Nothing new under the Sun

Trouble in paradise in M Night Shyamalan’s latest, but not for the first time an intriguing highconcept idea ends up feeling like a weak episode of The Twilight Zone

Old

Dir M Night Shyamalan, US 2021 On general release

M Night Shyamalan is known by most as the filmmaker behind titles featuring big twists and gratuitous cameos of himself, but he is first and foremost a storyteller, and a rather impressive one at that. While his resumé is full of both hits and misses, it is nonetheless always interesting to see what he will think of next.

Regrettably, being known as the guy with the twists has also proven to be something of a millstone around the filmmaker’s neck, as audiences will always be eagerly waiting to experience something that will trump The Sixth Sense. With this early box office hit being what all his subsequent efforts are compared to, Shyamalan’s work has frequently left audiences unimpressed and even laughing involuntarily when his narratives occasionally go to some rather niche places.

Which brings us to Old, in which a family of resort guests have some unsettling experiences on an idyllic beach that harbours a dark secret – they age rapidly and undergo a lifetime’s worth of traumatic events in a very limited amount of ‘real’ time. I’d say it sits somewhere in the middle of the Shyamalan filmography, with a viewing experience that could

The film could be seen as an exercise in expectation management

be considered an exercise in expectation management.

There are certainly some good ideas at play here, and a handful of solid performances to boot, but whether one finds the film to be a worthwhile bit of imaginative film-making or an overworked waste of the audience’s own precious time will probably come down to how the individual viewer feels about Shyamalan’s work as a whole.

To some, the speeded-up experience of aging and the themes this explores will possess a certain degree of intrigue, while others will undoubtedly find it woefully ham-fisted, especially in the way certain narrative elements are seemingly only added for immediate shock value, to then be entirely abandoned for the rest of the film.

Similarly, the way the cinematography and sound design is used to convey how the aging and decay affects various individuals will, for one viewer, be an interesting and creative way of using the film medium, whereas another will find it frustrating and convoluted.

However, all will likely agree that the film is tragically underserved by its American PG-13 rating, as this has resulted in Old being filmed and edited to purposefully avoid lingering on anything upsetting, instead using camera pans and close-ups of characters reacting to something horrific. While not devoid of terrifying imagery, the majority of horrors are simply not present, and the sense of urgency and dread one should associate with the premise of the film is severely undermined as a result.

In this regard, Old is hardly among Shyamalan’s best efforts; thankfully, neither is it quite on the level of The Happening in terms of sheer ridiculousness. However, the film will undoubtedly be polarising: your response will boil down to your interpretation of what constitutes a well-crafted supernatural mystery thriller. With that in mind, lowering one’s expectations before giving Old a watch is advisable, as many will feel themselves ageing as they sit through it.

Leyla Mikkelsen

★★ ★★★

Lake Mungo

Dir Joel Anderson, Australia 2008 Limited edition Blu-ray, £29.99

Lake Mungo is arguably the best found footage/documentary horror film since Blair Witch and has been gathering plaudits ever since it was first released over 10 years ago. I saw it at the time and for this review watched it again recently. My opinion hasn’t changed: it’s a beautifully constructed mystery story that sends shivers down the spine.

The premise is that a documentary film team is making a feature about the tragic death of a teenager in a swimming accident. Or rather, they’re making a feature about the series of troubling events that befell that girl’s family after she died. Mum, Dad, and brother are interviewed extensively, as are other relatives, friends, the police and, ultimately, a psychic investigator.

The story is genuinely gripping, which is in no small part due to the skill of director Joel Anderson (whose first and only feature this is to date), who knows exactly when to dial things down and then ramp them up again. Just as you think a loose end has been tied up, there is another discovery, which means you have to reassess all that has gone before. It works not only as a mystery and as a horror film, but also as an examination of secrets, confessions, and what lies beneath the surface of suburbia.

Unlike most horror films of this century, Lake Mungo relies not on jump scares (although there is one doozy) or frenzied editing but on establishing and sustaining an atmosphere of doom. It has echoes of many fine films, many of them less to do with outright horror than with themes of witnessing and experiencing. For instance, there is a fascinating emphasis on photography and hidden images, which recalls Blow-Up and a sense of premonition, as in Don’t Look Now. Of course, as a faux documentary, Lake Mungo doesn’t set out to achieve the artistry of those two classics, but it does include images of the Australian landscape, which lends itself almost uniquely to the horror film; there’s a sense of dread and the unknown about it that has inspired film-makers for decades.

This limited edition Blu-ray from Second Sight comes with a mountain of extras, the usual commentaries, interviews, making of, and booklet. Worthy of consideration for those who’ve seen the film before, but essential for those who haven’t. I really can’t praise this film highly enough.

Daniel King

★★★★★