TORONTO - The cottage country set of “My Old Ass” felt so much like summer camp, the film’s cast and crew even had matching anklets. “We moved into these tiny little bunkies next to each other and we would go for night swims and go on jet skis, and we did all our script prep from a boat house,” said Maisy Stella, the 20-year-old star of the film who hails from Oshawa, Ont. “It was just so special and unreal.
..my feet have literally never touched so much grass in my entire life.
” The Muskoka, Ont.-shot and -set film, which is now gearing up for a wide Canadian release, made waves among international critics when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It earned praise for its smart humour and fresh take on the nostalgic coming-of-age movie.
The movie follows 18-year-old Elliott’s final weeks at her family’s cranberry farm before she moves to the big city to attend the University of Toronto. She and her two best friends decide to bid adieu to their childhoods by taking psilocybin, a trip that leads to the titular “Old Ass” – Elliott’s 39-year-old self, portrayed by Aubrey Plaza – appearing to her and doling out advice. Writer-director Megan Park, who is originally from Peterborough, Ont.
, cites influences like “My Girl” and “Now and Then,” sweet movies of her childhood that pack an emotional gut punch. She also drew inspiration from her own childhood summers, when her family would rent cottages in Muskoka. “One of my g.
