Review: My Old Ass telegraphs big ideas in a moving coming-of-age story | Canada Voices

My Old Ass

Written and directed by Megan Park

Starring Aubrey Plaza, Maisy Stella and Percy Hynes White

Classification 14A; 88 minutes

Opens in select theatres Sept. 20

Critic’s Pick

That final summer at home before university is such a liminal season, childhood behind you, adulthood ahead. It shimmers with last times, but you’re too focused on the future, too certain you have all the time in the world, to pay attention. That’s the starting point for this gem from Megan Park, the Canadian actor (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) turned screenwriter/director (The Fallout).

On her 18th birthday, soon to leave her family’s cranberry farm in the pristine cottage country of Muskoka, Ont., for the University of Toronto, Elliott (Maisy Stella, Nashville) scarfs magic mushrooms with her two best friends, Ro and Ruthie (Kerrice Brooks and Maddie Ziegler). She’s visited by her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) – referred to in the movie’s title – who delivers two pieces of advice: Be nicer to your family, and don’t fall in love with Chad (Percy Hynes White), the summer worker her parents just hired, who seems perfectly adorable.

Somehow, the portal between the selves stays open after the trip – one of the film’s charms is that Park doesn’t overexplain – and Older Elliott continues to pop up randomly, wryly amused by how naïve Young Elliott is, while Young Elliott can’t believe she turned out this lame. Though the two actors don’t look alike, they are well-matched in snark and smarts, and their banter is a joy. In fact, all the teenage dialogue is delightful: Park consulted younger family members and her cast to keep it Gen Z authentic; as a child actor herself, she steers clear of the practised actorliness that sometimes fells teenage thesps, instead encouraging funny, naturalistic performances.

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Park doesn’t telegraph her big ideas, but they bob around throughout, as jewel-like as those cranberries shining in their sunny pond: Would you want to know what was going to happen in your life, even the bad stuff? Does being aware of significant moments while they’re happening ruin them? The last act takes a moving turn – listen for two knockout speeches, one from Chad and one from Elliott’s mom (Maria Dizzia) – that both guts you and feels totally earned. I’ve long wished for more female coming-of-age stories. This one makes me really happy.