Chester County's M. Night Shyamalan talks about his new supernatural thriller 'Old'

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- M. Night Shyamalan's latest supernatural thriller "Old" tests the idea of time and aging and he says: "No one has ever seen anything like it."

Filmed in the Dominican Republic during the pandemic, this is Shyamalan's first film out of his beloved Philadelphia.

It's loosely based on the graphic novel "Sandcastle," but also pulls from his own fears of time moving too fast.

Here's the premise: An island getaway brings vacationers to a secluded, supernatural beach which somehow causes them to age rapidly, reducing their entire lives into a single day. It plays on our fears of getting old.

"It's a version of the fear of dying, right?" Shyamalan said. "So if I make a movie about ghosts, I'm still talking about the fear of dying."

There are Philadelphia touches sprinkled throughout the film, which is the first time Shyamalan has taken a project away from home.

"While we were shooting this, we were shooting simultaneously the TV show 'Servant' in Philly," he says. "So I had a crew in Philly, and then the crew in the Dominican Republic. I did it intentionally to try to think differently and feel different things."

They filmed during this pandemic, where time took on new meaning.

"This is really about looking at my kids and they're getting older and my parents who are so frail," he said. "I worry for them every single day now. It's like, gosh, I can't stop it."

Also, he didn't really mean to scare us about vacation, something we've been missing during the shutdowns.

"Sorry about that," Shyamalan laughs. "Go on vacation. Probably nothing will happen. Most likely, nothing will happen."

You can watch Alicia Vitarelli's full interview with M. Night Shyamalan right now our family of streaming apps like Apple TV and Roku where he chats about his next few projects, which he's bringing back home.