Old | Film Review

The only thing I had really heard about this film before seeing it was that so many people absolutely hated it. I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan, so despite the negative reviews, I had somewhat naïve high hopes.

A group of people on a secluded beach discover that they have begun to age rapidly. If they do not find a way off the island, they will not survive another day.

This was interesting. I didn't hate it, but I can definitely acknowledge that there are flaws.

The concept is really intriguing. I didn't know much about the premise before seeing it, and the film gives nothing away for a really long time.

Although the film is heavily plot-driven, and therefore the characters don't matter as much, I found the characters interesting to watch.

Having said that, it was really frustrating to wait for the characters to figure out what was going on. Even when the signs of ageing are obvious, the film dragged out the process of them figuring out what had happened. This in turn dragged out the entire film, which felt way too long.

Considering how unique the concept of the film is, it actually became quite predictable, which I found really disappointing.

After a while, the film gets convoluted and stupid. I cared less about the characters as the film went on than I did at the beginning.

The reasoning behind the beach is somewhat interesting, and makes sense if you think about it from that point of view. But I was more interested in the 'how' than the 'why', and I wish that this had been explained too.

Overall, this was a really interesting idea executed badly. I liked the concept a lot, but felt like more could have been done with it.

5/10