Old People (2022) User Reviews

Attack of the killer crinklies.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 13 October 2022]

Let's be honest, there's nothing great about growing old and infirm, and it's easy to understand why pensioners might resent those in the prime of their life, especially when left to spend their final days rotting in a retirement home. In Andy Fetscher's Old People, coffin dodgers of the world unite, rising up against the young (possessed by an avenging spirit that punishes those who break family ties and abandon the elderly, or so I understood).

Ella (Melika Foroutan) is a prime target for the wrathful wrinklies: not only has she left her husband, but she has neglected to visit her father Aike (Paul Faßnacht), who lives in the understaffed Saalheim Hellhole for the Nearly Dead. When the oldies get up with murder in mind, they make a beeline for Ella and her family, who are celebrating a wedding nearby. Imbued with supernatural speed and strength, the geriatrics prove formidable foes, trapping their terrified victims in a farmhouse.

I love the idea of psychotic senior citizens on the rampage, appreciate Fetscher's attempts at social commentary, and enjoyed the brutality, but Old People still didn't quite work for me: the film suffers from a dreary pace for much of the time (it moves slower than Richard Briers on his zimmer frame in Cockney's vs Zombies); the script delivers too much talk, not enough horror, the old cliché of the asthmatic kid needing an inhaler, and a really awkward example of foreshadowing (Noah talks about a tunnel under the house - will it prove useful to escape? You betcha!); and we get a rather daft ending where Ella's daughter Laura saves her life by singing a song.

5/10.

A pretty violent and gory film

[LetsReviewThat26 · 6/10 · 8 October 2022]

Surprisingly this was a pretty good horror slash thriller film. I think it deserves a little higher of a rating then it has been given here. It was an enjoyable movie when it comes down to it. Sure its really quite violent and gory but you do expect that from a horror type film. It was also pretty darn sad when you think of it and what drove these old people to murder was because basically they have lost all hope in life of someone taking care of them. The acting was ok in this and i felt especailly the daughter held her own and was very brave. The direction worked well but i will say the script could be improved in areas. Apart from that though not a bad nextflix horror film.

A promise not fulfilled

[jangu · 4/10 · 8 October 2022]

This German horror-thriller starts promising enough and I think it aims for some kind of social commentary on how inhumane we many times treat our elderly (putting them into homes and forgetting about them).

However, this movie totally misses the mark. For one thing, the elderly kill people indiscriminately, good or bad, hence making them rather a unsympathetic lot.

And the home for the elderly is made too depressing, it almost feels like an open concentration camp, hence exaggerating the premise of the movie into almost a caricature, lessening the impact of any kind of message they want to put forth.

And the direction is extremely anonymous. It's very easy to see that the director has worked a lot in television because the whole movie has the look of a tv-movie with added gore.

There are some interesting bits here and there and also a few neat ideas, but basically this is an "old people-zombies movie" with a lot of borrowings from much better movies (primarily the zombie -movies by George A Romero) that feels a lot longer than it is.

Rubbish

[woonila · 2/10 · 18 October 2022]

I'm not sure what I'm watching here. I thought at first it was about weak and helpless old people who by some supernatural power became evil and wreak havoc, until I saw one of them pass out after some physical altercation like a normal human being, powerless as he was tied to an oven.

So if they're strong enough to attack and terrorize everyone, why stay in the senior home like they have no choice to begin with? Leave the town and have fun living your senior lives elsewhere instead of killing people off because you're supposedly abandoned, lol.

It's overall bad, the plot, the concept, the depressing color tone, the acting. Sometimes when a horror movie is bad it can at least be fun. This one is both bad and meh. I kept waiting and waiting for something good to happen and it never did.

I regret the time spent watching this as I was looking for some Halloween fun, this was anything but.

Diabolically bad

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 13 October 2022]

I'm surprised to see this one being uprated because I thought it was diabolically bad. It's the latest digital horror to hit Netflix, this time German, but if you're thinking of something approaching the quality of recent TV show DARK then think again: this is bargain basement from beginning to end. The story is about a virus that transforms old people into slavering monsters, as evinced in the first scene in which a carer finds an unwelcome surprise in the home of one of her clients. But what follows is cheap, grey, too dark, entirely generic, with the oldsters pretty much depicted as zombies. Some violence, plenty of goo and gross-out moments, but zero suspense or viewer involvement.

Horror or social movie?

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7 October 2022]

It is obvious that this movie is not the common horror flick where old people replace zombies. Hell no, it is horror only on form, but certainly not on the meaning. It is a prophecy scheme, a warning message towards young and middle aged generations about the elders; there are more and more, not living, but surviving and waiting for the ultimate deliverance. In the past we had some horror films where it was question of killer kids, for instance a Spanish movie from the late seventies; Spanish cinema and its obsession for kids in horror films. I am sure we will see more features like this one in the future. But this topic could have been written in a different way, not necessarily in a more or less Hollywood style.

Killing the young just for the kill

[bgiancoli-39034 · 2/10 · 11 October 2022]

This film was unfortunately ridiculous. The acting was decent throughout. I though it was going to go with some sort of supernatural content, maybe the old get stronger when they kill the young, but no. The old people are just killing young people just for the heck of killing. In the beginning, it looks like its happened before as the town is pretty much abandoned. There doesn't seem to be much of an explanation on anything. Then the old people are ridiculously fast and strong, obviously stronger than many much younger adults. At the end it's just mentioned that the killing will continue everywhere.

Has potential

[maxxpyron · 6/10 · 22 December 2022]

I'm unsure why this film got such bad reviews; it certainly wasn't as terrible as some of the reviews lead me to believe it would be! It's definitely a long winded movie, but I watched it with my horror loving family and we all enjoyed it in the way that one enjoys a mindless slasher movie. Old People wasn't anything incredibly groundbreaking, or a cinematic masterpiece. It was on the gory side, but I didn't find it egregious like Terrifier - though I wouldn't watch Old People with kids or very sensitive folks. For how long the movie is, there was a lot that's left unexplained and the "plot" was loose and got lost in unnecessary B-plots. Despite its faults, it's a solid zombie/contagion-esque film that. The movie reminds me of 80s slasher films and has some very good scares and horror moments. Overall, there's potential for this to have been a fantastic movie that flopped a bit, but I would say it's worth checking out.

What a stupid movie

[edlc1970 · 1/10 · 11 October 2022]

Netflix has done it again. What a stupid and boring german movie. The plot is stupid, the acting sucks and the whole movie just dont make any sense. A bunch of old german people running around and killing everyone in sight. Its not new or a fresh take on a zombie apocalypse, Its just plane out lame. In one scene, a nurse gets attacked by the old people, and instead of running or hiding, she makes a phone call in front of a group of murdering old people? Makes no sense. Again, the whole movie makes no sense. And in between the old people, a lot of boring and meaningless germans have boring dialogue. Avoid or waste your time you will never get back.

A Dark Age

[Pairic · 7/10 · 9 October 2022]

Old People:A dark German film, while it is thematically similar to Mom and Dad, it;s darkness is not leavened by the black humour of that film. It does involve social commentary though of a realistic rather than satirical form. Old people are left on their own in flats with limited home help, dumped in inadequately staffed nursing homes. The film begins in an urban area with an old man rising from his wheelchair and battering his carer to death with an oxygen bottle, even the innocent will suffer, In the distance we see fires raging in a city, signs of the elders revolt. Most of the action takes place in a rural area and while there some soapish strands to the story it is an engaging narrative. Mostly the elderly target anyone younger, there are some exceptions where familial ties stay their hands. Mostly they resemble Zombies the the way they gather together, surrounding and attacking houses. Some savage scenes of horror as younger people are torn apart, axed, battered to death, The film might have worked better with 10 minutes shaved off it's 101 minute running time but it's certainly worth watching even if it's message is delivered with a heavy hand. Directed & written by Andy Fetscher. On Netflix. 7/10.

Honig im Kopf

[Schneekardinal · 1/10 · 17 September 2022]

Old age is a scary thing: losing your mind to dementia, your body to decay, your home and your property as you settle into a residence for the elderly, and your social life, as your friends die and your children abandon you.

Andy Fetscher seems to be aware of this, as throughout the film his characters pay lip service to at least the abandonment of the institutionalized elderly by their families. Yet he does not find artistic potential in the existential horror of the situation, opting instead for a bizarrely German approach to the subject: a script that is 70% mainstream German family film of the era, very much in the vein of Til Schweiger, and 30% cookie-cutter zombie flick wherein the elderly stand in as walking corpses.

For lack of consistent tone, creative kills, competent gore or clear rules to the old people's uprising this does not work as a horror movie. Zombie movie cliches are employed to a satirical degree and the sound designer seems to be aware, as the ghostly howls and monstrous gargles with which the elderly are overdubbed seem to intentionally cross the border into comedy.

As a heartwarming family film this does not work for lack of conflict, comedy and any-dimensional characters. The protagonist family of four is ridiculously underwritten. A long-winded setup that centers on a sepia-drenched family wedding fails to equip any of them with goals or flaws, much less arcs - the film's greatest weakness, as its focus remains on familial interactions throughout.

A ridiculous finale wherein the powers of love and music save the day had the cinema in laughing fits and was by far the movie's most enjoyable moment. On another positive note, the film is well shot and well lit, set and costume design is competent and the synth-heavy musical score although heavy-handed wouldn't be out of place in a better zombie film. Old People's complete and utter failure as any kind of film comes down to its writing.

Writer and director Andy Fetscher recounted to us how he conceived of the film as he watched an old woman walk with a rollator, her stunted movements akin to those of the undead. A distasteful thought that should have been forgotten.

i dont get the hate o0

[cat_schroedingers · 8/10 · 8 October 2022]

Yes, of course it could have been better and i rly wish there had been some other choices.

BUT at least this has a decent plot and the premise is relevant.

I am german and seldom watch media content made from "home", i just dont relate to the way actors tend to speak in movies and shows... so if find myself NOT beeing turned off by that, then it has to be sth. About it thst grabs me.

Surprisingly this did.

And i enjoyed this a lot more than 90%of the horror ive seen this year (and i watched over 120flicks). Eg i watched hellraiser22 right before this and though it has much cooler shots and overall set... the budget was huge and that made for great visuals... but that was all i liked about it.

At least this movie has something u may think about at the end.... if u choose to think, that is....

Aging is a ... aka Night of the (barely) living ... old people

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 19 September 2022]

Well no pun intended and I won't say the word, because you probably know anyway which one it is. It starts off with a quite gruesome scene - and then gets brutal. Yes you can say this was another pun. Old people in our society have it quite bad to say the least. Generally speaking that is - the director somehow made some observation of that, while being out in town. I guess he saw how alone they are - or he felt they looked that way.

There are some real worries and problems he integrated in the movie. I know that many at the festival I watched this had issues with the performances. I actually liked most of it. Yes you do have cliche scenes ... like the one about love and being eternal or not. Of course this also plays into the aging theme ... but could have been handled better.

This points at an issue our society has - one that will not end up the way it is portrayed here.

Nahhh...bad, bad, bad!

[pjkblue-35926 · 2/10 · 15 October 2022]

Talk about a ridiculous film. Like a mish-mosh of zombie films in the guise of the geriatric demographic. The only thing I found fairly decent were the special effects of the "killings" and the make-up. Lots of prosthetics probably were used for some actors/actresses.

Old, forgotten people left in a decaying, horrible hospital/adult care facility with three staff. Guess they don't have a healthcare worker union.

A wedding seems to get the "head honcho" crazed - along with his "significant granny" - and somehow they rally the rest of the old folks into a murderous mindset.

They seem to have gone from dying, weak and downtrodden to all running and moving around on steroids. Not a wheelchair, cane or walker as these elderly go mobile.

Of course, the younger adults are totally oblivious, totally stupid and are easily overpowered by the Geritol Army. How many cars were burning on the roadside along with the bodies scattered along the way... The "step-wife" goes nutty with gallons of resentment and jealousy in her veins, and we all saw that coming.

Grandpa has some type of epiphany and saves the kids from their deathly fate. Pretty good elder athlete to be running on the beach to get to a boat.

How bad a film it was.

Old folks vs incompetent adults.

[elle-six · 3/10 · 8 October 2022]

Old folks turn murderous zombies when they are not invited to party. Ok. I get that they are feeling sad and abandoned at the badly maintained nursing home. If they had the kindda energy to go out and murder people, they could have just organized their own rave party.

Either they move real fast or the adults spend too much time hesitating what to do every minute. I have never seen such terrible decisions (or lack of) made by healthy able adults. Seriously.... in times of danger, they'd rather hug each other than grabbing any sorta weapon to protect themselves. Hug their kids, rather than grabbing a gun to keep everyone alive.... especially after witnessing your friends getting murdered by all these old psychos. Did i mention them old folks moving very fast... like they are on drugs?

Seems like all the adults are reluctant to fight back everytime they encounter these monsters. Ok, respect the old folks. But they'd bash yr head in with a make-shift monkey fist. Also they move like a ninja... entering houses without a sound. No creaking floorboard... no foot steps... no knocking over stuff or fall over and break a hip. Like i said, they could have just started their own rave party at the nursing home.

The ending is just lazy and illogical. Girl walk out the door, stood there for like 20 seconds looking at her grandpa without noticing a psycho old guy standing next to her.... ever heard of peripheral vision?

Then she has the time and mood to sing a song while almost getting her throat slit. By the time i wanna throw my controller at the TV, the movie ends.

Only thing i liked bout it is the gore effects. Thats well done.

Rubbish from Netflix German 🇩🇪

[SonyaPuspitaningtyas · 2/10 · 19 October 2022]

The plot is basic. Nothing special. The back sound doesn't fit well with the scenes. The acting is exaggerated, especially for the ex-wife. And looking at older people acting as zombies is weirdly laughable. I hope they are well paid because the acting is dead-ass horrible. The cinematography is also basic. It can't help either, how miserable the movie is. If you get easily disturbed, you should pick other movies because Old People is in the gore movie genre, not purely supernatural horror like Netflix mentioned in the film bio.

Well, the point is, I wasted one hour and forty minutes of my life watching this rubbish from Netflix. This one is a flop. Don't waste your time.

Horrors!

[edw1976 · 1/10 · 11 October 2022]

Now I'm afraid to go visit my grandmother. I noticed she looked rather menacing last time. I bet she's, right this moment, making a macaroni & cheese with glass shards.

Ok, so this movie was sort of pointless and not scary at all. Luckily it's on Netflix, where the subscription cost is high, but the channel does put out some good stuff every now and then. This movie's not one of those.

I won't give away anything, because what you've read in the synopsis is all you need to know. Just go in with no expectations and you won't be disappointed. I'd give it an A+ on saving money on the lighting bill, and that's about it.

Not amazing but pretty good

[daniel-r-goh · 6/10 · 8 November 2022]

I have to say I'm surprised by the hate. Sure the ending was a bit flimsy and the movie pretty much came across as a zombie film but it was tense, gruesome and had a nice brooding tone. Some of the scenes were a little dark and a couple of "wholesome" scenes were a little cringey. I'm not sure why the start was shot with all these floaties in the air to give that fairytale look, came across a little cheesy. Horror film.-wise I was surprised who lived and died, it was not who I expected. All in all, not a bad film and if you like slashers and zombies, this one will be right up your alley. Also I always have a soft spot for German language films that aren't war movies!

Not great, but not terrible... tech errors?

[soulclown · 3/10 · 14 October 2022]

This film is shot beautifully for what it is. As a horror fanatic though, this really does not deliver in any other aspect. It reads as a desperate attempt slice up the zombie genre but ends up feeling more derivative than it wants to be.

I also found the tone of the line delivery to be add at times. The very first scene for example when the character is laughing and then almost completely changes her tone next line. Just jarring and amateur.

Another thing that bugged me is possible audio errors with the lines. A few times it felt like the decay was clipped too short and really bothered me. Creates a weird dead popping noise.

Overall though, without giving spoilers, the plot it is boring, the execution is sloppy, and the scares are not very scary.

And you thought cheek pinching was bad

[laflammemark · 7/10 · 4 November 2022]

By gum, young fella, I'm surprised to see this movie as poorly rated as it is. Why, back in my day, we appreciated a flick that delivered what it promised, and dadgummit, I think this one does so.

The concept is unsettling. Old people turning on the young - even on their own loved ones? That's a pretty grim notion. I don't know what message the filmmakers were trying to impart here and I didn't search too hard for one. But the ride itself is a fun one, even if it's a little bit eye-rolly in places. They do a lot right, here. If you're telling a story about a swarm of old timers whipping up some old fashioned whoop ass on young folk, for example, you better make your geriatric bad guys look pretty scary. In this, I think the filmmakers succeeded mightily. Those old bad asses look sinister. They look mad. Mostly, they look old. Real damn old, and every sad feature of aging was used to full effect. The gnarled hands, the shriveled faces, the hunched and shuffling way they moved as they were coming to kill you. They groaned with the aches of age even they bent to stick a shank in your guts. You could practically hear them creeking as they rampaged. This ensemble was so well put together, you could almost SMELL them; an unlovely blend of Ben-Gay, moth balls and Werthers Originals wafting all over the many scenes of carnage.

But I digress. It's an aging thing, you know, can't keep a thought in my fool head to save my lifes.

The main characters - the broken and now desperate family, were about as frustrating as you can get. Hey, we've got a gun! Let's not use it! Let's set it down and forget about it at every turn! And hey, you know what's a good plan in situations like these? Splitting up. Anything else we can do to ensure we all get gummed to death by these murderous duffers?

But that's par for the course in horror movies like this. All in all, this was a fun movie. I reckon it deserves a better score than it's getting, but you know how young people are. Never satisfied. Now if you'll all excuse me, I've got to go do something nice for my elderly momma so she doesn't kill me in my sleep.

Laughably bad.

[shonjdavis · 2/10 · 12 October 2022]

Horrible RUSHED plot. No character development... the overacting was super cringy. I was laughing so hard at how bad this movie was. I have a tear in my eye as I write this because of my laughter. Wooooo... that's time out my life that I'll never get back. This was only gory... but the gore wasn't overwhelming, which I guess was it's only redeeming quality. This might have been pretty decent had the plot not been so rushed and at most, chaotic and unhinged. I found myself asking "wait, what?" And not in a "surprising twist" sort of way, but in a befuddled, "this doesn't make any sense sort of way. This could've been so much more had the proper time and care been put in.

Rise of the AARP!!

[ykjdh · 8/10 · 13 October 2022]

I don't get the dislike for this one. When compared to Hollywood horror these days Netflix has this and it's not actually that bad. I'm reminded of a movie called Alone in the Dark from 1983. On that movie, crazy people break out of the nut ward during a blackout. Jack palance was the head crazy guy and Dwight Schultz was the doctor trying keep him and his family alive.

No spoilers but let's just say to those who remember Alone in the Dark, this one also has a head crazy guy too. Except this guy is leading seniors who go on a killing spree during a thunderstorm. Surprisingly gruesome for a movie about killer old people it's clear their motives are revenge for neglect. Sorta a like a statement on how our society's lack of empathy is the reason for the madness.

There's a mom and her kids caught up in the thunderstorm who fight for their lives as the seniors run amok. The movie is full of action, suspense, violence, and lots gory brutality. Our most vulnerable are fed up and they're rising up with vicious results.

I'm not sure what so many were looking at here but I found it to be satisfying even with an ambiguous ending. The darkness comes from our most vulnerable people in society. Our most vulnerable aren't going to take it anymore.

It's a horror movie at best

[dewilliams30 · 7/10 · 16 October 2022]

Listen! I love critics on here who aren't writers but lurk screenwriter groups then use the jargon they've seen in their reviews. This is a horror movie and with that said character arcs aren't that important. When watching a horror movie just a smidge of who the characters are matters and only if it helps to move the story along. The only thing missing and I may have missed it was to give us more than the 'old people' are fed up with living like animals. Was it truly a spirit? That's what an article is suggesting however I didn't notice it being brought up but I may have missed it. An evil spirit introduced other than a title card caption would be great. This helps gives us a reason and not just the suggestion of the neglected going mad just because. The consistent comparison of zombies to the old people is aggravating in these reviews this only proves how closed minded most are when thinking outside the box. But who knows everyone comes up with their own perspective of what they see and hear. It was disturbing and horrifying due to for a long time when I was a child I had nightmares of 'old people' chasing me. At the end it was a pretty good send off. Films are supposed to make you think. Horror movies are supposed to leave you disturbed and uncomfortable I would say it accomplished what it set out to do. Love Like or hate it you watched it lol. The acting was average not bad. The film could have given us more to build the premise but overall it worked.

Complete and utter rubbish

[nerenajerrard · 1/10 · 8 October 2022]

Don't waste your time watching this. I'm amazed at how many people must have had to approve the various elements of production required for such a terrible, misguided, poorly-acted "movie" to have even be made in the first place.

Poor character development, poor storyline that goes nowhere and also just makes no rational sense. There is just seemingly no point to the entire story. The worst part is that you think you'll be provided with some sort of explanation at the end, but no. It's just that Old People are angry at young people for existing, which is infuriating because it's not even a clear motive for the rampage we are forced to endure for an hour and a half. And the worst part is that in the end it turns out that the Old People are perfectly capable of snapping out of their hypnotic, zombie-like state if they want to. So what is the entire point of their rampage in the first place?

Honestly, one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

I don't wanna watch stupid movies like that.

[erhanipekciler · 1/10 · 26 October 2022]

Bad bad bad. I cannot stand anymore film without reason brutal and bloody attacks. What is the reason of that? That was a super sweet couple's wedding party and it turned blood bath.. Sorry but no sense. Not scary at all just disturbing. Some comments say there is a message bla bla but no, I will not accept this and also there is no message at all! . Do not kill your time with this stupid movie. Also I don't like the old people situation in the movie . And please change this 600 characters review because this movie doesn't deserve to 600 characters comment only disgusting is enough for comment. I hated so much and I am so angry to watch this.