My Review of "Old"

Old is a suspenseful horror movie that came out in 2021 by M. Night Shyamalan. We're kind of used to what we're going to get with his movies. There's some sort of interesting plot and it will always end with some sort of twist. It's done over and over again with all of his movies but he tends to flip the script on us now and then. This movie however felt all too familiar.

The movie starts off with what seems to be a loving nuclear family. It centers around a mother, Prisca, a father, Guy, their son, Trent, and their daughter, Maddox. They're on their way to their family vacation on some sort of resort. Prisca luckily found this special deal that she couldn't refuse. It's pretty funny because we know that this usually means for horror movies.

Instantly I liked how they portrayed the kids in this movie. I thought that they had some pretty clever lines in this movie from the start. They talk like kids but there's an adult understanding to them at the same time. It's basically alluding to what's going to be coming up soon.

When they get to the resort they're greeted with the excellent hotel staff and basically treated like royalty. Little do we as the audience know, This family is going through a rough patch between the parents. It seems as though the parents are at the cusp of separation. The kids already know this but there's some sort of secret that they're going to reveal to the kids during the trip.

Still they want to enjoy this last family time while they can. There's a lot of talk about how they will reveal things later or that the present time is precious. Time is talked about a lot.

One morning the hotel host invites the family out to a remote area of the beach that not too many people know about. Of course the family agrees to go. Things start to get a little fishy when they're provided a huge meal box for only a couple hours stay at the beach. They don't think much of it when they look at the scenery they get at the beach.

It isn't too long until they start noticing some strange things going around that beach. They soon find out that all of them are starting to age quicker than normal at this beach. As a result they and a few others on the beach try to escape the beach only to find out that they're stuck. Tensions soon flare and all hell breaks loose.

A lot of the movie is about them freaking out when they all start to learn more and more about each other. Slowly pieces of the puzzle are revealed. We also learn more about the family disfunction between Guy and Prisca as well.

It is a fairly interesting watch however the reveal closer to the end feels all too familiar. If you have seen M. Night Shyamalan's movie before this, Glass. You'll realize he used the exact same formula for the reveal from that movie as this movie. The reveal felt all too familiar and almost felt like a copy and paste situation but with a few changes.

Overall, if you're going for entertainment value there is much to be had with this movie. It's not the most engaging movie but the character and story idea had me attached. Unfortunately because of the familiarity of the feel of this movie it almost feels like a regurgitated movie. I have to give this movie a 6 out of 10. It just passes in the entertainment factor but I wouldn't go recommending this to people to watch.