When Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal first heard the pitch for Old, he was sold.
“It’s a very appealing premise,” The Motorcycle Diaries star tells The National. “I was very obviously into it.”
And who wouldn’t be? After all, this is the latest thriller from M Night Shyamalan, director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Adapted from the French graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, a brilliant – and disconcerting – high concept forms the core of this unsettling tale. Think The Twilight Zone crossed with The Beach and you’re somewhere close to this eerie effort.
Bernal plays Guy, a family man who travels to a luxury resort with his wife (Vicky Krieps) and two young children. But when they, and some other hotel guests, journey to a secluded cove, strange things start to happen. If they try to leave, they black out. And then comes the real twist: they are now ageing so rapidly, that every half hour that passes is the equivalent of a year.
By coincidence, Bernal, 42, who rose to fame in films including Amores Perros, had just watched Luis Bunuel’s The Exterminating Angel. The 1962 Surrealist masterpiece is centred on a bourgeois dinner party where the guests suddenly find they can’t leave.
“It reminded me of this and other films that establish a kind of limitation or impossibility and you have to work around it," he says, comparing the shoot to a mad experiment in a laboratory. “How are we going to tell the story?”
It’s a salient point. As Bernal points out: “The concept of time is something that we have so engraved in our lives that all of a sudden accelerating [it] ... it is mind-blowing. What would the characters do in this situation?”
How would Bernal react if he was trapped in this supernatural horror show? “I don’t know. I guess that’s something ... it’s a question that I can have a different answer for at every moment. It’s very difficult to put oneself into that kind of mindset.”
There were no cellphones on the beach where we were shooting. So it was pretty nice to be out there, without having to be connected all the time
Gael Garcia Bernal,
actor
As characters start to age and wrinkle – one even has a tumour grow to the size of a grapefruit in a matter of minutes – Bernal points to the film’s “mythical setting” as fundamental. With the surrounding cliffs akin to a proscenium arch and the ocean forming the scenic backdrop, the beach was their stage. “It’s kind of a theatrical experience,” he says. It’s not hard to see that Bernal, who has directed two feature films and an episode of Mozart in the Jungle, the Amazon original series he also stars in, is a filmmaker at heart.
Old was shot 12 months ago in the Dominican Republic, amid the pandemic, with the entire cast and crew taking over an empty hotel and forming a Covid-19-safe bubble. No masks or even shoes – they were barefoot throughout – required, it was somewhat an escape from the horrors the world has been facing.
“There were no cellphones on the beach where we were shooting. So it was pretty nice to be out there, without having to be connected all the time.”
Bernal, who was born in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, admits it was the perfect chance to commune with Mother Nature – a theme the film explores.
“I enjoy being in nature and feeling connected to it. I mean, I think we all do in a way; we all kind of get something out of it and we reset. Or rather, we feel like we escape back to who we are. And then we go back to this kind of life that we live in.”
As we chat over Zoom – isolated from one another – he says: “The extreme opposite would be this interaction that we’re having right now, which has nothing to do with nature.”
For Bernal, popping up in a Shyamalan blockbuster is a little unusual in a career that’s instead paired him with auteurs such as Pedro Almodovar (Bad Education) and Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu Mama Tambien). But he’s just as excited by a Hollywood project as an art house one.
“It’s an interesting adventure also, because at the same time, I never expect the results. I hope that they’re good, of course, but you never know. I think that’s more or less the way that I kind of decide which ones to do.”
Bernal’s other recent English-language project is the coming TV series Station Eleven, alongside Himesh Patel and Mackenzie Davis. It tells the story of a group of survivors whose lives are destroyed by a devastating flu pandemic. Bernal can’t quite express how bizarre it was to be working on the show as the coronavirus pandemic began to escalate.
“It’s just one of those things … it was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy that we’re doing this.’ We actually got interrupted because of the pandemic.”
No wonder he loves acting so much – it simply never gets old.
Old is in UAE cinemas from Thursday, August 12
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
Friday’s fixture
6.15pm: Al Wahda v Hatta
6.15pm: Al Dhafra v Ajman
9pm: Al Wasl v Baniyas
9pm: Fujairah v Sharjah
.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
