Coming-of-age and romantic comedy films are hard to make original these days, but My Old Ass aims to create a fresh new take on the genres. Directed and written by Megan Park and starring Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, and Percy Hynes White, My Old Ass is an original coming-of-age story originally shown at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival back in January and is now showing in cinemas worldwide.

My Old Ass tells the story of Elliot, a free-spirited happy go lucky girl who has big plans to move away from her home in the countryside, study at a university in Toronto, marry the girl of her dreams, and raise a family. On her 18th birthday, Elliot goes camping with her two best friends, Ro and Ruthie, to get high while completely ignoring the party her family had planned for her back home. While under the influence, an older woman suddenly appears sitting next to her who strangely knows a lot of personal details and almost mirrors her exact personality. She reveals to Elliot that she is her but at age 39 which freaks her out and tries to snap out of her hallucination but comes to realise it’s indeed real.

Younger Elliot is excited to know everything that happens in the future. Older Elliot only tells her a few things she needs to know so she can still enjoy her younger years while she can, such as taking better care of herself, bonding with her family, and most importantly, staying away from a boy named Chad at all costs but wouldn’t explain why. Things become complicated when she ends up meeting Chad by chance, leading her to panic, being unable to avoid him, and starting to have feelings for him.

It can be difficult to get two actresses to portray the same character with a big age gap while keeping things consistent. Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza nail it as the younger and older versions of Elliot respectively. They have fantastic on-screen chemistry together, displaying the same personality, humour, and sarcasm, just Aubrey’s version is older and wiser, using that to steer her younger self in the right direction without giving away too much, mainly to focus on the things she wished she could. Maisy portrays Elliot as young, carefree, and excited about the future, but disregards other important aspects of her life, mainly her family, and puts everything else first.

Her two younger brothers are dorky and lame in comparison to her, her mother is too overbearing, and her father is a hardworking farmer who she helps out, but it isn’t the life for her. Despite all this, older Elliot wants her younger self to try and bond with them before it’s time to move away. She unwillingly agrees and it’s not as easy as she hoped, but her older self tells her to keep trying.

Seth Isaac Johnson and Carter Trozzolo play her brothers, Max, and Spencer, respectively. Max looks forward to taking over the farm one day, loves golf, and is very reserved, and Spencer can be an annoying kid, the kind of personalities that Elliot doesn’t vibe with. Maria Dizzia plays her mother, Kathy, who is lovely, kind-hearted, and always positive, the ideal mother anyone would want. Elliot can’t stand to listen to her talk about birds, nature etc. Her father, Tom, is played by Alain Goulem who doesn’t get as much screen time as the others, so we don’t get to see his personality as much, but it’s clear that his farmer life isn’t what Elliot aspires to be. Unfortunately, her relationship with her father isn’t explored enough, but the film does an excellent job of showing Elliot’s character development with other family members.

While younger Elliot can experience things her older self neglected, the biggest challenge is none other than Chad. Netflix’s Wednesday star, Percy Hynes White stars as the boy that young Elliot is told to avoid no matter what. Avoiding Chad becomes impossible as they keep meeting by chance, much to her frustration. When she must spend time with him, they get along way too well, have common interests, and she begins to start questioning her sexuality, but she doesn’t forget that she needs to avoid him yet keeps finding herself in more situations that only he can help with. The more time they spend together, she doesn’t understand why she needs to stay away from him and older Elliot isn’t always around to help guide her. Percy’s performance and on-screen chemistry with Maisy are done so well, allowing audiences to see what she sees in him, even when advised against it.

The movie is set and filmed in Canada’s countryside, specifically Muskoka Lakes in Ontario, it provides gorgeous scenery from the sparkling lakes, lush green lands and trees, mountains in the distance, and old town buildings with a friendly community.

In a way, the locations become their own characters, which older Elliot is pleased to see again and younger Elliot realising what she’s soon leaving behind, especially when she hears some life-changing news regarding the family farm, which is old news anyway. However, she wasn’t around to listen to it, being too focused on other things. The film’s soundtrack has something for every occasion and fits in perfectly with their respective scenes.

The biggest highlight is Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza’s portrayal of Elliot. Even with some physical differences like the tiny gap in older Elliot’s teeth, it’s all explained in the dialogue humorously. The way they bond, converse, and insult each other, it feels like they are the same person. Maisy shines brightest as Elliot and while Aubrey has much less screen time, her importance in the story never feels under-utilised. Many of us wonder what we would change about our past if we could go back in time and speak to our younger selves and this film does exactly that. Older Elliot wants what’s best for her younger self, but sometimes she needs to take advice from her to get the most out of life.

Even though it’s never explained how 39-year-old Elliot suddenly appears, by the end of the film it never felt important to the plot and wasn’t necessary. It does an amazing job of focusing on 18-year-old Elliot’s chance to have a more fulfilling life while she still can. The ending felt like it could’ve had a little more, but the message to the audience is powerful and will be remembered for a long time. The story is an emotional roller coaster and will no doubt tug at the heartstrings.

Director and writer Megan Park has truly created something special, as this is a coming-of-age romantic comedy like no other. It may not be the first movie to have the concept of a character meeting an older version of themselves. This film provides a fresh new take on the idea with engaging characters, a variety of personalities, and life lessons we could all learn from, no matter how old we are. Out of all the movies in history representing these genres, My Old Ass is one of the biggest highlights and an absolute must-see.

Written by: Sammy Hanson