Horror films tend to portray older people as weak and vulnerable; they are easy prey for a fast monster or a brutal killer. On the other side of the genre are those rare films where older people are much less vulnerable. Their advanced age creates the illusion of kindness and fragility, but deep down they harbor resentment and rage. They seek to hurt everyone, especially those who are different from them or those who remind them of their lost youth and opportunity.
Release date on Netflix from 7 2022 October, the.
Netflix's Old Men falls into the latter category, although one particular factor sets this German film apart from other old man horror films. This is not an isolated incident; There is a whole legion of gray-haired killers on the loose.
From unholy adoptive parents, antisocial teenagers to demon spawns, the horror genre has always viewed youth as a potential threat. However, in director Andy Fetscher's latest horror film, Urban Explorer, children find themselves on the side of terror. In the film "Old Men", Germany is shocked by a series of murders committed by elderly people. A mysterious event sets a mob of octogenarians in motion, causing them to commit violence wherever they go. And these sinister elderly people are on the trail of one unlucky family celebrating a recent wedding.
The film begins with an unnecessary introduction explaining how the spirit of vengeance once possessed the elderly and drove them into a “blind rage.” The story touches on this theme lightly when two teenagers stumble upon an outdoor monument symbolizing their ancestors and the importance of family unity. Whether there really is a supernatural force at play here is unclear, but for the crowd that prefers answers over vagueness, Netflix's "Old Men" quickly gives a straightforward explanation of what's coming next.
After the opening scene, which is a dry and graphic illustration of the geriatric gloominess available, the plot moves on to the central event and characters. Ella (Melika Forutan) has returned to her provincial hometown to see her sister Sanna's (Maxine Kazis) wedding. What should have been a joyous occasion for her children, Laura and Noah (Bianca Navrat, Otto Emil Koch), turns into a sad reunion between daughter and father. When Ella follows her father Eike (Paul Fassnacht) to the nursing home, the sad state of the home and its inhabitants leaves Ella shocked and remorseful.
Ike isn't the only thing from her past that Ella will have to confront on her trip home; At the wedding she meets her ex-husband Lukas (Stefan Luca). They are surprisingly cordial with each other, despite Ella leaving Lucas for a life and career in the city. However, shared looks and lingering moments suggest that their romance is not over yet. Lucas' current girlfriend Kim (Anna Unterberger), who works in a nursing home, is not left out, and her growing jealousy leads to unexpected events when danger begins.
Old People" cleverly skips the wedding ceremony in the village church and goes straight to the horrors. The remaining residents of the Saalheim nursing home stage a bloody riot and brutally deal with Kim's colleagues. Their leader, referred to simply as "The Old Man" (Gerhard Bos), then directs everyone to Sanna's wedding. Fun turns to horror as namesakes gather near houses like the walking dead, biding their time and unnerving their prey. While it's strange that Ella and her relatives would immediately assume that the elders were out to harm them, the story removes their usual doubts by making the film's antagonists look menacing. Their true intentions become clear even before the corpses appear.
The yellow and warm light of the previous scenes is temporarily replaced by gloomy gray tones. A local power outage adds to the eerie atmosphere, while also prompting the strategic use of flashlights to spot hidden threats in the dark. The darkly howling wind and ominous music fill all the silence. The bleak setting gets boring after a while, but as the surviving heroes get closer to finding a way out, light and color gradually begin to return to the screen. The Old Men looks impressive, even if that look has admittedly become commonplace these days.
Andy Fetscher essentially remade Night of the Living Dead, but with decrepit and sadistic humans instead of zombies. And while the film can and should be taken at face value—obsessed old men perhaps taking revenge on their family snubs—there is another metaphor staring directly into the camera. It can be applied to any society where unfair rules are determined by and benefit the older generation. These dinosaurs have no regard for the young and different and are actively harming their future and safety. Those who go along with their plan end up getting caught up in the damage as well. Even without additional interpretation, Netflix's Old Men is already a terribly dark film.
The more obvious message here is presented without any subtlety, and for some viewers such metaphorical awkwardness is difficult to ignore, much less endure for nearly 100 minutes. For others, golden old men wreaking havoc are more than enough reason to watch. Aging antagonists have yet to catch on in modern horror, but in light of today's generational war, the likelihood of more films like Old Men appearing in the near future seems high.
