The new film stars Maisy Stella and queer icon Aubrey Plaza
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
As the credits rolled on Megan Park’s new coming-of-age film My Old Ass, I couldn’t stop the tears welling in my eyes. Who could have thought that one of the most poignant films about bisexual self-discovery could come from a film all about hallucinating Aubrey Plaza while tripping on shrooms?
Starring Maisy Stella as 18-year-old Elliott, My Old Ass follows one teen’s last summer at home before moving to college in Toronto. Having identified as a lesbian her entire life, Elliott is ready for a summer of making out with the pretty girl from the coffee shop and doing drugs with her friends in their small town. However, after one crazy trip, everything changes when she conjures up her 39-year-old self from the future played by none other than queer icon Aubrey Plaza.
My Old Ass is a story all about self-discovery, particularly when Elliott meets an elusive figure named Chad (Percy Hynes White) that her older self had warned her to stay away from. Maisy Stella, best known for her role as Daphne Conrad on the musical television series Nashville, provides the audience with a strikingly realistic portrayal of a teenager realising that her world is about to change. While the film has oddball moments that are Gen Z to the core, Maisy also manages to capture the confusing experience of figuring out your sexuality with a touching authenticity. Aubrey Plaza naturally brings her signature deadpan humour to the film but also showcases real moments of heartbreaking emotion as the plot unfurls.
As someone who also experienced her first love the summer before going to university, the film was marked with a resounding note of realism. While films about teenagers often feel detached from the real lives of their subject matter, My Old Ass manages to hold a close tie to the lived experiences of those on the cusp of adulthood. From discussions about family to sex and relationships, it delves into these areas with the ease of a project that understands its characters completely.
While we’re often used to witnessing “fully realised” queer characters, it was refreshing to see a queer character explore within their own queerness. Elliott’s own confusion about her feelings for Chad provides a useful conversation about how our identities are not set in stone. Watching a queer character realise that they’re bisexual without it feeling like a gruelling chore was incredibly validating. There’s no doubt that My Old Ass can be classified as a queer film, but it was refreshing to see this queerness truly embedded into the characters and storylines to the point that we barely register it. Instead, we’re too busy wondering about when Aubrey Plaza is going to hologram her way back onto the screen!
My Old Ass comes out in the UK on 27 September.
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