My old assa quirky new coming-of-age film now streaming on Amazon Prime, follows young Elliott (Maisy Stella) on the precipice of her adulthood as she navigates questions of identity, family relationships, and romantic interests. This all becomes much more complicated when she stumbles upon mushrooms alongside her two best friends and apparently hallucinates the older version of herself, played by Aubrey Plaza. Although the My old ass The ending leaves the exact nature of Old Elliott's existence somewhat ambiguous, her predictions accurate, and the fact that other characters can see her suggests, in some way, that Old Elliott is real.
In addition to the plot about her older self, Elliott faces a series of personal dilemmas, among them her complex feelings for Chad, whom the older Elliott warned her to avoid because of Chad's fate, and the shocking news that his parents decided to sell their cranberry farm, which has been in the family for generations. Early in the film, Elliott made it clear that he had no interest in remaining on his family's farm (or spending as much time with his family before leaving for college). Despite these feelings, Elliott is clearly devastated by her parents' decision.
Elliott's family couldn't pass up the money offered by Cranberry Farm
Elliott's father cited several reasons for this difficult decision
The cast of My old ass is relatively small, mostly made up of Elliott's friends and his family, which consists of his mother, father and two brothers, Max and Spencer. Elliott made it clear that she had "without desire" being a farmer and continuing her family legacy. However, his family's middle son, Max, wanted to take over the cranberry farm, so the future of the family business seemed secure.
This made it all the more shocking when Elliott was told that not only was the farm being sold after the fall harvest, but also, almost everyone knew about this sale long before Elliott. After Max reveals this information, Elliott angrily confronts her father, asking if they are selling it because she wouldn't stay to take it on. His father explained that there was "many reasons" they were selling the farm, none of it had to do with Elliott.
It appears that Elliott's parents chose to sell the farm primarily for financial reasons.
Although her father did not clarify the entire list of factors, it appears that Elliott's parents chose to sell the farm primarily for financial reasons. Her father explained, “We received a very good offer that we couldn’t refuse” suggesting that finances were an important factor. This also makes sense in light of conversations throughout My old ass about how there wasn't much money in the cranberry farm business and how Chad's family had already sold their own cranberry farm long before.
Why Elliott is so devastated about the sale of Cranberry Farm (despite not wanting to run it)
Elliott cared more about the family farm than he realized
Even though Elliott often stated that she had no interest in taking over the family farm, she was clearly devastated to learn that the cranberry farm was being sold. When she confronted her father, she demanded to know how they could be doing such a thing, shouting: "This is our life force. These are our roots." Understandably, this is a prime example of someone not understanding what they have or what it means to them until they face the loss.
In many ways, this is the message of My old ass. Throughout the film, the elder Elliott works to get Elliott to improve his relationships with his family, spend more time with his siblings, and appreciate his parents (especially his mother) more. In the end, the older Elliott appears to be successful, as Elliott finishes My old ass with a new love and appreciation for the people in her life and the cranberry farm where she grew up.