M. Night Shymalan’s Weirdest Movie Is Getting A Second Life On Streaming
M. Night Shyamalan's Old is a popular offer on HBO Max.
M. Night Shyamalan’s hit 2021 horror thriller, Old is currently in the top ten on HBO Max streaming, according to a source at FlixPatrol. The film surprised audiences as something of a secret comeback after several years of Shyamalan receiving largely negative reviews. It is a return to the filmmaker’s artistic roots, making use of a small cast of interesting and quirky characters in a paranormal situation. With Old 2 still under consideration, the film has been raking in the streaming numbers and pleasing audiences across the globe.
M. Night Shyamalan’s Old is a horror thriller that follows a family of four vacationing on a tropical island. After taking a hotel-sanctioned shuttle to a private beach with a group of other travelers, the family begins to realize that something is causing them to age rapidly. Before long, everyone on the beach is succumbing to advanced health disorders and significant growing pains, as the rag-tag ensemble of vacationers struggle to find a way off of the beach.
The film features a deep dive into a series of topics that clearly serve as an interest to M. Night Shyamalan, who previously helmed thrillers such as The Sixth Sense, Glass, and Split. Throughout Old, the audience is introduced to science fiction concepts that toy with our understanding of time and space, illness both mental and physical, and what it means to be human. The film poses philosophical questions regarding science and medicine, as well as the ethics of scientific experimentation.
The film enlists the talent of a revolving door of actors in order to portray several child characters, who rapidly age into teenagers, eventually reaching adulthood on the island. Thomasin McKenzie, of Jojo Rabbit and Last Night In SoHo fame, and Hereditary‘s Alex Wolff are among a list of actors chosen to represent eras of the characters’ young lives. The adult cast includes actors such as Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Vicky Krieps, and even a cameo appearance from M. Night Shyamalan himself.
M. Night Shyamalan adapted the film from a French graphic novel called Sandcastle, which was written by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. M. Night apparently received the novel from his family as a Father’s Day gift, prompting him to expand the source material into a harrowing exploration of family and fatherhood. The film was one of the first major productions to shoot in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with its consolidated plot and sprawling beach location being relatively secluded and safe for the shoot.
Old grossed over $90 million worldwide against a budget of only $18 million, marking the film as a major financial success, even though early reviews from critics were mixed. This was a major success for M. Night Shyamalan after a series of critical and financial failures such as The Happening, The Last Airbender, After Earth, and The Visit had seemingly tarnished the filmmakers’ reputation. Obviously, the film has found a second life on streaming, recently entering the top ten, and once again sparking rumors of a sequel.
