In the (kinda) time travel comedy My old ass, 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) stumbles over a pile of mushrooms and comes face to face with her older self, played by Aubrey Plaza. The older Elliott has some words of wisdom for her younger self: mostly vague advice about slowing down and enjoying more time with her family. Younger! Elliott listens and finds that guidance helpful.
But older! Elliott gives himself one more specific warning: don’t fall in love with Chad (Percy Hynes White), the cute boy who works on the Elliott family farm this summer.
Younger! Elliott ignores this advice and ultimately becomes the film’s most compelling theme – and a common thread it shares with cinematic masterpiece Mama Mia! Here we go again. (Yes, really.)
(Ed. remark: This post contains ending spoilers for My old ass – And Mama Mia! Here we go again.)
Younger at first! Elliot is sure the Chad thing won’t be a problem since she has only been attracted to women before. But after meeting Chad, she falls in love, causing her to question her own identity. Still older! Elliott insists: Don’t fall in love with Chad! Younger! Elliott waits for the other shoe to drop and wonders if Chad is secretly an asshole or something. Finally, she confronts her older self, who confesses that Chad will die young and break their hearts.
Right now, writer-director Megan Park is delving into her most interesting message. After hearing her older self rant about how deeply Chad’s death affected her, Elliott responds with a “No.” She tells her older self that being young and stupid is a good thing because if she let the fear of the world change her life, she wouldn’t be alive at all. So she will take the heartbreak because it offers the opportunity to know and love someone deeply and with abandon.
In some time travel stories, older versions of characters attempt to advise or interfere with their younger selves, helping them avoid a traumatizing future. My old ass represents a twist on that idea: the older! Elliott learns something from the self-described “young, dumb” child version of himself. And that’s something we can take away even without time travel – and that’s where the Mama Mia it all comes in.
In the big, glittering finale of Mama Mia! Here we go againolder and younger versions of the main characters all dance together during a big party. Here we go again isn’t a time travel movie at all, but it does alternate between flashbacks and the present, tracing the story of how free-spirited Donna Sheridan (Lily James) came to have three potential baby daddies over the course of one momentous event. summer. We see all the older characters back when they were young and stupid, but also lived with a certain admirable fearlessness.
My old ass And Mamma Mia 2 end with the same message: your younger self is a part of you, and always will be. While there may be things you have done differently in life, and certain outcomes you want to protect yourself from, there is also wisdom to be gleaned from that “young and dumb” self – especially since that young self is the reason you that’s how you are. as you are today.
My old ass makes the lesson more concrete and tangible, with Elliott saying it outright to her older self. Mama Mia! Here we go again weaves it in subtly – even if part of that subtlety is a dance party that brings together the young and old versions of people. That ending is a celebration of the past and present, without any explanation as to how it happens. But that’s okay, because in a way, don’t we all dance with our younger selves?
My old ass is streaming on Prime Video. Mama Mia! Here we go again is streaming on Peacock.