First impressions of My Old Ass

Horror seems to remain the reigning genre for Friday-night moviegoers this year. And that makes a weird kind of sense to me: In the last several years, we’ve suffered through a global pandemic, lost loved ones to its deadly influence, and lost more loved ones to conspiracy theories and COVID-denial. My fellow Americans and I have watched the nation we love—the one professing to be land of “liberty and justice for all”—go into septic shock as the deadly toxins of racism, fascism, and Christian nationalism surge, undermining all that gives us a chance to be great. We’re watching as wars overseas escalate into full-on genocide, and we’re asking how it’s possible that we’re the ones supplying the machinery for slaughter.

When the world is so fraught with terrors that seem too big for us to stop them, we need the catharsis of scary stories. And we especially need those rare genre contributions that bring with them some kind of wisdom.

But if you’re like me, you can only take so much horror. And when the daily news seems more appalling than anything a movie can serve up, you’re grateful for those films that can provide some kind of escape from the garbage compactor of daily headlines.

Fortunately, horror isn’t the only trend. Throw a Milk Dud into a cineplex these days and you’ll probably hit a sentimental romance or a high-concept comedy that promises to blow your mind with its gimmicky hook. And I’m happy to report that one film in particular combines both trends into something special.

As the credits for Megan Park’s comedy My Old Ass finished rolling, I emerged from the theater with a big grin on my face, feeling high spirits and enthusiasm to recommend it. Perhaps that’s because I went in with low expectations. Perhaps it’s because my September and October have been grueling months so far, throwing one hardship after another at my head and heart. Maybe I’m just extra-grateful that a movie surprised me with unexpected pleasures, that it made me laugh, that it made me feel joy.

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Or, maybe it really is that exceptional — as romantic comedies, coming-of-age stories, and sci-fi mind-benders go.

Let me think this through. Am I making too much of it?