Why is “Old” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several scenes of partial nudity, a teen pregnancy and off-screen birth, a murder with a knife, several deaths by seizure, drowning, heart failure, crushing bones, and falling, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
A family (Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Alexa Swinton and Nolan River) on a tropical holiday, is thrilled when invited to a beautiful secluded beach with a few other tourists. They all soon realize however, that they are trapped and they begin aging very fast, maturing within hours instead of years. Also with Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, Gustaf Hammarsten, Kathleen Chalfant, Francesca Eastwood and Luca Faustino Rodriguez. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. [Running Time: 1:48]
Old SEX/NUDITY 5
– A teen boy and a teen girl lie in a tent on a beach and we see them talking and the boy has his arm over the girl’s shoulder when she says that she is scared; when they come out of the tent, we see that the girl is pregnant (she says that she is just getting fat from eating so much, not realizing what is happening); she goes into labor and moans in pain until we hear the baby crying. A husband and his wife kiss.
►A nude woman’s body is carried out of the ocean and we see her bare breasts, buttocks, abdomen and legs to the hips. A woman wearing a skimpy bikini (bare back, legs, cleavage and partial buttocks are seen) removes her swimsuit (her back, side breast, buttocks and legs are shown) before walking into the ocean to swim, while a man watches from the beach. A woman wears a low-cut sweater that reveals cleavage. Many people are shown wearing swimsuits on a beach and a resort area with men’s abdomens, chests, backs and legs shown and women’s cleavage, abdomens, backs and legs including hips and partial buttocks. A woman wears a revealing swimsuit and we see cleavage and abdomen. A woman wearing a skimpy bikini poses for a selfie (we see cleavage, abdomen, back, partial buttocks and full legs) as her husband looks on.
►A woman at a restaurant seems to be flirting with a server as she orders a beverage. Teen boys and girls seem to be flirting around a swimming pool. A woman tells her young daughter to sit up straight or she’ll end up slumped and “boys will be turned off.” We understand that a woman has been unfaithful to her husband.
Old VIOLENCE/GORE 6
– A man with a knife slashes another man and woman and we see bloody cuts open then heal rapidly; the woman slashes the attacker with a rusted knife and the man’s arm turns black and decay spreads over his body creating boils and lesions before he falls to the ground and dies. A man with a knife stabs another man in the chest repeatedly (we see blood on the knife, the attacker’s hands and the victim’s clothing) and the man dies. A teen boy and a teen girl hide in a cave where a woman also hides and becomes upset when they light matches to see; she throws rocks at them a couple of times and yells as one of her arms breaks, and then the other, and she thrashes on the ground as many more bones break until she falls motionless and dies (we see her limbs and body twisted unnaturally). A man with a knife slashes another man on the cheek (we see a bloody slash) and the wound heals quickly, leaving a scar. A man says that a woman has a tumor and she collapses on the ground; we are told that the tumor has grown a lot and very quickly as people discuss performing an emergency operation on a beach; a man cuts the woman’s abdomen and the incision closes immediately, he opens the incision again while others hold it open and he removes the tumor that is now very large (the woman revives and is fine).
►A man and woman swim toward a coral reef and the woman becomes ensnared on the coral; they struggle to free her and it is implied that they both drown. A man moves close to another man that is holding a blood-covered knife in his hand and takes it away from him. A young boy stands in the ocean when a dead body floats toward him; the boy screams and runs out of the water and adults pull the body out of the water (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details). A teen girl delivers a baby on a beach and a woman holds the newborn’s body wrapped in a blanket and we understand the child is dead. A teen girl climbs a sheer rock wall and falls to her death; people watch and a teen boy cries (we see her motionless feet). A man collapses and we understand that he has died. A woman walks toward the ocean, collapses, and dies. A woman has several repeated seizures and thrashes on the ground, she foams at the mouth and then falls still (we understand that she has died). A man swims into the ocean and a teen girl sees his body as he floats back to shore dead later (the girl screams). A man lifts a blanket off a body on a beach and he recoils and yells for others to come see a body that has decomposed over a very short period of time (we see what looks like a rib cage).
►A man slams a knife into a sandy beach several ties and yells at another man that seems frightened. A teen boy digs a hole in a beach and buries an infant that died after birth (we do not see the child). A man walks into a cave and comes back out moaning and holding his head; he falls unconscious on the beach and wakes up later. A man runs off a beach and into a cave where he stops and moans, holds his head and another man that was chasing him also moans and holds his head; they both find themselves back out of the beach coming to after being knocked out. A woman panics when she sees that her young children have changed and she pleads with a doctor to look at them and tell her what is happening.
►A woman has an epileptic seizure in a restaurant and breaks some dishes when she falls to the floor thrashing (she recovers and seems OK). A man’s nose bleeds through much of the movie and we understand that he has a clotting disorder. An elderly woman says that her chest feels funny and another woman yells to her husband that the first woman has stopped breathing; chest compressions are performed on the woman with no effect. A man appears to be losing his sight and a woman loses her hearing. People walk through a canyon and a cave toward a secluded beach and we see cultures perched on a tree as they pass under it.
►When people talk about aging rapidly, a man says, “I bet this is the first time they wish they were Black.” People stand on a beach and a man announces, “The dog is dying”; we do not see the animal die or the body. A man seems to be suspicious of another man after a woman he was with washes ashore dead. A man says that a woman swam out from a beach and swam far out before she was washed back to the shore dead. A boy tells his mother, “Lead by actions.” A woman complains of having a calcium deficiency and tells her young daughter to sit up straight or she’ll end up slumped and “boys will be turned off.” A man asks another man, “Do you want me to punch you in the face?” A man seems paranoid and accuses another man of trying to steal his wife and another man of wanting to steal from his home. A husband and his wife argue about separating and divorcing. A man says that he hides from everything. A man accuses people of leaving him and others to die.
►A teen boy and a teen girl eat a lot of food and complain of being hungry often; the girl puts handfuls of pasta salad in her mouth.
Old LANGUAGE 5
– At least 1 F-word, 1 anatomical term, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (machine, island issue, messed up, parlor trick, weird, nonsense, joke, pretend person, coward), exclamations (my goodness), 1 religious profanity (GD), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Jesus, Oh God). | profanity glossary |
Old SUBSTANCE USE
– A man and a woman drink from co*cktails handed to them as they arrive at a resort.
Old DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Spontaneity, divorce, separation, illness, mental illness, living in the future, conspiracies, medical testing, living in the past, risk analysis, stress.
Old MESSAGE
– Experimenting on people is wrong even if it is for the greater good.
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
