Olivia Thirlby is the eye at the centre of a very sexy storm in this warm, hysterically funny dramedy. When her young filmmaker breezes into town, she comes riding a wave of effortless sexiness, which carries her through a net of passions-gone-wild as men queue up to fall at her feet. Though the film could’ve done with more depth, it wisely plays down the angst and is content to sit back as sparks fly between its central players – including Rosemarie DeWitt and John Krasinski.
The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott comes face-to-face with her older self during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home.
Writer-director Megan Park’s tender, surprising sophomore feature cleverly uses its high-concept premise of a visit from one’s future self to launch a refreshing, nuanced exploration of the uncertainties of young romance and coming of age. My Old Ass is a sweet teenage love story, a lively contemporary comedy, and a quirky riff on time-travel films all in one.
Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza have a terrific unlikely chemistry, as the sass and self-assuredness of the young Elliott, as played by Stella, blends and overlaps with Plaza’s sardonic humor as a more mature Elliott. The care and affection shown in the film’s depiction of Elliott’s rural hometown in her last days before taking off for adulthood visually highlights her emotional journey, evoking a nostalgia for days that haven’t even ended yet.—HZ