Old, 2021
Married couple Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) bring their children Trent (Nolar River) and Maddox (Alexa Swinton) to a beautiful island resort, at the end of which they intend to tell the kids about their impending divorce. On the second day of their vacation they are invited by the resort's manager to enjoy a day at an out of the way private beach. They are joined by couple Jarin (Ken Leung) and Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and couple Chrystal (Abbey Lee) and Charles (Rufus Sewell), Charles' mother (Kathleen Chalfant), and Chrystal's daughter Kara. But only a short while into their day, things get very weird. Time doesn't seem to pass in quite the same way here on the beach . . .
I watched this with a group and at the end, one person observed that the film was "good, but a bit one note for me." I think that I actually agree a lot with this assessment, though I thought that there were some really strong parts that lifted it a bit above average.
In the lead roles of Guy and Prisca, I thought that Bernal and Krieps were really solid, and actually seemed to get better as they went. In part I think that this is because their dialogue got a lot simpler and less labored as the film progressed. There was a moment where Prisca had her head gently tilted toward Guy in the final act that was incredibly moving, more than any dialogue could be.
I also liked some of the details and the way that they added to the creepiness factor of the film. Like the amount of food they are given and what we discover that's about. A note about metabolism that later has a really grim and unexpected consequence. "Can you imagine trying to process this logically?" someone asked during our viewing. Nope! And I thought that the way that the film showed the characters trying to cope--assuming there must be an allergy or a virus---seemed reasonable considering the circumstances.
When it comes to the themes of the film, I really clicked with them. Maybe it's partly because time has been so weird this year. Maybe it's just my own age and thoughts that have been on my own mind. But the idea of time accelerating---of the time we have with each other literally passing in a day---is both horrific and kind of beautiful. The characters have no choice but to live in the moment, because a moment is all they may have. It pushes some of them to a place of honest expression and emotional candor that they may not have found otherwise. At the same time, the price that they pay is very steep indeed. The film takes one particular heartbreaking moment to let this sink in.
Finally, I like the way that the film was shot. I could probably name at least three different parts that I really enjoyed on that front, the main one probably being how a game of freeze tag between the children was filmed. There was something fun and dynamic about this film that is something I haven't associated with Shyamalan in a while.
Now the negatives . . . well, this is very much a "your mileage may vary" kind of film.
I didn't have a problem with the central conceit (ie the magic beach). The nature of horror/fantasy is that weird stuff happens and you just roll with it. But during the film there were several questions that were raised that were answered in a way that only made me have a lot more questions. Annoyingly, the film kept having characters raise questions and then tried to actually answer them. No! Just have characters say "I don't know"!. This is the kind of film where any kind of focus on logic just detracts from the really interesting themes and allegory it has constructed. I do not care why their hair isn't growing like crazy, let's not take precious time to discuss it.
I can also see some viewers finding the humor kind of cringe. I thought that about 3/4 of the intentional comedy worked. Calling the rapper character "Mid-Sized Sedan" . . . oh, sweetie, no. But a woman shakily constructing a "raft" out of some random pool noodles? An improbable and disturbing/hilarious result of calcium deficiency? At times the film manages to elicit both horror and humor in the same breath.
Honestly, this was a fair deal better than I'd expected. Not exactly a must-see, but I'd give it a tentative recommendation.