In the picturesque cranberry bogs of Muskoka, Canada, a young girl named Elliott (Maisy Stella), just a few weeks away from moving to the big city and never looking back, meets her old ass.

During a drug-fueled trip in the forest, Elliott and her friends Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) and Ro (Kerrice Brooks) all hallucinate various improbable hijinks with Elliott speaking to her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). Elliott’s hallucination proves true past the drugs, as the pair of Elliotts continue to communicate through the phone.

It’s an original premise for a film, but unfortunately director Megan Park’s “My Old Ass” fails to meet its full potential.

“My Old Ass” starts as a carefree, classic teen-comedy but quickly devolves into something more poignant — mostly fueled by future Elliott’s advice which includes spending more time with family, wearing her retainer and most importantly: staying away from boys named Chad.

Following future Elliott’s advice, 18-year-old Elliott starts to hang out with her family and grows an appreciation for the place she was once so desperate to escape. The issue: the family farm’s new summer hire … Chad (Percy Hynes White) continues to charm her.

Previously, Elliott considered herself to be a lesbian, but her relationship with Chad causes her to question things. While evolving sexualities is an important topic to explore, it instead reads as a rushed plot device in “My Old Ass,” not truly digging into the nuance of the matter. There are a few short conversations, but overall it feels thrown in haphazardly.

Before Chad, Elliott finally hooks up with the girl at the coffee shop she has been pursuing all summer. While the fling provides Elliott with fun, the love interest doesn’t get any development and barely has any dialogue aside from the opening scene.

When Elliott turns her attention to Chad, the coffee shop worker is never addressed again. Similarly, after the mushroom-fueled trip in the first half, Elliott’s friends are no longer important to the story. When they don’t service the plot anymore, they get discarded.

The writing of the story suffers from a similar laziness such as when Plaza’s Elliott stops answering Stella’s Elliott for a portion of the movie and blames it on a wellness retreat. It’s a convenient excuse to avoid fleshing out character motivations or creating well-deserved tension.

The first half of the film drags due to a lack of central conflict but picks up when Elliott and Chad’s relationship blossoms.

The soundtrack features songs such as “(You) On My Arm” by Leith Ross and “Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado, which plays a pivotal role in capturing the essence of the coming-of-age genre. A hilarious scene in the film centers on Justin Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl” which will become a classic scene.

Plaza is her usual charming self, but she is underutilized. Despite the marketing materials advertising Plaza as a star, she is on screen for just two scenes and a few phone calls. That said, future Elliott was the character that ultimately evolved as young Elliott ultimately lectures her on the importance of enjoying life without worrying about the future. For a coming-of-age movie, the message seemed geared toward adults rather than the intended teen audience.

In spite of the stilted writing that tries to cater too hard toward a younger generation, Maisy Stella is a joy to watch and a natural onscreen presence. Stella doesn’t have perfectly polished dialogue to work with, but her charisma still makes viewers root and feel for her.

Another rising star from the film is Stella’s youngest brother, a preteen named Spencer (Carter Trozzolo) whose life aspirations include moving to Ireland and marrying Saoirse Ronan. Some of the most authentic humor of the film comes from subtle smaller moments and characters like this.

The cinematography of “My Old Ass” is the most dazzling element of the film — portraying the incredible natural scale of the lake and woods surrounding the family’s cranberry bog in saturated greens and blues. For a place that she is so desperate to escape, it’s shown through a lens of immense beauty and love.

This is especially heartbreaking when in the second half of the film, her middle brother, Max (Seth Isaac Johnson) reveals the family is selling their farm, making this summer the last time Elliott will be at her childhood home.

The film’s romantic aspect is accompanied by Chad and Elliott’s witty banter that rings true to the experience of awkward flirting as a young adult. The central conflict comes through with Elliott attempting to pull away from Chad but ultimately being unable to, another testament to Stella’s powerful performance.

Ultimately, “My Old Ass” had all the pieces required to create a classic coming-of-age for this decade but fell short of its aim with its wobbly script and unexplored nuances.