M. Night Shyamalan’s Old is one of those movies that draws you in with a compelling, eerie premise and then dares you to stay sane while unraveling its bizarre mysteries. Loosely based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, Old is a sun-soaked existential nightmare where time waits for no one — quite literally. But while the film has its high-concept thrills and a haunting atmosphere, it also suffers from rushed dialogue, uneven performances, and a few plot holes that leave your brain doing mental gymnastics.
Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (known for It Follows and Us) deserves a standing ovation. His camera work in Old is dynamic, often gliding through the claustrophobic beach setting in long, swirling takes that mirror the disorientation of the characters. He uses framing cleverly — with off-center close-ups and wide, sweeping beach shots — to heighten unease. The island feels open and vast, yet suffocatingly inescapable. The editing, however, stumbles in a few places, particularly in time-jump transitions that sometimes feel abrupt rather than seamless.
Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps star as Guy and Prisca Cappa, a couple on the verge of separation trying to give their children one last happy vacation. Their performances are sincere, though often undercut by awkward, overly expositional dialogue.
Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, and Eliza Scanlen are standouts among the child actors-turned-teens. They convincingly portray the confusion and trauma of aging years within hours.
Rufus Sewell as Charles, the schizophrenic doctor, gives one of the film’s more unhinged performances, teetering between menace and absurdity.
The characters, while diverse and intriguing, often feel more like vessels for the film’s themes rather than fully fleshed-out individuals. Dialogue is stilted at times, especially early on — classic Shyamalan.
Old dives deep into the universal fear of aging and mortality. It’s a metaphorical pressure cooker: take a group of people, strip away their time, and watch what bubbles to the surface. Shyamalan explores:
Aging and Identity: How much of who we are is shaped by time?
Family and Forgiveness: The Cappa family’s arc reflects the healing power of love and understanding — albeit on a sped-up timeline.
Science vs. Ethics: The twist introduces a pharmaceutical company using the beach as a testing ground for drug trials — raising heavy ethical questions about human experimentation, all under the guise of scientific advancement.
Symbolism is peppered throughout: rusting objects (representing decay), a coral tunnel (rebirth and escape), and even vision loss and hearing loss representing the inevitable breaking down of senses as one ages.
Old didn’t sweep any major awards circuits, but it did spark significant buzz:
Nominated for Best Horror Film at the 2022 Saturn Awards. And it gained a cult following for its high-concept narrative and ambitious cinematography.
Critics were split — some admired Shyamalan’s boldness, others found it uneven. Audiences either leaned in with fascination or rolled their eyes out of their skulls.
The movie was filmed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Dominican Republic. The remote location helped create the movie’s isolated vibe but posed logistical challenges. Cast and crew quarantined together — creating a tight-knit but intense production bubble.
M. Night Shyamalan’s signature cameo? He plays the resort driver watching the group from afar with a telescope — a literal god’s eye view, perhaps commenting on the role of the observer in scientific experimentation.
The source material (Sandcastle) ends in a more ambiguous, tragic tone. Shyamalan added the pharmaceutical conspiracy twist — a polarizing move that divided fans of the original story.
Plot Holes That Could've Been Smoothed Out:
Why Didn’t Anyone Swim Around or Try a Raft Sooner? The group sticks to walking and diving but never tries building a raft or simply floating further out (except for a short-lived attempt). It’s a beach, after all — not a forcefield.
Selective Aging Logic: Hair and nails don’t grow, even though they technically should have. Meanwhile, pregnancies, tumor growth, and body changes are hyper-accelerated. The science here is sketchy — and Shyamalan’s attempt at hand-waving it with a line or two doesn’t quite cut it.
The Coral Escape: The ending hinges on a coral passage that prevents the aging effect, but it’s never explained why the coral is the magic exception. Is it magical calcium? Spiritual protection? Who knows!
The Observation Station: The lab conveniently sees everything the beachgoers do — except when it’s narratively convenient for them to miss things, like the final escape.
In the end, Old is peak Shyamalan: ambitious, uneven, gorgeous, and full of “what just happened?” moments. It’s a conversation-starter, a weird little gem that some will treasure and others will want to bury in the sand.
If you're a fan of existential sci-fi with a Twilight Zone flair, this one’s worth a watch — even if you end up yelling at the screen a few times.
