in sci-fi (think 2001, for instance), M. Night Shyamalan brings it home in Old. While his films since Sixth Sense have been uneven or unimpressive, Old is s homecoming for the master of plot twist. While there is a twist, he uses it to resolve plot questions as much as titillate those who look forward to his inventiveness. Mostly he keeps attention as his tale plays with a Twilight-Zone type of conceit in which a group of tourists ages quickly within hours.

Because most of us experience old age unwillingly, Old is of interest if only to toy with the idea that it seems like a day since we were once young. We cannot escape our aging, and like those characters we may hide violent motives, try to hold it off, or punish others for it.

These pilgrims face two deaths within a short time arriving on the undeveloped island (filmed in The Dominican Republic), and even with a doctor present, Charles (Rufus Sewell channeling Jaws’ Robert Shaw), they are not safe. In fact, both children and adults are in danger and do harm even when they don’t mean it.

But beyond escaping from this cursed island, several participants face issues of love, some marital discord or lack of it, and some existential questions such as their role in life. Yep, more here than a sunny day at the beac

“There's something wrong with this beach!” Prisca (Vicki Krieps)

Old

Director: M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense)

Screenplay: Shyamalan, based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters

Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries), Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread)

Run Time:1h 48m

Rating: PG-13

John DeSando holds a BA from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in English from The University of Arizona. He served several universities as a professor, dean, and academic vice president. He has been producing and broadcasting as a film critic on It’s Movie Time and Cinema Classics for more than two decades. DeSando received the Los Angeles Press Club's first-place honors for national entertainment journalism.