M. Night Shyamalan returns this summer with a new tale of terror. His new thriller is called OLD, and it looks like the best new "Twilight Zone" episode we could have asked for, with a brilliant cast. The movie's title is just one word, but in a way, it tells us everything we need to know. For those who aren’t already familiar with the new movie, here are some reasons to start getting excited.
Old: M. Night Shyamalan's New Nightmare
7/6/2021 • 3 min read
M. Night is Back!
Yes, that M. Night. A superstar whose career exploded in the early 2000s superstar after he wowed audiences with THE SIXTH SENSE, perplexed them with the proto-comic book movie UNBREAKABLE, and make them forever afraid of birthday party camcorder footage in SIGNS. In the past decade, he has crafted one quality film after another.
While hubris and Hollywood bloat put his career in a tailspin after THE LAST AIRBENDER failed to become a new franchise, M. Night took things down a notch and went back to focusing on small-scale films. People loved THE VILLAGE, adored SPLIT even before it was revealed to be a secret UNBREAKABLE sequel, and came out for the UNBREAKABLE trilogy-capper GLASS.
Now he’s back with OLD, another small film built around one central, chilling premise.
The Story of Old
On one hand, the story is very simple: there is a remote beach that prematurely ages anyone unlucky enough to visit it. On the other hand, we have absolutely no idea who or what is behind this. Why is it happening? Who will survive? Will the kids who lose their childhood in the above trailer ever get it back? Like all chilling mystery premises, we’ll just have to see the film to find out!
Only this filmmaker could come up with an idea so scary, yet so simple. We all age. Not many of us enjoy it. The idea of having it happen rapidly due to factors you cannot escape is terrifying. This is exactly the kind of thing M. Night Shyamalan excels at, and it’s great to see him back at it.
The Cast of Old
As has often been his approach in the last few years, M. Night Shyamalan has populated this movie with exemplary character actors. BABEL’s Gael García Bernal stars as Guy. PHANTOM THREAD’s Vicky Krieps plays his wife Prisca. The couple has two children, and when their young son Trent (Nolan River) quickly ages into a teenager, he’s played by HEREDITARY’s Alex Wolff. You might recognize LOST’s Ken Leung and DARK CITY’s Rufus Sewell in the cast as well. The film is an ensemble, but given its horror nature, not everyone is going to make it to the end credits.
Will There Be a Twist?
We all fell in love with M. Night Shyamalan because he can turn a good idea into a madly compelling movie. Movies like OLD are exactly the sort of thing he does better than anyone else. It offers a wild, scary premise in a closed-off location, doesn’t have any huge special effects to compete with the human characters, and comes to the screen with a PG-13 rating, so pretty much everyone can enjoy the show without seeing a bunch of gore. It’s not about shocking the audience with visuals but filling us with dread as all the characters explore their awful predicament.
And above all, we can’t wait for the twist. We have no idea what it will be, but it’s M. Night Shyamalan. There has to be one, right?
OLD opens on July 23!
All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.