Wendy Ide 

Old review – M Night Shyamalan’s beach thriller is all washed up

Gael Garcia Bernal and Vicky Krieps are all at sea in this holiday-from-hell drama
  
  

Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps in Old.
Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps in Old. Photograph: Universal Pictures

There’s only a certain extent to which a director can flirt ironically with the clunky storytelling of a Tales of the Unexpected episode before it stops being ironic and starts being just ponderous and mannered. And with his accelerated-ageing mystery movie Old, M Night Shyamalan is long past that point.

Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps both seem ill at ease in the roles of a husband and wife hoping for one last family holiday at an elite and secretive resort. Not surprising, since they are constantly having the kind of conversations that are more about dumping exposition than they are about shaping credible characters. And if we can’t believe the characters, how are we meant to accept the film’s central premise?

Watch a trailer for Old.
 

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