Accelerated, aggressive aging absolutely affects an unassuming adolescent caretaker waiving admonishment and adjusting to antagonism when she’s taken advantage of by ambiguous adversaries

A man, Charles Bloom, interviews Veronica about taking a temporary job as a live-in caretaker for his mother, Mrs. Bloom, whom has some sort of memory issues. It seems innocent enough but what’s the catch? The theme song is haunting yet adds some elegance to Aged. It gives it an old-time feel the way the music from Pearl had done. The song chosen reminds me of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” from the Insidious films.

Written and directed by Anubys Lopez, he’s done a good job establishing how isolated the setting filmed on location in Houston, Texas is. The high production value is a major asse. It looks great. In the beginning, there’s a unique long wide shot, possibly from a drone, looking down on a truck upside-down driving on a dirt road. Long takes are frequently used with slow zoom-ins letting the suspense build naturally. It’s too bad it doesn’t solely rely on this method of building tension. Instead, it’s full of clichéd unnecessary jump scares like when someone closes a medicine cabinet. This happens all too often these days as if modern directors either aren’t confident enough with the material or feel they need to keep the audience’s attention by reminding viewers they’re watching a scary movie.

Morgan Boss-Maltais plays Veronica. She good at showing fear, vulnerability, and joy. She carries the film with a confident portrayal of the role. A dinner conversation early on explains her backstory without heavy exposition dumps. Each day more red flags emerge like how too many people know her name and she was told her employers had been looking for her for a long time. It’s hard to root for a character that constantly makes poor choices.

Carla Kidd plays Mrs. Bloom, an elderly, afflicted woman in need of a caretaker. She displays a wide range of emotions for someone suffering from mental illness. While the affliction is never specifically named it respectfully shows how memory loss affects the individual and her family. It made me empathetic toward her after having experience with my own grandmother with similar issues. Dave McClain plays Charles Bloom, the client, and son of Mrs. Bloom. He performs well in the role of a courteous host. The way he says things and the way he uses body language is so expressive yet sometimes raises red flags of him having sinister intentions. It’s interesting how such minute subtleties add such a tremendous impact. Adonis Ringo plays Joe, the groundskeeper. His creepy, cryptic messages lead Veronica to believe something isn’t right about the situation she willingly walked into. His performance as a traumatized, scared person in fear for her life is certainly noteworthy.

Overall, Aged tries to be a mind-bending thought experiment but turns out to be forgetful about what’s beneath the surface. It leaves too many unanswered questions like the writer forgot to address them…ironically. Without giving anything away, I was able to predict the outcome of the conclusion but this film is more about the journey than the destination. That being said, the change in age is so drastic it’s jarring. I expected a slow transition full of gruesome body horror but that’s not what this film is, so don’t expect that going in. It’s not like how they did it in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old. It’s more similar to Thinner, The Wicker Man, and Get Out but with more prominent religious undertones along with themes of mental illness and its impact on families. Aged has its flaws but it’s still an engaging, intriguing mystery. I wouldn’t call it a horror movie per se, however, I’d recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers. And remember, good films get better with age because they withstand the test of time. Will you remember this one?