Upamanyu Biswas
In ‘My Old Ass,’ Elliott’s complicated adolescent life takes a completely new turn as she tries to adhere to her older self’s advice while also living as much as she can in the present. The conflict between the two different positions leaves her with an overwhelming sense of guilt whenever she is around Chad, the neighborhood farm boy. By the end, the young girl’s life is tied up in knots as she tries to live up to her older self’s expectations and embraces the youthful spirit that makes her energetic and naive in the face of negativity. Balancing the two aspects proves to be a more significant challenge than she is ready for, especially when Chad is so much more charming than she imagined he would be. SPOILERS AHEAD.
My Old Ass Plot Synopsis
On her birthday, Elliott, a young girl who lives on a cranberry farm, skips out on the party prepared by her family and elopes with her friends Ro and Ruthie across Lake Muskoka. The three stop by a coffee shop, where Elliott asks out her crush, Chelsea. They have sex while Ro and Ruthie wait outside. That night, the group embarks on a trip to Maude Island, planning to get high on drugs. They set up camp and begin their hallucinatory trip. Unfortunately, Elliott finds that her friends are feeling the effects more clearly than her. Just as the feeling of wasted effort starts creeping in, Elliott suddenly wakes up to her older 39-year-old self sitting next to her. The older Elliott introduces her to the possibilities awaiting her and gives her one key piece of advice: avoid a boy named Chad.
The following day, Elliott deals with the hangover and forgets about her interaction with her older self. Soon after, she runs into a boy named Chad while skinny-dipping in the lake. Spooked out by his name, which bears an eerie connection to her older counterpart’s critical warning, Elliott realizes that she was not hallucinating the night she got high on the island. She starts conversing regularly with her older self, who saved her contact on her phone as “My Old Ass.” The two start having frank discussions about the dos and don’ts Elliott should follow in her life, specifically in the context of fostering relationships and building a better future for herself. To that end, the young girl makes an effort to reconnect with her parents and two siblings.
However, matters with Chad remain a source of trouble for the younger Elliott. Although she is curious about why she should remain distant from the boy, her older self refuses to give her any specific answers. At the same time, she learns that Chad is a warm young man who is lovable and not a threat as she first imagined. In fact, the closer Elliott grows to him, the more she starts questioning her sexuality. Despite being gay all her life, her newfound attraction and feelings for Chad cause her to doubt whether she is gay or bisexual. What is undeniable, however, is that she and Chad share a special connection. Then why does her older self warn her to stay away from him? The burning question dominates her mind until the very end of the story.
My Old Ass Ending: Why Does Older Elliott Want Her Younger Self to Stay Away From Chad?
The final portions of ‘My Old Ass’ finally provides a comprehensive answer to why older Elliott is against her younger self hooking up with Chad. Throughout the narrative, the younger Elliott fears that Chad might have done something genuinely heinous that caused her older counterpart to marginalize him so much. Yet, every time Elliott meets him in her own life, she feels that he is charming, understanding, and cheerful about everything. In fact, Elliott finds it tough to find anything negative about him. Thus, after she falls deeply in love with him, she becomes increasingly agitated to find out the real reason behind why she should stay away from him. It comes as a shock when her older persona reveals that the reason had nothing to do with Chad but his eventual death that left her wholly crippled in life.
From the older Elliott’s point of view, her love story with Chad was so powerful and life-changing that she spent all her life with him. However, this also made her entirely dependent on his well-being. She states that after Chad passed away, she lost her ability to fall in love with anyone because of how strong their relationship was. Thus far, her younger self had labored under the illusion that her older self had figured out the intricacies of life and had her romantic aspects sorted out. The shock reveal proves to be a big blow in that regard. It also leaves her to reflect on Chad’s eventual demise and whether she should forge ahead with the relationship, considering how her older self wants to spare her the pain of losing him eventually.
Do Elliott and Chad End Up Together?
Despite learning about Chad’s tragic fate, Elliott makes a bold decision to commit to her relationship with Chad. Even though she knows that pain and heartbreak wait for her in the future, the protagonist tells her older self that all she can do is live in the present and not worry about the future. This goes entirely against everything the older Elliott had taught her thus far. However, the younger Elliott is far more spirited and owns her decisions, no matter the outcome. To that end, she is naive and possesses a go-with-the-flow type of personality. It compels her to double down on her relationship and love story with Chad, mainly because he makes her feel happy. She also accepts that certain things cannot be changed and has to be lived through regardless of the consequences.
Thus, Elliott’s decisions are a reflection of her own attitude towards life and also where she is in life. As a young teen about to embark on the next adventure of college life, the whole world seems full of possibilities and color. She is not tarnished by the weight of expectations that adults have to live up to. From that specific angle, she may seem unrealistic about her possibilities. However, it also shows that it’s impossible to ask people not to be who they are. Her time to make mistakes and exercise her enthusiasm is perfect as she takes on the new challenges awaiting her. Chad is her ideal companion on that journey. Without him, she would be a different person entirely. Their fates are intertwined with one another, whether the older Elliott likes it or not.
Does Older Elliott Accept Her Younger Self’s Love With Chad? What is Her Final Message?
After hearing her younger self’s optimistic mindset, the older Elliott has an epiphany about the advice she has been giving her younger counterpart. She realizes that she has been erroneous in imparting all her beliefs and life experiences to someone so young and still unwary of the complexities that the world brings. In fact, to some extent, she finally realizes that her younger version has to learn about those things by herself and go through the same harsh teachings without someone softening the blows in advance. Additionally, she feels guilty about stamping out her younger self’s optimistic and youthful naivety. However, her fear remains that the death of Chad will cause her younger self to be shattered on an emotional level in the future. By the end, she gets over it, accepting her younger self’s decision.
In the movie’s closing moments, the older Elliott leaves behind a voice message for the younger Elliott, stating that she realized that the latter was right about embracing her youth. She accepts that her life with Chad is meant to happen regardless of how it ends eventually, tragic or not. This touches upon the core theme of the narrative, which is living in the present without worrying incessantly about the past or the future. The older Elliott’s final message is not an acceptance that her younger self is foolish not to listen to her but that some things are meant to happen regardless of their outcome. In the context of the film, this pertains to her relationship with Chad. No matter how devastated the older Elliott was after his death, she could not eradicate him from her life just because the ending was terrible.
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