October 9, 2025 • 38 mins
Imagine stepping onto a perfect, hidden beach and feeling your life accelerate—years slipping by in hours, bodies racing ahead of minds, and secrets surfacing as quickly as the tide. That’s the uneasy heart of Sandcastle and Old, and we dig into why the same premise lands so differently on the page and on screen. We trace how the graphic novel’s eerie hints—a watcher on the cliff, a fleeting mention of a hotel—become the film’s full-blown surveillance network and resort pipeline, and we ask whether stitching every clue into a system strengthens the story or drains it of its darkness.
We get candid about the toughest material: accelerated puberty, consent, and the ethical line between portraying horror and exploiting it. The book confronts discomfort with explicit imagery and ambiguous mental ages; the film pulls back, leaning on performance and implication while sticking to strict time rules. From decomposition that speeds up to a devastating “twelve days per minute” calculation that makes caring for a newborn impossible, we test each version’s internal logic and how that logic shapes dread. We also chart character shifts—the refugee becoming a rapper, younger spouses re framing vulnerability—and how those choices steer empathy, suspicion, and agency.
Then we tackle the twist that divided us. The graphic novel flirts with conspiracy; the film names it: a pharmaceutical operation compressing clinical trials into a single day. It’s a pointed critique of profit over people, and it turns random terror into institutional harm. Does that clarity deepen the horror or shrink it to a headline? We close with a verdict rooted in taste: if you love Twilight Zone mood and unanswered questions, the book’s your pick; if you want clean rules, ethical guardrails, and a societal target, the movie makes its case. Press play, then tell us: mystery or meaning? Subscribe, share with a friend who argues about adaptations, and leave a quick review with your winner and why.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Welcome to Books versus Movies, the podcast where
I set out to answer the age-oldquestion: Is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Juvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York
City, and today Orlando and Iwill be discussing Sandcastle by
Pierre Oscar Levy and its 2021adaptation old, directed by M.
(00:24):
Night Shamelon and starring GailGarcia Vatnal and Vicky Krates.
So, hi.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
Hello.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
Uh, so what did you think of my idea to invite you
onto this episode?
Because I kind of was just like,this is short, read it, join me.
SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
I mean, I'm always down.
Um to join you.
You're just a significantlyfaster reader than I am.
So it's kind of hard to do theseepisodes because by the time I
finish reading, you've alreadyread like 20 books.
But this one was a fast one, soI'm excited.
SPEAKER_00 (01:10):
Okay, cool.
So um, so let's let's go aheadand get started.
So Sandcastle by Pierre OscarLevy, illustrated by Frederick
Peters, I believe.
It's a graphic novel that wasfirst published in 2011, and it
(01:33):
follows a series of families, arefugee and a couple.
Well, I guess it's threedifferent families.
So, yeah, three differentfamilies in a refugee that come
to a beach to experience aperfect beach day, and then they
(01:54):
realize that they're aging a lotfaster than they should be.
The 2021 Adaptation Old,directed by M.
Not Chamalan, is pretty much theexact same thing.
It's three families and well,two families, a couple, and a
(02:14):
rapper that make their way ontoa beach, and they discover that
they're aging a lot faster thanthey should be.
So I guess first things first,the families in the graphic
novel kind of just end up onthis beach um on a whim, it
(02:37):
seems like.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:39):
But in the film, they're taken there by the hotel
that they're staying at.
And this is like a like thehotel was like, oh, book this
beach excursion and we'll comepick you up at the end of the
day.
But the hotel is in on it.
They know, they know.
SPEAKER_01 (02:59):
Yeah, because uh the hotel is the one that plans the
trip for them to begin with,right?
They're the ones that all of asudden um we learn through um
Well, before you before you saythat, let's let's do a quick
spoiler alert.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Let's not forget to do that.
Oh, yeah, spoiler alert.
So this is an M.
Night Shyamalan film.
M.
Night Shamalan is known for histwists.
So there's definitely gonna be alot more spoilers for the film
than there is for the graphicnovel.
(03:38):
Because I think uh pretty mucheverything that happens in the
graphic novel, except for likeone or two things happen in the
film.
So if you do not not want toknow the M-night shy on twist of
this film, then watch it andthen come back.
But okay, continue your thought.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Yeah, um, yeah, it was the hotel that um not
necessarily invited them, butonce, okay, now that you've done
the spoiler alert, once that weknow that people are sick, all
of a sudden they start receivingadvertisements, uh emails about
oh, this exclusive hotel, andblah blah blah.
(04:18):
And that's how they get suckedinto the hotel who then plans
their beach trip for them.
Yes that's how we end up in thebeach.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
Yeah, so that's in the in the graphic novel, like I
said, it's just like completelyrandom.
These people all just happen toend up on on the beach.
Um there are kind of hintsthroughout the graphic novel
that are never really answered.
(04:49):
So, like one of the kids doesmention seeing like there's
someone with binoculars up onthe mountain, and then nothing
ever comes of that in thegraphic novel, and then there's
also a moment in which they'relike, that's Jose, that's Jose,
that's the hotelier's sonrunning towards us, and then
Jose gets shot down, and thenthat never goes on anywhere, so
(05:13):
it's like we it seems like thesefamilies just ended up there in
the graphic novel by their ownfree will, but then there is one
very, very brief mention of ahotel.
So I don't know that like Isaid, that's never really
answered in the graphic novel.
(05:35):
But yeah, that's the it's sothose two things happen in the
film, and it is answered.
Like the guy that is that thekids see up on the mountain is
spying on them and taking notes.
We will get into why he's takingnotes when we reveal officially
the twist.
(05:56):
And then the hotelier, it's notthe hotelier's son, it's the
hotelier's nephew who ends upproviding a major clue that we
will also get into when we getinto the twist.
So those things are fleshed outin the film, but in the graphic
novel, they're mentioned once,and then it's kind of like they
(06:19):
never existed because they'renever brought back again.
SPEAKER_01 (06:23):
Yeah, yeah, like they're kind of those are little
moments I was like, had I notseen the movie, I was like, So
what is this?
But I guess because I saw themovie, I had more of an answer,
at least at Night Shamalas'version of how he interpreted
(06:43):
those moments.
But yeah, though those were someweird moments, but uh I I guess
in the graphic novel sense, itkind of just builds the mystery
because you're like, what wasthat?
What was that for?
But nothing gets explained.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Yeah, so that that is one of the main issues I had
with the graphic novel.
It's I know that it didn'tbother you so much.
Um, but yeah, it really justbugged me that like these
elements were introduced.
Like, since we saw the filmbefore we read the graphic
novel, I was able to say, okay,I guess that's what that is.
(07:25):
But then again, I'm inserting M.
Chamalan's interpretation ofthese things and incorporating
it into the novel.
So I don't know how I would haveinterpreted those moments if I
had read it first and then seenthe film, but I think I mean it
definitely would have bugged me.
(07:46):
Like, I'm not someone that needsevery single thing to be
answered personally, but whenyou like you can't just bring uh
stuff like that up and thennever answer it again.
Like if those moments, like ifthe hotelier son hadn't been
included, if the man with thebinoculars hadn't been included,
(08:07):
and it was kind of just likethis beach, you age a lot
faster, then I would have justaccepted that.
And it the ambiguity of itwouldn't have bugged me as much
as it did.
But since those elements werebrought in, and I I think those
were the only two things thatwere brought in and just never
answered.
(08:28):
It's like, why include them ifthey're not important?
SPEAKER_01 (08:34):
Okay, yeah.
Um, just want to point outthere's a weird sound coming,
but I don't know if it's myheadphones or it's mic, but just
uh I think it's the airconditioner.
SPEAKER_00 (08:44):
I'm not gonna turn off the air conditioner though.
So I'm sorry, you're gonna behearing the air conditioner.
SPEAKER_01 (08:49):
No, no, that's fine.
Um, not I I don't know what itwas.
Uh but see, I was more of theopposite end of that.
Like, what I like about it isthat it is weird, it is
mysterious, and all of thesethings get brought up, but none
of it really answers thequestion, and it kind of just
(09:13):
leaves you in the furthermystery of what exactly is going
on.
Um, which I kind of appreciateduh over the over-explanation
that tends to happen nowadays inbooks and movies, especially in
horror.
I feel like that's become athing where it's the
(09:34):
over-explanation, theover-logicalizing of things.
I don't even know that's a wordlogicalizing, but anyway.
You know, you know what I meanthough, like uh the pushing the
logic so much, and that that isone of the things I did
appreciate of this graphic novelthat I was like, that weird
thing happened, it's up to you.
(09:55):
What do you think happened?
Um I don't know.
I kind of appreciated that.
I I love that aspect of thegraphic novel.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
So moving on a little bit into some more
differences.
So the there's so manycharacters, and honestly, I
don't remember like half oftheir names.
So just and and I I don't Iwouldn't even know how to
(10:25):
mention them because I don'tthink the names in the graphic
novel match the names in thefilm, and some of them do, some
of them don't, and so I don'twant to like overly confuse
everyone, but so it's gonna be alittle bit difficult, but there
is like uh one character in thegraphic novel, he is an Algerian
(10:51):
refugee that somehow ends up onthis beach.
In the film, he is a um a rapperthat is again we'll go into a
little bit more detail about thetwist and how everyone why what
everyone is doing on this beach,but that's his equivalent.
(11:15):
It's so it's the Algerianrefugee and the um rapper.
What was his name?
It was like minivan or somethinglike that.
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
Midsai sedan.
SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
Midsai sedan, yeah.
I was like, that's somethinglike that.
Yeah, it it's something likethat.
It was it was a name that I waslike, I don't know of any
rappers that would ever namethemselves that.
But then again, we live in aworld where little pump is a
thing, so yeah, but then likewhatever.
(11:45):
Um, so we have that equivalent,and then we have one family in
the film, it's um Gary GarciaBednal's family, and then we
have the other family, which isRufus Sewell's family, and in
the in the graphic novel,they're switched.
(12:06):
So so in the graphic novel, bothfamilies have two children.
They both have a son and adaughter, but I feel like they
were switched in the film.
So the and and in the film,Rufus Sewell only had his
daughter, he didn't have a sonthe way he his character has in
the graphic novel, but I feellike they were switched because
(12:27):
like his children were older inthe are the are the ones that
are a little bit older in thegraphic novel, and in the film
his daughter's like the youngerone, and then Gary Garcia
Brighton's family are the oneswith the two younger children,
and in the film they're they'rethe ones with the little bit
older children.
(12:48):
And then we have the couple inthe graphic novel, they're
joined by her dad, and then inthe in the film, it's just the
couple.
So yeah, we have some missingcharacters in the film, and then
we have some minor changesbetween who's related to who.
(13:11):
So I think that's just theeasiest way to explain it, but
there are some minor changes inthe families.
SPEAKER_01 (13:18):
Yeah, no, yeah.
I did I did notice that theyswapped the children around,
which I'm not exactly sure thewhy.
And the Rufus' wife, forwhatever reason in the movie,
they made her significantlyyounger than him, and that is
part of the I guess thestoryline.
(13:38):
So yeah, changes that were madethat I'm not I couldn't tell you
why.
SPEAKER_00 (13:45):
Yeah, I don't really know why either.
So yeah, I did forget that in inthe graphic novel, everyone's
around the same age, likecouple-wise, but yes, in the
film, uh Rufus Sewis Sewell'swife is quite a bit younger than
he is.
But yeah, so we're also gonnaget into a little bit of content
(14:09):
warnings.
So, and and one of them is acontent warning.
I would say it is specific tothe graphic novel, although this
does happen in the film as well.
And that is there is just as Ias I mentioned in I in one of my
(14:31):
YouTube videos, this graphicnovel is NSFSR, which is not
safe for subway reading.
There is so much nudity.
There uh there are like sexualencounters that happen in the
graphic novel, and what can makeit uncomfortable for for some
(14:52):
people is that they're not likeovertly graphic, I would say.
Maybe like one panel is like youcould say is like that's
actually kind of graphic, but Iwouldn't say it's like overtly
graphic, the way I've seen likeother sex moments drawn in in
(15:15):
graphic novels.
But what can make ituncomfortable for people is that
two of the characters areminors, so they they are minors
having sex with each other, theyare engaging in teenage sex.
For me personally, seeing themseeing minors since they they
(15:36):
are completely fictionalcharacters and they're just
drawn.
It's not like I'm looking at aan actual picture of a real life
minor, like that's what makes itnot that like that's what makes
it okay for me, I guess.
Um it it is kind of still likewhoa to like turn the page and
(15:59):
see that, and it's like, but youknow, the fact that they're the
same age, but I know thatthere's like some people that
don't want to see nudity ofminors of any kind, so yeah,
just just want to throw that outthere, but they are at least
it's like minors having sex witheach other.
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
I feel like another thing that could be triggering
and a little bit hard to wraparound, which is something that
I feel like both the movie andthe graphic novel didn't quite
answer, is the mental age of thepeople.
Uh, because the couple that endsup having sex, they started off
(16:45):
as six-year-olds when they gotto this beach, and so that
that's where like I I get it.
If you're you know your body isaging, you have your hormones
that are aging as well.
But I was like, but what left mewondering is like mentally,
where were they?
Were they still six-year-olds?
(17:06):
And that that's that's one partthat kind of um I won't say
triggered me necessarily, butthey kind of tripped me up a
little as to what exactly wasgoing on there and what the
mental age, especially in thegraphics novel, it's it's
another difference that happenslater, but you see the one
character's mental age is notthe age.
(17:30):
So it it it would it it can justkind of trip you up a little,
just thinking that it at the endof the day, they they just start
off as six-year-olds when theygot to this beach and could
potentially be a mentallysix-year-old child engaging in
sexual activity with the body ofan older teenager, so it can get
(17:51):
a little dicey there.
SPEAKER_00 (17:53):
Yeah, that that's true, and and that's something
that I didn't really thinkabout, but it is a very good
point that yeah, like it boththe graphic novel and the film
don't really like there'smoments in which, especially in
the film.
So I I do want to say in thefilm, don't worry, there is no
(18:13):
nudity involving minors at all.
And uh the the the twocharacters that that do end up
having sex with each other thatare minors, um, the most you see
is like them talking before theyengage in anything, and then um
(18:37):
the young man touches hershoulder and that's it.
So like do not worry the the thefilm, you don't see any nudity,
any sexual content between thosecharacters at all.
But yeah, there is there aremoments.
So in the in the film, the thecharacter that we're referring
(19:00):
to that that starts off as asix-year-old and then ends up
engaging in sex once his body isof age, uh, is played by Alex
Wolf.
And Alex Wolf is, I think he's agood actor and he does a really
good job portraying thischaracter.
But there are moments in whichhe's he like his character is
(19:23):
like really naive.
So it's like, is he really naivebecause he still has the mind of
his six-year-old, or is hereally naive because while his
body has aged really quickly andhis mind is aging quickly as
well, maybe it's not aging asfast as his body.
So is it is it just he's naivebecause he's experiencing all
(19:45):
these things for the first timeand it's happening so fast, or
is it because mentally he'sstill a six-year-old?
And that's and I will say thisbugged me in both the graphic
novel and the film.
The six-year-old girl did seemto age a lot faster mentally
than the the little boycharacter.
(20:09):
So she was the one that was alot more willing to be like,
let's have sex right now in inthe graphic novel.
And in the film, like she's she,so spoiler alert, she does end
up dying.
And the way she ends up dying isshe's like, I don't want to be
on this beach, and she likestarts climbing up the mountain.
(20:31):
And the way this this area ofthe beach works in the film is
like if you try to leave thatarea too fast, you your brain
gets all frazzled and you end uppassing out.
So she starts climbing up themountain, and once she reaches
almost the top, that's whathappens.
And so she she passes out andshe falls off and she dies.
(20:55):
So she's a little bit moreconscious of like, something's
not right, I need to get out ofhere.
And so, I mean, that's that'sjust playing on like stereotypes
of like, oh, but girls agefaster than boys do.
And it's like, well, notnecessarily.
Sometimes it's like socialconstructs that makes um girls
(21:21):
age age faster than boys, butthey're really they're just as
emotionally immature as as itall depends on your age,
basically.
SPEAKER_01 (21:36):
Yeah, yeah, and I feel like uh what you're saying
is is more especially clear inthe movie.
Uh because like you were saying,Alice Wolf does play a
significantly younger, mentallyyoung kid, and she plays a
significantly older, more maturecharacter when they were both
just six years old, so theyshould technically be around the
(21:57):
same age.
Um yeah, that that's I thoughtabout that.
That's very clear and yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:06):
And one thing that you you said you're like, I'm so
glad they changed this for thefilm, and I did too, is the
older sister.
Um in the in the book, I willsay we don't know how old she is
when she engages, she does endup having sex with the Algerian
(22:28):
refugee.
But we honestly don't know howold she is when she has sex with
him.
Like she's aged up, but we don'tknow if she's technically still
a minor, or if she's just barelylegal, or if she's like in her
early 20s at that point when sheengages in sex with him.
(22:50):
So that's and and this guy, likehe's he shows up at the beach as
an adult.
So he's very, very much clearlyan adult.
This isn't like they're the likehe's a little bit older than
her.
It's like, no, like he's full-onan adult when she arrives as a
14-year-old in the graphicnovel.
(23:13):
And and again, she's the onethat's like, let's have sex
right now.
And and it yeah, that that wasjust really uncomfortable.
That sexual encounter does nothappen.
At at this point, the thedaughter, older daughters played
by Thomas and Mackenzie onceshe's aged up.
(23:35):
So this this moment betweenThomas and Mackenzie and the
rapper played by Aaron Pierredoes not happen.
So that was, I do agree, I likethat change because it is like
uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Yeah, and it seemed like in the graphic novel, they
were trying to give her like arebellious edge against her dad
on some sort.
And it seemed like they weregoing for she's sexually active
because of rebellion.
But it was like, but she startedoff as young, like a kid, and
then because I remember there'sthat one part where she's trying
(24:09):
to start an orgy with the otherkids, and it's like, but one of
those kids is your brother.
It just got weird.
Uh, her character was veryweirdly written, so I did really
like that.
They changed all of that for themovie, and I did appreciate that
in the movie.
She is when she's a kid, shesees the rapper and she fangirls
(24:33):
because it's this rapper thatshe I guess knows.
And the relationship becomes afriend.
No need for any sexual tension,no need for anything else.
It really is, she just reallyadmires this guy, and they have
that connection.
That's it.
So I I did appreciate thatchange a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (24:54):
Yeah, me too.
It's it's it's those were thethose are the two more uh
uncomfortable aspects of thegraphic novel.
I and and so I did want to givethat content warning.
So um so yeah, it just just gointo it with care and and
(25:16):
everything.
But yeah, um so that was thatwas uncomfortable.
So I I am glad that they madethose changes for the film.
The other I'm giving it as acontent warning because there's
literally a website called Doesthe Dog Die?
Um, so yes, the dog does die inthe graphic novel and the film.
SPEAKER_01 (25:39):
Um I mean, I guess just that this just if it makes
you a little better, the the dogdoes not die violently, it is
just a dog, and dogs age a lotfaster than humans.
Um, and that is just the natureof what this island is.
But yeah, the dog does die.
SPEAKER_00 (25:58):
Yes, and and he dies, like Orlando said, it's
not a violent death, he diespeacefully, he he goes to sleep,
and because time goes, so everyhalf hour is the equivalent to
one year of your life.
So this dog goes to sleep, and Imean, I know like with our dog,
he can sleep for out, like hejust knocks out.
(26:22):
So, same thing, this dog goes tosleep.
Uh, as a I mean, we don't knowhow old the dog is, but he goes
to sleep and just never wakes upbecause eventually he dies of
old age in his sleep.
So it's definitely not graphic.
You don't see the body of thedog in the film, but you do see
a picture of it in the graphicnovel.
(26:42):
But don't worry, it just lookslike he's asleep because that's
how he died.
Yeah.
So I do want to talk about onesome of the changes in the film
that I actually did like, andthat is so and I'm I'm curious
(27:03):
about what you think about thisone.
So in everything in the filmages uh a half hour, one year
has passed, everything.
And that includes so as peoplethere there's one person that
dies um kind of off-screen forboth of these instances, and and
(27:28):
she's kind of like the catalystof the finding of the her body
is kind of the catalyst towardseveryone figuring out what's
happening.
And so in the film, and andobviously time is passing, we
have some elderly people thatdie of old age as well.
And in the film, as I said,everything ages at that
(27:52):
equivalent, and that includesthe body, so they decompose the
same rate.
Um, so like at one point, likeafter they discover the body,
they pull her up to the beach,they cover her with the blanket,
and then later on they go checkon her.
And at this point, they said itit's been like the equivalent of
(28:14):
seven years of decompositionhave passed.
So she's just like literallyjust bones.
In the graphic novel, the onceyou die, like you don't like
your body decomposes normally,like it doesn't decompose as
fast.
Uh so yeah, so I'm curious whatyou thought of that change.
(28:35):
I I actually liked that changein the film just because it
makes sense to me thateverything would age faster.
SPEAKER_01 (28:43):
Yeah.
Oh no, I I agree.
I did like that change in in themovie.
I hadn't really thought aboutthe the graphic novel.
That's sure they they don't uhchange once they die because the
if you're looking at the logicof this island or this beach or
whatever, the logic is time, soit wouldn't make sense of oh,
(29:04):
you're dead, now time is gonnastop for you.
Like it would make sense thattime is continuing on.
Um but speaking of time, I willsay one plot hole that I feel
like it's more obvious in themovie than it is in the book,
and that's more because of theway they shot it.
In the movie, in both of them,you see when the movie is the
(29:30):
rapper, and in the book, it'sthe the refugee, they're there
with another woman.
Uh, the woman takes her clothesoff and goes swimming, and that
is the body that gets foundbecause when she went swimming,
she died somewhere in theswimming.
In the movie, it is shot in away where it looks like that was
early in the a.m.
hours.
(29:50):
This was probably like 4 a.m.
when nobody's awake.
And then when they get to thebeach, the rest of the families
get to the beach, it's aboutsunlight.
So let's say like 9 a.m., 10a.m., and the guy has not aged
in those four hours.
In the graphic novel, you don'tknow what time the refugee got
there, so you could kind of getthe idea that oh, maybe he's
(30:13):
only been there for an hour.
Um, yeah, that was a little bitthat uh bothered me, but anyway,
uh to your point, I do agree.
It just makes sense that if timeis passing by, it would continue
passing by even after you're acorpse.
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
Yeah.
So we're gonna, there's still somany more things I want to bring
up, and hopefully we get throughit all before time runs out on
my Zoom.
So the the two minors, the twoteenagers that have sex with
each other, they end up gettingpregnant, or the girl ends up
(30:48):
getting pregnant, and obviouslyshe gives birth in 20 minutes
because yeah, that's theequivalent.
20 minutes is like nine monthspassing.
So from time of conception tobirth in this beach is 20
minutes.
And I did also like this changebecause so she gives birth and
(31:12):
then they put like they put thebaby down for a second to as as
they're helping mommy recoverfrom having just given birth,
and when they pick the baby upagain, the baby's dead.
And it's one of those thingsthat's like because time passes
by so fast, there's no way toproperly care for a baby.
(31:34):
And I I did the math, and oneminute is the equivalent of
wait, I don't remember what I itwas, it was um it I think it was
like one minute is theequivalent of 12 days.
So if they put the baby down,one minute that for the one
(31:54):
minute that they were takingcare of mommy, like that's 12
days of that equals 12 days ofbaby being neglected.
So baby dies, and there reallyis no way for a baby to be
properly cared for in the film.
In the graphic novel, the babysurvives and she keeps aging
with everyone else.
And in fact, at the end of thegraphic novel, she's the lone
(32:16):
survivor, and so she she onlyhas a few hours left at that
point before she dies.
But um she's yeah, she's thelone survivor.
So I did like I did also likethat change because it's it's
true, like there really is noway to not neglect like if if
one minute equals 12 days, likethere's really no way to
(32:39):
properly care for a baby.
But I don't know, what do youthink?
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
Yeah, I I'm a little torn because I do really agree
with you.
Um, it makes so much sense.
Like, if you had a baby and timeis passing by that fast, you
would have to have the baby onthe breast the entire time,
otherwise, the baby's just notgetting fed, and babies eat all
the damn time.
So it makes so much more senseto me that the baby dies rather
(33:06):
than survive.
The reason I'm torn is becausethe baby surviving is so
depressing.
That last image of the babybeing like mama, even though
she's like a grown woman,because everyone is dead at this
point, and you just know thatthis innocent baby with the mind
of a baby is gonna die notknowing what the hell happened.
(33:30):
It is such a depressing thoughtthat I loved it.
Like, I I just love that closingimage.
Um, and I felt like it was a lotstronger than what we get in the
movie.
Um, but logically speaking, yes,baby would die, and that makes
the most sense.
SPEAKER_00 (33:47):
Yeah, no, I get it, and it is depressing, and I will
say that that I think that was aplot hole for me in the the
graphic novel, is that like I doagree that is a very depressing
um um image, but just like theidea of time in the graphic
novel, I don't feel isconsistent, like I said, with
the aging, with the decomposingbodies, with uh the baby
(34:11):
surviving, but also um 24 hourswould be the equivalent of 48
years.
So it does make sense for likethe adults to pass away before
the the 20 before the day is up.
And it does make so in like Isaid, in the graphic novel,
everyone dies except for thebaby, who's no longer a baby,
(34:33):
obviously.
But like the the kids shouldhave been alive with the baby
because they were they werekids.
So aging 48 years would make putthem in their 50s, which is what
happens in the film.
They they do end up being in intheir 50s by the end.
Um, so yeah, that was, I think,like a plot point that didn't
(34:55):
really make sense for me in thegraphic novel.
SPEAKER_01 (34:58):
Yeah, it definitely seems like the graphic novel was
more of a just an idea, atheory.
And M.
Night Shock Shaman took that andapplied the logic into it to
make it make a little bit moresense.
Um, but yeah, um I don't know, Idon't know how I feel about the
the deaths because I did feellike the movie does reach that
(35:19):
horror movie point in which it'slike they're all we're all just
kicking each other, killing themoff, killing them off, waiting
for them to all die.
And in the graphic novel, theykind of just die because that's
just what would happen.
Um but yeah, there would be asignificantly big gap between
parents dying and then the kidsdying and then the baby dying
(35:42):
eventually.
SPEAKER_00 (35:44):
So, really quickly, let's get into the M knight
Shyamalan twist, and that isthat big pharma is behind it
all.
SPEAKER_01 (35:54):
Yeah, uh, which is kind of hinted at in the graphic
novel in one single line.
Uh, they're trying to theorizewhat exactly is happening, and
was like, maybe this is part ofbig pharma.
Um and then it just feels likeM.
Night Shamalon took that and waslike, nope, that's what it is.
That's exactly what it is.
Um, which was, I don't know.
I'm I'm still a little tornabout that plot twist.
SPEAKER_00 (36:16):
Yeah, so essentially, like if you're if
you have some sort of um ifyou're ill, like um, oh my gosh,
what's the word?
A preexisting condition, likeyou have some sort of
pre-existing condition thatcould eventually lead to your
death or is causing some sort ofmajor problems, they find they
(36:37):
target you, they they find a wayto target you through like
social media and be like, checkout this like beach resort.
And then so you book a trip tothis beach resort, and then they
convince you to.
So not everyone that goes tothis beach resort is sick, like
the normal, normal people get tostay at the hotel and just enjoy
the hotel and the resort andeverything.
And then if you're sick, theyconvince you to go to this beach
(37:00):
and then they observe you whiletaking notes, which is the guy
with the binoculars that'sthat's taking notes on them, and
then that's how they'redeveloping their their
pharmaceuticals on people.
SPEAKER_01 (37:16):
Yeah, which of course the the guy with the
binoculars, also the driver isthe M.
Night Shamalan cameo, which hasto get mentioned because M.
Night Shamalan always has hiscameo in his own hands.
SPEAKER_00 (37:30):
So as I said, the the hotelier's nephew in the
film ends up sending a code tothe the son because he and the
son become friends, and thenthat that code sends, like I
said, they don't the the kids orthe brother and the sister at
least don't die in the film.
(37:50):
They use this code to get offthe beach and uh like reveal the
pharmaceutical plot to the restof the world.
SPEAKER_01 (38:00):
Yeah, um yeah, I don't know.
It's a weird, it's a weirdtwist, but I mean it is so
really quickly, what do you whatdid you prefer?
SPEAKER_00 (38:11):
It's the book or the film, which is the winner.
SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
Uh do I do a turn roll?
Uh I'm I'm gonna have to go withthe book.
Um just again, like I wassaying, it's just that the
mystery aspect, keeping itmysterious, it's very twilight
zony.
That's what I loved about it.
It's very twilight zone, nosense into it, it's just what it
is.
So I I I like that.
It gets creepy.
(38:35):
I knocked some points out forthe creep the ickiness, but
yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (38:39):
I rated both three stars, but yeah, I think I have
to go with the graphic novel aswell.
But thanks for tuning in,everyone.
See you next time.
Welcome to Books versus Movies, the podcast where
I set out to answer the age-oldquestion: Is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Juvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York
City, and today Orlando and Iwill be discussing Sandcastle by
Pierre Oscar Levy and its 2021adaptation old, directed by M.
(00:24):
Night Shamelon and starring GailGarcia Vatnal and Vicky Krates.
So, hi.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
Hello.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
Uh, so what did you think of my idea to invite you
onto this episode?
Because I kind of was just like,this is short, read it, join me.
SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
I mean, I'm always down.
Um to join you.
You're just a significantlyfaster reader than I am.
So it's kind of hard to do theseepisodes because by the time I
finish reading, you've alreadyread like 20 books.
But this one was a fast one, soI'm excited.
SPEAKER_00 (01:10):
Okay, cool.
So um, so let's let's go aheadand get started.
So Sandcastle by Pierre OscarLevy, illustrated by Frederick
Peters, I believe.
It's a graphic novel that wasfirst published in 2011, and it
(01:33):
follows a series of families, arefugee and a couple.
Well, I guess it's threedifferent families.
So, yeah, three differentfamilies in a refugee that come
to a beach to experience aperfect beach day, and then they
(01:54):
realize that they're aging a lotfaster than they should be.
The 2021 Adaptation Old,directed by M.
Not Chamalan, is pretty much theexact same thing.
It's three families and well,two families, a couple, and a
(02:14):
rapper that make their way ontoa beach, and they discover that
they're aging a lot faster thanthey should be.
So I guess first things first,the families in the graphic
novel kind of just end up onthis beach um on a whim, it
(02:37):
seems like.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:39):
But in the film, they're taken there by the hotel
that they're staying at.
And this is like a like thehotel was like, oh, book this
beach excursion and we'll comepick you up at the end of the
day.
But the hotel is in on it.
They know, they know.
SPEAKER_01 (02:59):
Yeah, because uh the hotel is the one that plans the
trip for them to begin with,right?
They're the ones that all of asudden um we learn through um
Well, before you before you saythat, let's let's do a quick
spoiler alert.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Let's not forget to do that.
Oh, yeah, spoiler alert.
So this is an M.
Night Shyamalan film.
M.
Night Shamalan is known for histwists.
So there's definitely gonna be alot more spoilers for the film
than there is for the graphicnovel.
(03:38):
Because I think uh pretty mucheverything that happens in the
graphic novel, except for likeone or two things happen in the
film.
So if you do not not want toknow the M-night shy on twist of
this film, then watch it andthen come back.
But okay, continue your thought.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Yeah, um, yeah, it was the hotel that um not
necessarily invited them, butonce, okay, now that you've done
the spoiler alert, once that weknow that people are sick, all
of a sudden they start receivingadvertisements, uh emails about
oh, this exclusive hotel, andblah blah blah.
(04:18):
And that's how they get suckedinto the hotel who then plans
their beach trip for them.
Yes that's how we end up in thebeach.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
Yeah, so that's in the in the graphic novel, like I
said, it's just like completelyrandom.
These people all just happen toend up on on the beach.
Um there are kind of hintsthroughout the graphic novel
that are never really answered.
(04:49):
So, like one of the kids doesmention seeing like there's
someone with binoculars up onthe mountain, and then nothing
ever comes of that in thegraphic novel, and then there's
also a moment in which they'relike, that's Jose, that's Jose,
that's the hotelier's sonrunning towards us, and then
Jose gets shot down, and thenthat never goes on anywhere, so
(05:13):
it's like we it seems like thesefamilies just ended up there in
the graphic novel by their ownfree will, but then there is one
very, very brief mention of ahotel.
So I don't know that like Isaid, that's never really
answered in the graphic novel.
(05:35):
But yeah, that's the it's sothose two things happen in the
film, and it is answered.
Like the guy that is that thekids see up on the mountain is
spying on them and taking notes.
We will get into why he's takingnotes when we reveal officially
the twist.
(05:56):
And then the hotelier, it's notthe hotelier's son, it's the
hotelier's nephew who ends upproviding a major clue that we
will also get into when we getinto the twist.
So those things are fleshed outin the film, but in the graphic
novel, they're mentioned once,and then it's kind of like they
(06:19):
never existed because they'renever brought back again.
SPEAKER_01 (06:23):
Yeah, yeah, like they're kind of those are little
moments I was like, had I notseen the movie, I was like, So
what is this?
But I guess because I saw themovie, I had more of an answer,
at least at Night Shamalas'version of how he interpreted
(06:43):
those moments.
But yeah, though those were someweird moments, but uh I I guess
in the graphic novel sense, itkind of just builds the mystery
because you're like, what wasthat?
What was that for?
But nothing gets explained.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Yeah, so that that is one of the main issues I had
with the graphic novel.
It's I know that it didn'tbother you so much.
Um, but yeah, it really justbugged me that like these
elements were introduced.
Like, since we saw the filmbefore we read the graphic
novel, I was able to say, okay,I guess that's what that is.
(07:25):
But then again, I'm inserting M.
Chamalan's interpretation ofthese things and incorporating
it into the novel.
So I don't know how I would haveinterpreted those moments if I
had read it first and then seenthe film, but I think I mean it
definitely would have bugged me.
(07:46):
Like, I'm not someone that needsevery single thing to be
answered personally, but whenyou like you can't just bring uh
stuff like that up and thennever answer it again.
Like if those moments, like ifthe hotelier son hadn't been
included, if the man with thebinoculars hadn't been included,
(08:07):
and it was kind of just likethis beach, you age a lot
faster, then I would have justaccepted that.
And it the ambiguity of itwouldn't have bugged me as much
as it did.
But since those elements werebrought in, and I I think those
were the only two things thatwere brought in and just never
answered.
(08:28):
It's like, why include them ifthey're not important?
SPEAKER_01 (08:34):
Okay, yeah.
Um, just want to point outthere's a weird sound coming,
but I don't know if it's myheadphones or it's mic, but just
uh I think it's the airconditioner.
SPEAKER_00 (08:44):
I'm not gonna turn off the air conditioner though.
So I'm sorry, you're gonna behearing the air conditioner.
SPEAKER_01 (08:49):
No, no, that's fine.
Um, not I I don't know what itwas.
Uh but see, I was more of theopposite end of that.
Like, what I like about it isthat it is weird, it is
mysterious, and all of thesethings get brought up, but none
of it really answers thequestion, and it kind of just
(09:13):
leaves you in the furthermystery of what exactly is going
on.
Um, which I kind of appreciateduh over the over-explanation
that tends to happen nowadays inbooks and movies, especially in
horror.
I feel like that's become athing where it's the
(09:34):
over-explanation, theover-logicalizing of things.
I don't even know that's a wordlogicalizing, but anyway.
You know, you know what I meanthough, like uh the pushing the
logic so much, and that that isone of the things I did
appreciate of this graphic novelthat I was like, that weird
thing happened, it's up to you.
(09:55):
What do you think happened?
Um I don't know.
I kind of appreciated that.
I I love that aspect of thegraphic novel.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
So moving on a little bit into some more
differences.
So the there's so manycharacters, and honestly, I
don't remember like half oftheir names.
So just and and I I don't Iwouldn't even know how to
(10:25):
mention them because I don'tthink the names in the graphic
novel match the names in thefilm, and some of them do, some
of them don't, and so I don'twant to like overly confuse
everyone, but so it's gonna be alittle bit difficult, but there
is like uh one character in thegraphic novel, he is an Algerian
(10:51):
refugee that somehow ends up onthis beach.
In the film, he is a um a rapperthat is again we'll go into a
little bit more detail about thetwist and how everyone why what
everyone is doing on this beach,but that's his equivalent.
(11:15):
It's so it's the Algerianrefugee and the um rapper.
What was his name?
It was like minivan or somethinglike that.
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
Midsai sedan.
SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
Midsai sedan, yeah.
I was like, that's somethinglike that.
Yeah, it it's something likethat.
It was it was a name that I waslike, I don't know of any
rappers that would ever namethemselves that.
But then again, we live in aworld where little pump is a
thing, so yeah, but then likewhatever.
(11:45):
Um, so we have that equivalent,and then we have one family in
the film, it's um Gary GarciaBednal's family, and then we
have the other family, which isRufus Sewell's family, and in
the in the graphic novel,they're switched.
(12:06):
So so in the graphic novel, bothfamilies have two children.
They both have a son and adaughter, but I feel like they
were switched in the film.
So the and and in the film,Rufus Sewell only had his
daughter, he didn't have a sonthe way he his character has in
the graphic novel, but I feellike they were switched because
(12:27):
like his children were older inthe are the are the ones that
are a little bit older in thegraphic novel, and in the film
his daughter's like the youngerone, and then Gary Garcia
Brighton's family are the oneswith the two younger children,
and in the film they're they'rethe ones with the little bit
older children.
(12:48):
And then we have the couple inthe graphic novel, they're
joined by her dad, and then inthe in the film, it's just the
couple.
So yeah, we have some missingcharacters in the film, and then
we have some minor changesbetween who's related to who.
(13:11):
So I think that's just theeasiest way to explain it, but
there are some minor changes inthe families.
SPEAKER_01 (13:18):
Yeah, no, yeah.
I did I did notice that theyswapped the children around,
which I'm not exactly sure thewhy.
And the Rufus' wife, forwhatever reason in the movie,
they made her significantlyyounger than him, and that is
part of the I guess thestoryline.
(13:38):
So yeah, changes that were madethat I'm not I couldn't tell you
why.
SPEAKER_00 (13:45):
Yeah, I don't really know why either.
So yeah, I did forget that in inthe graphic novel, everyone's
around the same age, likecouple-wise, but yes, in the
film, uh Rufus Sewis Sewell'swife is quite a bit younger than
he is.
But yeah, so we're also gonnaget into a little bit of content
(14:09):
warnings.
So, and and one of them is acontent warning.
I would say it is specific tothe graphic novel, although this
does happen in the film as well.
And that is there is just as Ias I mentioned in I in one of my
(14:31):
YouTube videos, this graphicnovel is NSFSR, which is not
safe for subway reading.
There is so much nudity.
There uh there are like sexualencounters that happen in the
graphic novel, and what can makeit uncomfortable for for some
(14:52):
people is that they're not likeovertly graphic, I would say.
Maybe like one panel is like youcould say is like that's
actually kind of graphic, but Iwouldn't say it's like overtly
graphic, the way I've seen likeother sex moments drawn in in
(15:15):
graphic novels.
But what can make ituncomfortable for people is that
two of the characters areminors, so they they are minors
having sex with each other, theyare engaging in teenage sex.
For me personally, seeing themseeing minors since they they
(15:36):
are completely fictionalcharacters and they're just
drawn.
It's not like I'm looking at aan actual picture of a real life
minor, like that's what makes itnot that like that's what makes
it okay for me, I guess.
Um it it is kind of still likewhoa to like turn the page and
(15:59):
see that, and it's like, but youknow, the fact that they're the
same age, but I know thatthere's like some people that
don't want to see nudity ofminors of any kind, so yeah,
just just want to throw that outthere, but they are at least
it's like minors having sex witheach other.
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
I feel like another thing that could be triggering
and a little bit hard to wraparound, which is something that
I feel like both the movie andthe graphic novel didn't quite
answer, is the mental age of thepeople.
Uh, because the couple that endsup having sex, they started off
(16:45):
as six-year-olds when they gotto this beach, and so that
that's where like I I get it.
If you're you know your body isaging, you have your hormones
that are aging as well.
But I was like, but what left mewondering is like mentally,
where were they?
Were they still six-year-olds?
(17:06):
And that that's that's one partthat kind of um I won't say
triggered me necessarily, butthey kind of tripped me up a
little as to what exactly wasgoing on there and what the
mental age, especially in thegraphics novel, it's it's
another difference that happenslater, but you see the one
character's mental age is notthe age.
(17:30):
So it it it would it it can justkind of trip you up a little,
just thinking that it at the endof the day, they they just start
off as six-year-olds when theygot to this beach and could
potentially be a mentallysix-year-old child engaging in
sexual activity with the body ofan older teenager, so it can get
(17:51):
a little dicey there.
SPEAKER_00 (17:53):
Yeah, that that's true, and and that's something
that I didn't really thinkabout, but it is a very good
point that yeah, like it boththe graphic novel and the film
don't really like there'smoments in which, especially in
the film.
So I I do want to say in thefilm, don't worry, there is no
(18:13):
nudity involving minors at all.
And uh the the the twocharacters that that do end up
having sex with each other thatare minors, um, the most you see
is like them talking before theyengage in anything, and then um
(18:37):
the young man touches hershoulder and that's it.
So like do not worry the the thefilm, you don't see any nudity,
any sexual content between thosecharacters at all.
But yeah, there is there aremoments.
So in the in the film, the thecharacter that we're referring
(19:00):
to that that starts off as asix-year-old and then ends up
engaging in sex once his body isof age, uh, is played by Alex
Wolf.
And Alex Wolf is, I think he's agood actor and he does a really
good job portraying thischaracter.
But there are moments in whichhe's he like his character is
(19:23):
like really naive.
So it's like, is he really naivebecause he still has the mind of
his six-year-old, or is hereally naive because while his
body has aged really quickly andhis mind is aging quickly as
well, maybe it's not aging asfast as his body.
So is it is it just he's naivebecause he's experiencing all
(19:45):
these things for the first timeand it's happening so fast, or
is it because mentally he'sstill a six-year-old?
And that's and I will say thisbugged me in both the graphic
novel and the film.
The six-year-old girl did seemto age a lot faster mentally
than the the little boycharacter.
(20:09):
So she was the one that was alot more willing to be like,
let's have sex right now in inthe graphic novel.
And in the film, like she's she,so spoiler alert, she does end
up dying.
And the way she ends up dying isshe's like, I don't want to be
on this beach, and she likestarts climbing up the mountain.
(20:31):
And the way this this area ofthe beach works in the film is
like if you try to leave thatarea too fast, you your brain
gets all frazzled and you end uppassing out.
So she starts climbing up themountain, and once she reaches
almost the top, that's whathappens.
And so she she passes out andshe falls off and she dies.
(20:55):
So she's a little bit moreconscious of like, something's
not right, I need to get out ofhere.
And so, I mean, that's that'sjust playing on like stereotypes
of like, oh, but girls agefaster than boys do.
And it's like, well, notnecessarily.
Sometimes it's like socialconstructs that makes um girls
(21:21):
age age faster than boys, butthey're really they're just as
emotionally immature as as itall depends on your age,
basically.
SPEAKER_01 (21:36):
Yeah, yeah, and I feel like uh what you're saying
is is more especially clear inthe movie.
Uh because like you were saying,Alice Wolf does play a
significantly younger, mentallyyoung kid, and she plays a
significantly older, more maturecharacter when they were both
just six years old, so theyshould technically be around the
(21:57):
same age.
Um yeah, that that's I thoughtabout that.
That's very clear and yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:06):
And one thing that you you said you're like, I'm so
glad they changed this for thefilm, and I did too, is the
older sister.
Um in the in the book, I willsay we don't know how old she is
when she engages, she does endup having sex with the Algerian
(22:28):
refugee.
But we honestly don't know howold she is when she has sex with
him.
Like she's aged up, but we don'tknow if she's technically still
a minor, or if she's just barelylegal, or if she's like in her
early 20s at that point when sheengages in sex with him.
(22:50):
So that's and and this guy, likehe's he shows up at the beach as
an adult.
So he's very, very much clearlyan adult.
This isn't like they're the likehe's a little bit older than
her.
It's like, no, like he's full-onan adult when she arrives as a
14-year-old in the graphicnovel.
(23:13):
And and again, she's the onethat's like, let's have sex
right now.
And and it yeah, that that wasjust really uncomfortable.
That sexual encounter does nothappen.
At at this point, the thedaughter, older daughters played
by Thomas and Mackenzie onceshe's aged up.
(23:35):
So this this moment betweenThomas and Mackenzie and the
rapper played by Aaron Pierredoes not happen.
So that was, I do agree, I likethat change because it is like
uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Yeah, and it seemed like in the graphic novel, they
were trying to give her like arebellious edge against her dad
on some sort.
And it seemed like they weregoing for she's sexually active
because of rebellion.
But it was like, but she startedoff as young, like a kid, and
then because I remember there'sthat one part where she's trying
(24:09):
to start an orgy with the otherkids, and it's like, but one of
those kids is your brother.
It just got weird.
Uh, her character was veryweirdly written, so I did really
like that.
They changed all of that for themovie, and I did appreciate that
in the movie.
She is when she's a kid, shesees the rapper and she fangirls
(24:33):
because it's this rapper thatshe I guess knows.
And the relationship becomes afriend.
No need for any sexual tension,no need for anything else.
It really is, she just reallyadmires this guy, and they have
that connection.
That's it.
So I I did appreciate thatchange a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (24:54):
Yeah, me too.
It's it's it's those were thethose are the two more uh
uncomfortable aspects of thegraphic novel.
I and and so I did want to givethat content warning.
So um so yeah, it just just gointo it with care and and
(25:16):
everything.
But yeah, um so that was thatwas uncomfortable.
So I I am glad that they madethose changes for the film.
The other I'm giving it as acontent warning because there's
literally a website called Doesthe Dog Die?
Um, so yes, the dog does die inthe graphic novel and the film.
SPEAKER_01 (25:39):
Um I mean, I guess just that this just if it makes
you a little better, the the dogdoes not die violently, it is
just a dog, and dogs age a lotfaster than humans.
Um, and that is just the natureof what this island is.
But yeah, the dog does die.
SPEAKER_00 (25:58):
Yes, and and he dies, like Orlando said, it's
not a violent death, he diespeacefully, he he goes to sleep,
and because time goes, so everyhalf hour is the equivalent to
one year of your life.
So this dog goes to sleep, and Imean, I know like with our dog,
he can sleep for out, like hejust knocks out.
(26:22):
So, same thing, this dog goes tosleep.
Uh, as a I mean, we don't knowhow old the dog is, but he goes
to sleep and just never wakes upbecause eventually he dies of
old age in his sleep.
So it's definitely not graphic.
You don't see the body of thedog in the film, but you do see
a picture of it in the graphicnovel.
(26:42):
But don't worry, it just lookslike he's asleep because that's
how he died.
Yeah.
So I do want to talk about onesome of the changes in the film
that I actually did like, andthat is so and I'm I'm curious
(27:03):
about what you think about thisone.
So in everything in the filmages uh a half hour, one year
has passed, everything.
And that includes so as peoplethere there's one person that
dies um kind of off-screen forboth of these instances, and and
(27:28):
she's kind of like the catalystof the finding of the her body
is kind of the catalyst towardseveryone figuring out what's
happening.
And so in the film, and andobviously time is passing, we
have some elderly people thatdie of old age as well.
And in the film, as I said,everything ages at that
(27:52):
equivalent, and that includesthe body, so they decompose the
same rate.
Um, so like at one point, likeafter they discover the body,
they pull her up to the beach,they cover her with the blanket,
and then later on they go checkon her.
And at this point, they said itit's been like the equivalent of
(28:14):
seven years of decompositionhave passed.
So she's just like literallyjust bones.
In the graphic novel, the onceyou die, like you don't like
your body decomposes normally,like it doesn't decompose as
fast.
Uh so yeah, so I'm curious whatyou thought of that change.
(28:35):
I I actually liked that changein the film just because it
makes sense to me thateverything would age faster.
SPEAKER_01 (28:43):
Yeah.
Oh no, I I agree.
I did like that change in in themovie.
I hadn't really thought aboutthe the graphic novel.
That's sure they they don't uhchange once they die because the
if you're looking at the logicof this island or this beach or
whatever, the logic is time, soit wouldn't make sense of oh,
(29:04):
you're dead, now time is gonnastop for you.
Like it would make sense thattime is continuing on.
Um but speaking of time, I willsay one plot hole that I feel
like it's more obvious in themovie than it is in the book,
and that's more because of theway they shot it.
In the movie, in both of them,you see when the movie is the
(29:30):
rapper, and in the book, it'sthe the refugee, they're there
with another woman.
Uh, the woman takes her clothesoff and goes swimming, and that
is the body that gets foundbecause when she went swimming,
she died somewhere in theswimming.
In the movie, it is shot in away where it looks like that was
early in the a.m.
hours.
(29:50):
This was probably like 4 a.m.
when nobody's awake.
And then when they get to thebeach, the rest of the families
get to the beach, it's aboutsunlight.
So let's say like 9 a.m., 10a.m., and the guy has not aged
in those four hours.
In the graphic novel, you don'tknow what time the refugee got
there, so you could kind of getthe idea that oh, maybe he's
(30:13):
only been there for an hour.
Um, yeah, that was a little bitthat uh bothered me, but anyway,
uh to your point, I do agree.
It just makes sense that if timeis passing by, it would continue
passing by even after you're acorpse.
SPEAKER_00 (30:27):
Yeah.
So we're gonna, there's still somany more things I want to bring
up, and hopefully we get throughit all before time runs out on
my Zoom.
So the the two minors, the twoteenagers that have sex with
each other, they end up gettingpregnant, or the girl ends up
(30:48):
getting pregnant, and obviouslyshe gives birth in 20 minutes
because yeah, that's theequivalent.
20 minutes is like nine monthspassing.
So from time of conception tobirth in this beach is 20
minutes.
And I did also like this changebecause so she gives birth and
(31:12):
then they put like they put thebaby down for a second to as as
they're helping mommy recoverfrom having just given birth,
and when they pick the baby upagain, the baby's dead.
And it's one of those thingsthat's like because time passes
by so fast, there's no way toproperly care for a baby.
(31:34):
And I I did the math, and oneminute is the equivalent of
wait, I don't remember what I itwas, it was um it I think it was
like one minute is theequivalent of 12 days.
So if they put the baby down,one minute that for the one
(31:54):
minute that they were takingcare of mommy, like that's 12
days of that equals 12 days ofbaby being neglected.
So baby dies, and there reallyis no way for a baby to be
properly cared for in the film.
In the graphic novel, the babysurvives and she keeps aging
with everyone else.
And in fact, at the end of thegraphic novel, she's the lone
(32:16):
survivor, and so she she onlyhas a few hours left at that
point before she dies.
But um she's yeah, she's thelone survivor.
So I did like I did also likethat change because it's it's
true, like there really is noway to not neglect like if if
one minute equals 12 days, likethere's really no way to
(32:39):
properly care for a baby.
But I don't know, what do youthink?
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
Yeah, I I'm a little torn because I do really agree
with you.
Um, it makes so much sense.
Like, if you had a baby and timeis passing by that fast, you
would have to have the baby onthe breast the entire time,
otherwise, the baby's just notgetting fed, and babies eat all
the damn time.
So it makes so much more senseto me that the baby dies rather
(33:06):
than survive.
The reason I'm torn is becausethe baby surviving is so
depressing.
That last image of the babybeing like mama, even though
she's like a grown woman,because everyone is dead at this
point, and you just know thatthis innocent baby with the mind
of a baby is gonna die notknowing what the hell happened.
(33:30):
It is such a depressing thoughtthat I loved it.
Like, I I just love that closingimage.
Um, and I felt like it was a lotstronger than what we get in the
movie.
Um, but logically speaking, yes,baby would die, and that makes
the most sense.
SPEAKER_00 (33:47):
Yeah, no, I get it, and it is depressing, and I will
say that that I think that was aplot hole for me in the the
graphic novel, is that like I doagree that is a very depressing
um um image, but just like theidea of time in the graphic
novel, I don't feel isconsistent, like I said, with
the aging, with the decomposingbodies, with uh the baby
(34:11):
surviving, but also um 24 hourswould be the equivalent of 48
years.
So it does make sense for likethe adults to pass away before
the the 20 before the day is up.
And it does make so in like Isaid, in the graphic novel,
everyone dies except for thebaby, who's no longer a baby,
(34:33):
obviously.
But like the the kids shouldhave been alive with the baby
because they were they werekids.
So aging 48 years would make putthem in their 50s, which is what
happens in the film.
They they do end up being in intheir 50s by the end.
Um, so yeah, that was, I think,like a plot point that didn't
(34:55):
really make sense for me in thegraphic novel.
SPEAKER_01 (34:58):
Yeah, it definitely seems like the graphic novel was
more of a just an idea, atheory.
And M.
Night Shock Shaman took that andapplied the logic into it to
make it make a little bit moresense.
Um, but yeah, um I don't know, Idon't know how I feel about the
the deaths because I did feellike the movie does reach that
(35:19):
horror movie point in which it'slike they're all we're all just
kicking each other, killing themoff, killing them off, waiting
for them to all die.
And in the graphic novel, theykind of just die because that's
just what would happen.
Um but yeah, there would be asignificantly big gap between
parents dying and then the kidsdying and then the baby dying
(35:42):
eventually.
SPEAKER_00 (35:44):
So, really quickly, let's get into the M knight
Shyamalan twist, and that isthat big pharma is behind it
all.
SPEAKER_01 (35:54):
Yeah, uh, which is kind of hinted at in the graphic
novel in one single line.
Uh, they're trying to theorizewhat exactly is happening, and
was like, maybe this is part ofbig pharma.
Um and then it just feels likeM.
Night Shamalon took that and waslike, nope, that's what it is.
That's exactly what it is.
Um, which was, I don't know.
I'm I'm still a little tornabout that plot twist.
SPEAKER_00 (36:16):
Yeah, so essentially, like if you're if
you have some sort of um ifyou're ill, like um, oh my gosh,
what's the word?
A preexisting condition, likeyou have some sort of
pre-existing condition thatcould eventually lead to your
death or is causing some sort ofmajor problems, they find they
(36:37):
target you, they they find a wayto target you through like
social media and be like, checkout this like beach resort.
And then so you book a trip tothis beach resort, and then they
convince you to.
So not everyone that goes tothis beach resort is sick, like
the normal, normal people get tostay at the hotel and just enjoy
the hotel and the resort andeverything.
And then if you're sick, theyconvince you to go to this beach
(37:00):
and then they observe you whiletaking notes, which is the guy
with the binoculars that'sthat's taking notes on them, and
then that's how they'redeveloping their their
pharmaceuticals on people.
SPEAKER_01 (37:16):
Yeah, which of course the the guy with the
binoculars, also the driver isthe M.
Night Shamalan cameo, which hasto get mentioned because M.
Night Shamalan always has hiscameo in his own hands.
SPEAKER_00 (37:30):
So as I said, the the hotelier's nephew in the
film ends up sending a code tothe the son because he and the
son become friends, and thenthat that code sends, like I
said, they don't the the kids orthe brother and the sister at
least don't die in the film.
(37:50):
They use this code to get offthe beach and uh like reveal the
pharmaceutical plot to the restof the world.
SPEAKER_01 (38:00):
Yeah, um yeah, I don't know.
It's a weird, it's a weirdtwist, but I mean it is so
really quickly, what do you whatdid you prefer?
SPEAKER_00 (38:11):
It's the book or the film, which is the winner.
SPEAKER_01 (38:14):
Uh do I do a turn roll?
Uh I'm I'm gonna have to go withthe book.
Um just again, like I wassaying, it's just that the
mystery aspect, keeping itmysterious, it's very twilight
zony.
That's what I loved about it.
It's very twilight zone, nosense into it, it's just what it
is.
So I I I like that.
It gets creepy.
(38:35):
I knocked some points out forthe creep the ickiness, but
yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (38:39):
I rated both three stars, but yeah, I think I have
to go with the graphic novel aswell.
But thanks for tuning in,everyone.
See you next time.
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