Thriller Thursdays: The Old Guard - A Thrilling Ride into Immortality

Intro: In our new weekly column, Thriller Thursdays, we’ll recommend specially-curated thrillers that’ll send a familiar chill down your spine.

There is something about Charlize Theron. Her face, over the years, gives the impression that it has been crafted in granite. But, in spite of her strong jawline clenched with uber determination her eyes reveal the soft vulnerability of a child — easily moved, trusting, brave to the extent of being naive.

But she's also a leader, one you would follow to hell and beyond.

In The Old Guard, she leads a motley crew of immortals, but that does not make them super-men/women. The only superpower they have is their immortality.. They hurt when beaten up, they sting when burnt, and if they are captured they are pretty much done. But over the centuries, they have become fearsome warriors.

Andromache of Scythia aka Andy (Charlize Theron), Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) are fighters who have been alive for years even they have not been able to keep track of. Their bodies have magical properties to regenerate themselves whenever they are hurt or shot or killed. And since they are survivors, they have been able to play the role of saviours and warriors throughout history.

Their secret lives and their power are eventually exposed to authorities after an ex-CBI agent double-crosses them.

They are also made aware of another immortal who is compulsively realising her powers - Nile Freeman (KiKi Layne), a young Marine operating in Afghanistan who survives a slit throat. The immortals seek to save her from those who would not understand her special powers, and bring her under their wings.

In this increasingly imperfect world of the protagonists, there are people who are after them to exploit their powers for monetary benefits in the guise of saving the world. What starts with the charitable idea of "Humanity needs to share your gifts", is slowly revealed to be efforts to extract and replicate the genetic code that grants the heroes their immortality ("I will carve slices off you for years")

Perfidy, and redemption soon find their way into the schemata of the plot.

The action in The Old Guard has the warm delight of a fisticuff finding weapons new and old, there is an intimacy to the choreography, as if Attila the Hun decided to visit the Mission Impossible sets. The synchronicity, the physicality, the hand-to-hand combats, the axe, the rawness —Charlize has made it an art form to fight through bruises in her body and soul.

In film after film, viz Atomic Blonde, North Country, Mad Max: Fury Road, et al, she has battered her way through her deep-seated pain and angst.

Weaved into the action is the running thread of tiredness of being alive for centuries, and the desolation of being alone. An incredibly tangible feeling that lends the proceedings an unexpected pathos. As Booker tells Nile, “Just because we keep living doesn't mean we stop hurting". There’s a deeply moving story of an immortal, Quynh (Van Veronica Ngo), who is considered to be a witch in medieval times, and is ostracised in ways too tragic to enumerate.

Because of its emotional core, the film works splendidly as the tragedies which ensue to those who don't (or maybe, can't) die, spin out. And then, of course, the ‘Achilles Heel’ of the immortals is revealed. And Andy stumbles into her weakness.

As the immortals learn to lose everything they ever loved, there is infinite sadness in the film which is heart-breaking. The moral imperative which keeps driving them forward is a simple belief - "We don't have all the answers but we do have purpose". In an imperfect world, and being imperfect superheroes, that itself is like the essence of their endeavour.

It's no surprise that this utterly engrossing film is made by Gina Prince-Bythewood, one of the few women directors helming action films. The heart-breaking heave given to the proceedings is a testimony to the fact that sometimes the soft touch to hardcore action thrillers is what gives them their heft and weave.

Catch this heartfelt engrossing action ride.

Trivia:

Is a sequel around the corner? Yes!! Netflix has confirmed The Old Guard 2, but to be now directed by Victoria Mahoney, the first woman to direct a film in the Star Wars franchise (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). The fun fact is that the graphic novel (by Greg Rucka) the film is based on has ten stories. So, if things go well, we could be seeing multiple sequels!

You can watch The Old Guard here.

(Views expressed in this piece are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of OTTplay)

Written by Sunil Bhandari, a published poet and host of the podcast ‘Uncut Poetry’)