| Director: | Megan Park |
| Cinematography: | Kristen Correll |
| Editing: | Jennifer Vecchiarello |
| Distributor: | Amazon MGM Studios |
| Runtime: | 89 minutes[1] |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $5.7 million |
My Old Ass is a 2024 science fiction comedy drama[2] [3] [4] film written and directed by Megan Park. It stars Maisy Stella in her film debut, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on September 13, 2024 and was released internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received critical acclaim and was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2024 by the National Board of Review[5] .
Elliott drives her little boat across a lake with her best friends, Ro and Ruthie, aboard. Her family waits at home to surprise her with a birthday cake to celebrate her 18th birthday, but Elliott has other plans. She stops at a coffee shop where Chelsea, with whom she has flirted since 8th grade, works. She reveals that she is leaving for college in Toronto soon, and the two finally have sex while her friends chat outside. When Elliott returns, Ro reveals that she brought along hallucinogenic mushrooms for the trio to take while camping out overnight.
The friends motor across the lake to the woods, set up a tent and brew the mushroom tea. Ro and Ruthie trip out happily. Just as Elliot says that she feels no effect, a woman appears next to her and says she is her older self. The woman shows a scar on her rib cage and knowledge of Elliott's asymmetrical breasts to prove that she is Elliott from the future. The 39-year-old Elliott mentions that she is a PhD student. Elliott begs for some life-changing advice, and older Elliott suggests bonding with her family, especially since she will soon be leaving for college, and mysteriously tells her to avoid a boy named Chad. The pair go to sleep in the tent, and older Elliott puts her number in younger Elliott's phone under the name "My Old Ass". Elliott wakes up as Ro and Ruthie are packing up the boat. Later at home, Elliott is impatient with her mom but expresses remorse when she finds out about the birthday surprise.
The next morning, she continues her affair with Chelsea and is late to work on her family's cranberry bog. After working hard, Elliott goes skinny-dipping and encounters a boy swimming nearby. He works for the summer for Elliott's father at the bog and reveals that his name is Chad; Elliott runs away. Alarmed that she finds him attractive, Elliott texts "My Old Ass". Initially unnerved that she receives a response, she throws her phone into the lake. Elliott eventually goes swimming again and sees Chad. She watches him work but fears that her attraction is growing and again runs away. Elliott tells her older self that she spoke with Chad and that he seems harmless, and she seems to have found him attractive. Older Elliott refuses to say what the problem is with Chad.
Older Elliott disappears for four days, but Elliott takes her advice, avoiding Chad and spending time with her brothers, Spencer and Max. She finds common ground with Max while watching him play golf. One morning, Elliott finds Chad at the family breakfast and tries to escape with Max, but Max invites Chad to come with them to try golfing. Max reveals that the family is selling the farm. Elliott hurries to confront her dad, who says that he did not think she cared about the farm.
While trying to sell her boat, Chad and Elliott kiss after a conversation, causing Elliott to freak out and flee again. Unable to reach her older self, Elliott gets the rest of the drugs from Ro, who wonders why she has been missing lately. During her mushroom trip, she does not see older Elliott but hallucinates that she is Justin Bieber, performing "One Less Lonely Girl", and gives Chad red roses. The next day Elliott talks to Ro about possibly being bisexual and not a lesbian as she had thought. Later, she talks with her mom about her childhood and tells her that she will miss her when she leaves for college and will always need her. They reaffirm their love for each other. Elliott soon introduces Ro and Ruthie to Chad and goes on one last boat ride with him, but the motor falls off the boat mid-ride as it starts pouring. The pair get to a lookout shack, and Elliott tells Chad how she feels and discovers he already attends her college. They have sex.
After Chad walks Elliott home Older Elliott reappears. Older Elliott reveals that Chad will die and that she cannot save him. She does not want younger Elliott to experience the same pain. Chad returns to bring Elliott her shirt and can see older Elliott. The two awkwardly introduce Older Elliott as Elliott's "uncle" Michelle, and Older Elliott hugs Chad, weeping. She says goodbye and leaves forever, now encouraging Younger Elliott to experience this tragic love. Elliott receives a voicemail from older Elliot telling her not to live for the past or future, but for herself in the present. Chad has fixed her broken boat, and Elliott takes it on one last ride, saying goodbye to the lake.
In addition, Carter Trozzolo appears as Spencer.
In March 2022, it was announced that Megan Park would write and direct her sophomore feature film, a coming-of-age comedy titled My Old Ass, with LuckyChap Entertainment and Indian Paintbrush producing.[6] Margot Robbie did pre-production meetings in her Barbie wardrobe from her trailer and was on set during production.
Principal photography began on August 15, 2022, in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Canada.[7] Park stated that the setting was somewhere she visited every summer growing up and the film overall was "a love letter to Canada".[8] It wrapped in October 2022. Tyler Hilton revealed in a January 2023 interview that he was scoring the film and Aubrey Plaza was starring.[9] Plaza was on set for one week after wrapping The White Lotus and was still in deal negotiations while the film was in production.[8]
My Old Ass premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024.[10] [11] Amazon MGM Studios acquired distribution rights to the film for $15 million, with plans for a theatrical release before making the film available on Prime Video for streaming worldwide.[12]
The film received a limited theatrical release in the United States, originally scheduled for August 2, 2024,[13] but delayed to September 13, 2024.[14] It was released in the United Kingdom by Curzon Film on September 27, 2024.[1]
My Old Ass grossed $5.4million domestically (United States and Canada), and $0.3million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $5.7million.[15] Despite its very limited opening, appearing in fewer than 40 theatres during its first two weeks, it did finish at No.10 at the domestic box office in its third week, having expanded briefly to a wide release of 1,390 screens, for its only week in the Top10.[16]
In January 2024, Maddie Ziegler was an honoree of the "Breakthrough Artist" award by Variety and the Golden Globes.[17]