My Old Ass keeps indie Aubrey Plaza's (mostly) win streak going

Even when Aubrey Plaza is starring in movies and TV that aren’t very good, she is one of those rare performers who just gets me to watch anyway. I’m not sure what it is. The big expressive eyes surely don’t hurt. But probably most it’s her indie, little-engine-that-could quality that I like most.

She captures that fire in a bottle yet again in the new short flick My Old Ass, available on Amazon Prime. Although Plaza is on screen for just a short while, it’s a powerful part as the protagonist’s mom—in the future, but side by side. Stick with me for a minute.

Elliot is a teen played by the excellent Maisy Stella who is turning 18 and leaving her family’s farm for college in Toronto. But first she decides to do some mushrooms with two friends in the woods. Just as she is beginning to think the ‘shrooms aren’t affecting her, her 39-year-old self appears beside her. This is Plaza. The two characters attempt to walk the fine line of not telling and hearing too much about what is in store for Elliot on her path from 18 to 39.

The concept is cool, with a lot of the afore-mentioned indie vibe to the joy and sadness felt by both Elliot and her older self. The lake scenery is beautiful as well, shot on location in Ontario.

My Old Ass is right up there with Plaza’s finest work in The White Lotus and Parks and Recreation. Safety Not Guaranteed (“may not seem like a must-see movie, but anyone who doesn't like sci-fi and thinks they wouldn't like the time-travel element should not shy away,” I wrote in 2013) and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (“the perfect kind of movie to be panned by critics who are way too uptight to be caught approving of such low-brow taste,” I wrote in 2016) are winsome right along the lines of My Old Ass. I also loved Emily the Criminal, if you’re feeling a true Plaza binge coming on.

On the other side, The To-Do List (“despite the all-star cast, not many laughs stick, and some bits are plain painful to watch,” I wrote in 2014) and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (“pretty average,” I wrote in 2013) are borderline Plaza stinkers.

Ingrid Goes West and Black Bear are on my still-to-watch Aubrey Plaza list.

My Old Ass: 4 out of 5 stars