In the spring of 2020, popular YouTube comedian Julie Nolke started a sketch series called Explaining the Pandemic to My Past Self, in which a version of herself a few months in the future checks in with herself in the past. Being a tumultuous pocket of time, there’s a lot to go over and the comedic conceit is centered around just how much can change in a short period. 

The new coming-of-age dramedy My Old Ass from writer/director Megan Park expands this premise out to feature length, and in the process, stretches out the amount of time between the two versions of the same person. In doing so, it speaks more broadly to the desire everyone has to use fantastical foresight to have more control over the future of their personal lives. 

The potential poignancy of the scenario seems like it would be easy to mine for pathos, so it’s strange that this movie fumbles the weightier aspects of its story.

On her 18th birthday, Elliott (Maisy Stella) takes a boat with her friends Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) to a nearby island, where they plan on celebrating with psychedelic mushrooms. 

After drinking the spiked tea, Elliott’s friends go off on their own “typical” trips, and while Elliott waits for the effects to kick in for her, a future version of herself (Aubrey Plaza) appears out of nowhere. Though initially skeptical, teenage Elliott soon feels convinced she’s not just hallucinating but is actually being reached across time by her future self. After imparting some bits of wisdom about their family and their future career, the 39-year-old version of Elliott gives a vague but stern warning before she disappears to avoid anyone named Chad. 

Sure enough, a boy named Chad (Percy Hynes White) starts working at the Elliott family cranberry farm and she has to decide whether to ignore her own advice or pursue a relationship with him.

One of My Old Ass’ major miscalculations is in sidelining Plaza the majority of the movie, as younger and older Elliott primarily spend the story communicating via phone by voice or text. Even though they don’t look especially similar to one another, Plaza and Stella have a fun rapport with one another, and I’m not sure why Park doesn’t feature them on-screen together much. 

Oddly, Ziegler’s character isn’t present much in the film either, a shame since Park directed her and Jenna Ortega to great effect — drastically different subject material aside — in her previous feature The Fallout. 

Stella and Hynes White certainly have enough chemistry to make the romantic thrust of the narrative work, but there isn’t much about watching their mutual crush develop that feels unique to this movie.

Outside of the relationship between Elliott and Chad, Park spends time fleshing out Elliott’s relationship with her family, particularly her mom and her younger brother (Maria Dizzia and Seth Isaac Johnson, respectively). While the screenplay does its best to imbue these bonding moments with heartfelt meaning, the sentiment just doesn’t land as well as it does in other coming-of-age tales like Dìdi from just a couple months ago. Where that film had a distinct sense of time and place that directs the protagonist’s evolution, My Old Ass grasps at millennial touchstones with era-specific music cues and a flashback sequence evoking a mid-aughts pop music heartthrob. It’s a cute scene, but it does not ultimately tell us much about the character or why this particular memory is important to her.

Despite this, My Old Ass is amiable enough, and with a runtime under 90 minutes, it certainly does not overstay its welcome. 

There are nuggets of wisdom to be found about the passage of time and how Gen Z is dealing with growing up. My favorite scene involves Elliott confessing to Ro that she has a crush on Chad, when she’s previously only seemed to be interested in pursuing relationships with girls. The pacing of the conversation is considered but comedically compelling all the same; Ro reminds her that she told her to use labels when they’re useful, but to ditch them when they no longer feel useful. I wish Park was able to string more scenes like this together to give the kick My Old Ass in the pants it needed to make a bigger impact.

New movies coming this weekend

• Coming to theaters is Joker: Folie à Deux, a musical thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, which finds the protagonist of Joker institutionalized while awaiting trial for his crimes and falling crazy in love with a fellow inmate.
• Also playing in theaters is White Bird, a coming-of-age period drama starring Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt, about a troubled young student who is struggling to fit in at his new school after being expelled for his treatment of a disfigured student at his previous school.
• Streaming on Netflix is It’s What’s Inside, a horror-comedy starring Brittany O’Grady and James Morosini, following a group of friends who gather for a pre-wedding party that descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend arrives with a mysterious game that awakens long-hidden secrets, desires, and grudges.