Based on the graphic novel SANDCASTLE, M. Night Shyamalan’s OLD (2021) fairly telegraphs its plot, but I found myself very engaged with this horror movie, at least until the last act, when Shyamalan attempts to tie off everything neatly in one of his signature twists.

The movie primarily follows a family of four on vacation at a tropical island resort. They seem happy enough, but we learn all is not well when secrets start to be revealed. In multiple ways, this may be a last hurrah for them together as a family. The resort manager tells them about a beautiful beach accessibly only to select guests, and they agree to go along with several other people. Once on the beach, things quickly go bad. The worst of it: Everyone on the beach appears to be rapidly aging.

Thematically, things are more interesting than I thought they’d be. The passage of time, maladies that await in its flow like biological time bombs, what matters when time grows short. Despite you knowing so much going into it, Shyamalan manages to keep you engaged with how it unfolds. Where things started to falter for me as a viewer is the last act. In the book, the ending is far more ambiguous, while the movie veers into silly territory similar to the way it did in Shyamalan’s SIGNS. It’s not a terrible ending–it just feels contrived, too neat, and the “twist” packs a somewhat feeble punch.

Overall, I liked OLD. Despite the Scooby Doo ending, I enjoyed the setting, performances, and overall mystery.

DOORS (2021) is a lo-fi sci-fi anthology movie with a killer premise and compelling moments marred by an overall somewhat flawed execution. Despite its problems, I quite liked it for its sense of weird mystery. I watched it on Amazon Prime.

One day, alien “doors” suddenly appear all over the world. In the ensuing panic, many people seem to connect with the doors, apparently mesmerized, and pass through them. Millions lost in a single day. In response, the government sends in “knockers,” teams of scientists trying to figure out what’s on the other side. Every effort appears frustrated until a hermit manages the seemingly impossible, only even this may not ultimately matter in what comes next.

I just love that premise. The movie does a great job creating a sense of existential dread and cosmic horror as humanity is confronted by something monstrous, incomprehensible, and apparently carrying out an agenda. It’s the kind of thing that made THE LEFTOVERS so interesting to watch.

The trouble with the movie comes from its pacing and the fact it’s an anthology. The film feels a bit inert at times, and while it’s fairly cohesive, there’s little sense of a real story. Instead, the four episodes tend to feel somewhat incomplete.

Nonetheless, I love how much the filmmakers accomplished with the interesting premise and what appeared to be a very small budget. A lot happens off screen, wonderfully left to our imagination, and where there are special effects, they’re strategic and well handled. The movie shines in its mystery and falters a bit when it tries to explain things, so you have to simply love the mystery.

Overall, I wasn’t sure about this one at first but I gradually got sucked into it and found it a fun and weird watch.