Aubrey Plaza doles out wisdom to her younger self in the first trailer for “My Old Ass,” a coming-of-age comedy that premiered to rave reviews at Sundance Film Festival.
The film takes place the summer before 18-year-old Elliot Labrant (Maisy Stella of Lennon & Maisy fame) heads to college in Toronto. In the trailer, Plaza shows up as the middle-aged version of herself while the present-day Elliot is tripping on shrooms in the woods. At first, the younger Elliot doesn’t believe what she’s seeing — and it’s not like they look anything alike.
“You’re me? I don’t have a gap in my teeth,” Stella’s character tells Plaza’s as they sit around a campfire. She’s quick to respond: “Yeah, wear your retainer.”
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The 39-year-old Elliot urges her younger self to be nicer to mom and spend more time with her brothers. She also cautions against falling in love with anyone named Chad. (Seems easy enough…) Of course, Elliot then meets the boy she was warned about, sparking a funny journey of self-discovery before she leaves her childhood home.
“I’m actually kind of hot for middle age,” the younger Elliot tells her elder. It hits a nerve. “I’m 39 years old,” older Elliot retorts. “That’s not middle-aged. I’m a very young adult.”
Amazon MGM bought “My Old Ass” for $15 million in one of this year’s biggest Sundance sales. The studio plans to open the film in limited theaters on Sept. 13 with a national rollout to follow. LuckyChap, the company co-founded by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara, produced the film with Scythia Films andIndian Paintbrush.
“My Old Ass” was written and directed by Megan Park, the “Secret Life of the American Teenager” star-turned-filmmaker. Her first feature was 2021’s “The Fallout,” which opened at South by Southwest and landed at HBO Max.
At Sundance, Park said wants “My Old Ass” to feel like an escape from adult life.
“I kept thinking about this idea: there was a time when you did something like play pretend with your friends, and then you just never did it again,” she told the audience at the sold-out premiere in Park City. “That made me really emotional. I also wanted to immerse myself in a joyful film and something that made people feel nostalgic for an easier, simpler time in life. Because life can be hard and shitty sometimes.”
Watch the trailer below.
