Canadian actor/writer/director Megan Park's "My Old Ass" is a creative summer coming-of-age film that premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The film follows 18-year-old Elliott, played by Maisy Stella, as she navigates the final days of summer before heading off to start college.
Set against the backdrop of a rural cranberry farm in Canada, "My Old Ass" captures the universal experience of transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. Stella delivers a strong performance as the restless and spirited Elliott, who longs to escape her small-town life.
Elliott spends her days and nights hanging out with her best friends, Ro and Ruthie, played by Kerrice Brooks and Maddie Ziegler.
One of their adventures involves the trio experimenting with mushrooms during a camping trip on a remote island. As Ruthie and Ro drift off into euphoria, Elliott becomes frustrated, feeling nothing is happening. At this moment, she discovers a mysterious woman sitting next to her at the campfire.
That woman is actually the 39-year-old Elliott, played by Aubrey Plaza. The "older" Elliott dispenses sage advice to the "younger" Elliott, from the importance of a skincare routine to savoring time with her family and, most importantly, avoiding anyone named Chad.
The next day, Elliott remembers fragments of the evening but chalks it up to a bizarre trip until her cell phone rings with a call from a contact named "My Old Ass." Yes, the future is calling, and Plaza has more wisdom.
The young and old Elliotts engage in many conversations, but the older Elliott often stops short of sharing any spoilers of the younger Elliott's future.
Elliott heeds her future self's advice and learns to appreciate spending time with her parents and brothers. While helping her father on the farm, she meets a new farmhand named Chad!
Realizing she's just met the one boy she's been told to avoid at all costs, Elliott does all she can to not fall for the charming Chad. She dials up Plaza for advice only to find she's been sent straight to voicemail. Elliott is left to navigate things on her own without the guidance of her older self on speed dial.
Rated R and running 1 hour and 29 minutes and now in theaters, "My Old Ass" is both funny and thought-provoking. It's an engaging film worth watching about friendship and self-discovery that will make you laugh and shed a tear or two.
