Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Rick Baldwin

Contributing Columnist

Greetings, my fellow beach blanket bingo cinephiles of the world!

We can’t escape the process ageing or the stark reality that each and every one of us will die one day. It’s not morbid, it’s not sad, it’s a fact of life.  Whatever is the real reason why we are part of this Earthly stage production of life is a mere mystery even for the wise. Our lives are like tides and waves constantly changing, but yet the same. The beach is a great vacation spot to relax, reflect, and ponder on the meaning of life as we walk from the hot sands into the cool, mysterious waters. So, pack your bags and grab your snorkels, we are going to take a trip to a chilling beach and explore “Old” (2021).

“Old” is a tropical thriller about a family vacationing who discover an idyllic secluded beach that is full of beauty and mystery. While basking in the rays and waves of the relaxing beach for a few hours, the family come to grips that this exotic locale is making them age rapidly and reducing their lives. With every wave crashing into the surf, it is one moment closer to them meeting their maker, or the Big Kahuna in the sky.

 “Old” was written and directed by M. Night “Glass” Shyamalan inspired by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters’s 2011 graphic novel, “Sandcastle.” Shyamalan returns to true form as the millennium’s master of suspense and the titan of twist with another cinema sidewinder that will keep you guessing and floating in anticipation for his signature cinematic swerve that he has become to be known for in his earlier features such as “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Signs” (2002) “The Village” (2014) and “The Happening” (2008), to name a few.. “Old” is a visual delight, shot in the Dominican Republic during the pandemic rather than Shyamalan’s hometown of Philadelphia on 35mm celluloid film rather than the popular digital format utilized by most of his filmmaking contemporaries in Hollyweird.

Stellar cinematography capturing this beautiful locale is a testament to M. Night’s cinematic vision, craft to storytelling while balancing the nuances of horror mixed within the realities and dramas of families while leading a solid cast supported by the talents of Gael Garcia “Bad Education” Bernal, Rufus “The Man in the High Castle” Sewell, Vicky “Phantom Thread” Krieps, Abby “The Dark Tower” Lee, and Ken “Saw” Leung.

“Old” is a fun and deep flick that will allow you the opportunity to navigate the rough tides of anxiety relating to the process of ageing and  limitations of our own mortality. Our existence is mysterious but do not let the uncertainty of why we exist and why we age overwhelm you. We all have one thing in common besides our birth, we all will shuffle of this mortal coil. Enjoy the beach and don’t let yourself be swept away with the tides.

Enjoy the summer, enjoy your life and have a film-tastic day!